Training your dog to wait
Teaching your dog to wait could be your most valuable tool.
We hope you find our dog training tips helpful.
When a wait is useful …
The safest way for your dog to travel in the car is in a purpose-designed (and secured) crate or dog compartment. This means that to get him out safely, you have to open the back and attach his lead before he jumps out. Having a dog who will wait when you tell him prevents you having to grab him as he attempts to leap out past you!
If you are at home and you have a visitor, you do not want your dog throwing himself on your guest. Having a dog who will wait while a visitor comes in the door will make your friends far more likely to visit you. It also makes going in and out of the door yourself far easier if you are not having to push past your dog.
The same applies for delivery or the post. Not only does your postman not want to end up wearing your dog (however friendly), you want to make sure you stay on the right side of the law when it comes to visitors.
Having a dog who will wait when you put bowls down makes feeding and also giving water far easier (and drier). It’s a good exercise in patience too.
Teaching the wait
Your dog can be taught to wait in either a sit or a down – just make sure he knows how to do that first (reliably, every time you ask). Once you have asked your dog to sit (or down), wait for five seconds, instead of rewarding straight away.
Do it again but go back to rewarding after one second. Then try seven seconds, then two, then ten, and so on. Build up the length of time your dog stays in the position before you give him the reward – but keep varying the times randomly, so he never learns to anticipate when his reward will come.
Once you get up to twenty seconds, you can begin to work on getting some distance from him rather than increasing the time. Ask for the position and take half a step away and straight back, then reward him. Repeat this a lot so he doesn’t worry about you moving around, and is happy to wait in the position and not try to get up. If he does get up, start again, and don’t move so far away (with some dogs, you can only just move your weight from one foot to the other to start with!).
When your dog is happy with that, you can move a full step away and then straight back and reward.
Repeat this a lot, and don’t be tempted to move any further until your dog is happy to wait. You can try one step to the side too. If he moves, ask for the position again, and don’t move so far next time! Most dogs find this hard, as up until now you have always rewarded them for following you.
When you are sure he will wait, you can put in the ‘Wait’ cue word, so your dog will link the word with ‘not moving’. You can use your hand as a ‘stop signal’ to indicate to your dog not to follow you (some dogs find this helpful).
Very slowly, you can build up the distance, until your dog can wait with you ten feet away for thirty seconds – but make sure every increase in time or distance is done gradually.
TOP DOG TRAINING TIP! Practise the wait in lots of different places, always going right back to the beginning in each new place.