# When to start teaching basic commands?



## janz99 (Aug 23, 2010)

Hey guys, when is the proper time to start introducing all of the basic commands to your pup? Bella is now almost 10 weeks old, and she will "come" most times, and "sit" 50% of the time. 

When can i start teaching her to "stay", and start on some leash work with her? I dont want to push her to fast, and would like for her to have lots of puppy time.


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## DarDog (Aug 15, 2010)

We started teaching our pup stay at end of 8, beginning of 9 weeks, and he had it down at 10 weeks, I believe. We also started leash work soon after getting him. What we did, was focus on one command until he had it down, and then start working on another one, but having refresher sessions to make sure he remembered the old stuff (We were doing at least 3 training sessions a day, about 2-5 min each).

Leash work, well that seems to be ongoing .


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## janz99 (Aug 23, 2010)

How did you guys go about teaching the stay command? She has pretty much mastered the sit command, but her attention span is about the same as an A.D.D kid right now so we work on it when she wants to. 

Id like to at least introduce "stay" or "lay down".


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## DarDog (Aug 15, 2010)

We have been using a clicker, so these are the steps we took to train stay:

Starting in sit position, wait longer before clicking and giving a treat.
Do this several times.
Begin to walk away, and come back quickly. If your dog stays, then click and treat.
I did a couple training sessions like this before labeling the command "stay" and using the flat open palm as the hand signal.
Once I was using the stay command, I would only click and treat if he stayed.
I always try to release with OK as well, so he knows that he has to stay until released.

If ever he broke stay, I would make a nuh-uh sound, or something similar and get him to sit again. You have to keep the stay moments reallllly short at first in order to keep their attention. You will be able to gradually increase staying time. If you use really tasty treats, it will help you hold the attention span too! For tough to train commands (we had a really hard time with down), I would use very small pieces of cooked bacon.

I still keep praciticing this on and off (our pup is 14 weeks now), by leaving the room, going out the door, etc. I have also started dropping kibble in front of him, and he is only allowed to pick it up after I release him from stay (our word is OK).

Another tip, that I found really useful to get him into training mode, is playing tug right before, then training, then playing tug right after. They will get used to the routine, and I have found our pup more responsive after a short burst of play.

Sorry, this is very scattered, but I hope it helps you!


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## DarDog (Aug 15, 2010)

As well, I read a lot of this woman's blog, and watched a lot of her videos; I found them very fascinating and helpful for training!  http://www.fannygott.com/


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

Another technique to train stay (and self-control) that's kind of fun is to put the treat on the floor right in front of the dog, but be prepared to grab it if he/she tries to go for it, count one second (one-one-thousand); if he/she starts to go for it during the one second, make the uh-uh sound and take it back, then put it down and try again. If he/she leaves it for a count of one second, he/she gets the treat. Once he/she has it down, you can lengthen the time. For further instructions and a nice training program (my little bit of advertising lol), try the Jean Donaldson Perfect Paws in 5 Days DVD. I wish I still had mine, I lost it, but it's a very straightforward and helpful program. I don't think I paid a lot for it (at least compared to the obedience class we just paid for).


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## Chestersmum (Jun 21, 2010)

Agree with the above re teaching basic commands asap.

I didn't teach the stay straight away but found after a few weeks when he had the sit perfect he would generally 'stay' in that position until you gave to cue to do something else. The stay followed on easily from this - he seemed to just know what it was. I build it the time and distance and he's pretty good now. He wouldn't of been able to do this straight away. 

I found the down took a little longer but used the clicker and this really helped.


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