Sometimes you need your dog to wait for a minute while you do something, or you need her to stop where she is until you catch up. That’s where you need “stay” –and its opposite counterpart “free.”
The cue “stay” means “hold that position until I release you.” Always issue a “stay” cue after a position cue, so the dog knows whether to sit-stay, down-stay, or stand-stay.
Equally important is the opposite command, “free.” This is how your dog knows that it’s OK to break the stay. Teach “stay” and “free” together as you taught “leave it” and “take it” as a pair. Some people say “OK” instead of “free,” and that’s OK with me as long as you’re consistent.
“Stay” is an important act of discipline for your dog, but it doesn’t come naturally. To teach “stay,” it’s particularly important to take baby steps to help your dog succeed.
Baby Steps to Sit-Stay
To start at kindergarten level, get the dog into position—it might be easiest to start with “sit”—and stand toe-to-toe with her. You’re essentially using a body block, a move your dog intuitively understands. Reward the dog for staying put.
Once you have a good toe-to-toe stay, gradually increase the distance. The body block can continue to work for at least a few feet. Put your shoulders back and your chest out. Imagine a big bubble between you and your dog. Press your chest into that bubble, and the dog will feel the pressure. Reward the dog for staying still while you’re six inches, then a foot, then two feet away.
This is a good time to add the verbal cue “sit-stay” and a hand cue. Put your palm out like a cop making a “stop” signal. Make a small “windshield wiper” motion perpendicular to the dog’s nose, ending with your palm facing but not touching the nose.
This is also when you add “free.” Reward the dog while she’s in stay position, then move away again. When it looks like she’s going to move anyway, say “free” in a happy voice and give the hand signal. Our hand signal goes from a closed fist to an open hand with a little upward motion, as if we were freeing a bunch of butterflies. It is also good to take a step backward to further demonstrate you’re done holding.
You don’t need to give a treat for “free”; simply being able to come to you and get some loving is reward enough. In more advanced training, “free” comes to mean more than just “you don’t have to stay any more.” It can mean, for example, “you don’t have to heel any more” or any other thing you’ve asked the dog to do.
More advanced stay-free steps might go like this:
- Turn and walk away—first a short distance, then longer ones.
- Walk around the dog. Start with a quarter circle so the dog can still see you without losing the position. When she’s good with that, make the circle a little bigger and then a little bigger till you’re behind her. Warning: It will be hard for her to have you out of sight, so don’t rush it.
- Add a distraction, then an even more distracting distraction.
- Graduate school: Tug on the leash while the dog is in a “stay.” Yes, it seems a bit cruel, but it proves the dog really knows what she’s supposed to do. If you’ve worked up to it properly, your dog will hold her position and give you a reproachful look that clearly says, “But Momma, you told me to stay!”
As you work up to longer stays and more advanced levels, reassure and reward your dog while she is holding the stay. She should not think that any attention you pay to her means “free.” So when, for instance, your dog is holding a stay for 3 minutes while you are at a distance, go to her at 1 minute and at 2 minutes to quietly give her a treat or a pet. I say, “good dog” in a calm voice. My pups recognize this as “nice job, keep doing what you’re doing”—as opposed to “free” which is very obviously a release.
Don’t assume that because your dog is good at “sit-stay,” she now knows what “down-stay” or “stand-stay” means. Dogs are good at details and bad at generalizing. Teach each “stay” position individually. The other two will probably go faster than the first.
Troubleshooting
More than any other skill, I see people mess up the body language and tone on “stay.” When people are trying to use the “stay” past the point they’ve trained, they’ll sound like they’re pleading: “staaaaaaay” (pretty please?). They may even hunch over so their body language matches their pleading tone. This is not pack leader behavior, and the dog will break this stay in an instant.
When issuing the “stay” cue, say it like you expect it to happen. Your tone and body language are important. Provide a firm “stay” and a clear hand signal, and then walk away at a normal pace. How far you go and for how long depend on what level you’re up to.
You’ll know how good your “free” is by how your dog reacts as you practice “stay.” For instance, does your dog break the stay when you get a certain distance away or when you start to raise your hand as if you were going to make the “free” sign? If so, put her back into “stay” position and go back a level. Work on your own “free” cue including a consistent tone of voice and hand signals.
