Easy Steps to Teach Stand

Uses:  Grooming and Vet care, stand for exam, obedience exercises.

1. With your dog in a Sit, use a treat in front of his nose to lure him into a Stand.  As soon as he is in a Stand, Click and Treat.  Avoid having him take extra steps to get into the stand.

2. Once your dog is easily moving from a Sit to a Stand you may add a voice cue such as “Stand”, “Hold it”, “Four” or “Square”.

3. Now begin building duration of the Stand.

Easy Steps to Teach Go to Your Mat

Uses:  Ability to send your dog to a spot and have him stay there until release.

1. Put out your dog’s mat (can be a towel or blanket or whatever you want to use).  When your dog shows interest in the mat Click and Treat.  This is called shaping - you are building a behavior without luring your dog to perform.

2. Watch for your dog to place a foot on the mat then Click and Treat.

3. Continue to watch for your dog to take the behavior one step closer to what you want.  Such as two feet on the mat, three feet, totally standing on the mat and finally sitting or lying down on the mat. Avoid upping the criteria too quickly or your dog may get confused.  If this happens simply make it easier on the dog for awhile.

4. Once your dog will go to the mat eagerly, begin standing farther away. The "300 Peck" method* may be used standing one step back each repetition until your dog will not go to the mat, then go back to one step away and start again.

Easy Steps to Teach Around

Uses: Exercise, fun, stress reliever, teaching the dog to work away from you.

1. Pick an object for your dog to go around such as a chair.  Lure your dog around the object with a  tasty treat.  Click and Treat as he is finishing the circle around.  Work on only one direction at a time.

2. As soon as your dog will readily follow the treat around the object, begin just using a hand signal with no treat in your hand.  You will still Click and Treat when your dog gets it right.

3. Once your dog seems to understand what he is being rewarded for, begin making your hand signal more gradual so your dog is no longer following your signal all the way around the object.  Now is the time to add a voice cue such as “Around”, “Circle” or “Away”.

4. Add distance between you and the object gradually until you can be a couple feet from it and your dog will willingly circle when you ask him to.

Related Behaviors/Variations:  Teach the opposite direction using a different command; figure eight around two objects

*For an explanation see reference article "Teaching Wait or Stay - 300 Peck Style"