22. StandStay

22. STANDSTAY

LEVEL TWO

Dog remains standing without moving her feet for 10 seconds. Partner may or may not leave the dog’s side. This exercise may be done beside the dog or in front of the dog.

DISCUSSION: The third Stay for the dog to learn at this Level. She should be getting the idea by now! Go slow here, it isn't as easy for you to watch four feet as it is for you to watch whether the dog's lying down or not! That's why the L2 test is so simple – beside the dog, in front of the dog, leave, stay with her, just give me ten seconds and we're OK!

On the other hand, as this is the third time we've explained Stay, I expect the StandStay to go fairly easily. Just watch those feet!

EASY BEGINNINGS: This is just like teaching the SitStay. Get the Stand, then Rapid-Fire ten treats in the Stand position. In fact, repeat that two or three times. Then get the Stand, c/t. Stand, c/t. X10. What's the difference? When you're doing Rapid-Fire, your hand stays right in her face. You're clicking and shoving the treats into her as fast as she can take them. Then you slow down a bit. Move your treat hand away from her face between clicks, as if what happens between each click is a separate behaviour (which it is, but you don't have to point that out to the dog). Then get the Stand, count to two, c/t. X10. Then count to three, then to four, and so on. Voila, a StandStay!

PROBLEM SOLVING:

SHE MOVES HER FEET BUT STAYS STANDING! Oops, no, sorry, that's not a Stay. Don't even THINK about letting her think a Stay involves moving her feet! If she moved ONE foot, she blew the behaviour. Start over and explain it again from scratch. Can she stand still for 1 second? 2 seconds? 3 seconds? And so on, with NO feet moving! Tails, yes. Heads, yes. Feet, no.

SHE DOESN'T GET INTO A GOOD STAND SO WE CAN START THE STAY! Oops again, if she can't give you a solid Stand, she's not ready to think about Stay yet. Work on the Stand and come back to Stay when she's good at it.

ADDING A CUE: When you're up to 10 seconds, start telling her what her StandStay is called. I usually duck the standard Stay signal in a motion that mimics my Stand signal, thus giving her a double reminder to Stand AND the information about staying as well.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: Work her around gradually until she can do the StandStay on your left side. How about on a grooming table? On the stairs? In each room of your house? On your front porch?

LEVEL THREE

Dog Sit-Stays for examination - a touch of the head and withers by the tester.

DISCUSSION: How is this a StandStay when the dog is Sitting? Remember that when we make one part of a behaviour more difficult, we make everything else simpler. Staying while someone touches the head and withers is very difficult for most dogs – either because they'd rather be in the tester's face, or because they'd rather be under the bed – so we make the Stay much simpler. Also, with the dog's butt planted on the floor, it's much easier for the trainer to see a good Stay than it is if we're trying to get the tester to behave properly, the trainer to notice what's going on, and the dog to keep all four feet independently on the floor.

EASY BEGINNINGS: You need to make a decision at this point, based on what you know and have observed about your dog. There are three possibilities.
First, your dog may be relatively disinterested in people, and not particularly care whether they touch her or not. (OK, OK, I'll get to the other 99% of dogs in a minute!) If this is your dog, ask for a Sit and Stay, and have a person start to approach her. If you KNOW she'll stay when the person is 4' away from her, but 2' might be a bit iffy, click for staying when the person is 4' away. Try to give her the treat right in her mouth so she doesn't have to bother getting up (if she gets up, that's OK, the click ended the behaviour, but try to be faster next time). Click again when the person is 3' away, and again at 2', and again when they're standing right beside your dog. Click again when the person reaches toward your dog, and again at the first touch. Anytime your dog breaks the SitStay, the person walks away, you stop clicking, and then you start again. Each time you click as the person approaches, the person can hesitate for a moment so it doesn't seem as though they're sneaking up on the dog while she's busy chewing.

Second, your dog may be absolutely thrilled at the very thought of a human being even THINKING about approaching, let alone TOUCHING, and there's no way, ever, ever, EVER that your dog is going to sit still while someone approaches and touches her. Great, Aren't you lucky! You're going to play Human Zen. You ask for a SitStay, and click it X10. Make sure the dog is really in the game. Now the person comes to a point far enough away that the dog probably won't break, but close enough that the dog notices them. Dog sees person but doesn't move, you click and give the treat right in her face so she doesn't have to move to get it. Person takes ONE step toward dog, dog stays, you click and treat. Note that the dog is now being rewarded TWICE for Staying while the person approaches – once with the treat, and once by having the person move a step closer. The way to get the person to move closer is to hold the SitStay. Person takes one more step toward dog, dog stays, you click and treat. And so on, It's very important that the person take one step at a time, so the dog has time to think and pay attention to what's going on, rather than just leaping hysterically into the air. One more step, click, reward. Now, you KNOW the dog's going to break, right? And you then need to explain that breaking the Stay gets her nothing she wanted. So she moves ONE PAW, and your person turns his back and walks away. You both get to stand there thinking "Aw, he left!" Give her a minute to think about her "crimes", then start again. Ask for the SitStay, click X5, then the person takes a step toward her, you click. One step, click. One step, click.

Third, your dog may be unhappy about the whole stranger-fondling idea. If I wanted this guy touching me, I'd be living with him, thank you very much. She's going to play Human Zen too, but in a totally different way. What SHE wants is for this human to go away, so that's what we'll give her. Ask for the SitStay and click X10. The person then comes to the point where the dog notices him without breaking the Stay. Click, the person TURNS AROUND AND WALKS AWAY, and you give her a reward. THIS dog is also being rewarded twice for holding the Stay – once with a treat, and once by getting what she wanted – making the person go away. The way to make the person go away is to hold the SitStay. Person returns and comes one step closer, you click and treat, and the person goes away again. You're showing the dog that SHE controls the scary guy. Being in control of the scary guy calms the dog and gives her confidence. As she sees that holding the SitStay will eventually make him go away, she can afford to hold it longer, let him get closer, and eventually touch her, secure in the understanding that, if she holds it long enough, he WILL go away.

PROBLEM SOLVING:

I DON'T KNOW WHICH METHOD TO USE ON MY DOG! Stand still with your dog on leash. Have a person approach you and pretend he's going to pet your dog. If your dog doesn't particularly care, use the first method. If she's out at the end of the leash offering to floss his teeth with her tongue, use the second method. And if she's hiding behind your legs hoping he doesn't notice her, use the third method.

ADDING A CUE: You added something (the person) to a behaviour she already knows, so naturally you stop using the cue until you're sure she's going to give you the behaviour, the whole behaviour, and nothing but the behaviour again.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: Different people! Men, women, children (assuming it's safe). Guys in big boots. People in funny hats (dogs go a lot by outline, so people in hats might not even be human), women in long skirts. When your dog is doing really well, you can pick an easy person and start getting more of an examination than just the head and withers, and/or get the SitStay with examination with some distance between you and the dog.

LEVEL FOUR

The dog Stands on appropriate cues and remains standing while the handler walks 10’ away and back. No formal “Return” is required. This behaviour must be performed with no food or clicker in the ring or area.

DISCUSSION: We've taken away the tester now, asked for the Stand at some distance, and removed the food. Make something more difficult, make everything else easier. Notice how we're teaching one part of the Stand For Examination, then another, then increasing the difficulty of the first part, and in the next Level we'll start putting them together.

EASY BEGINNINGS: In Level Two the dog had to StandStay for 10 seconds right beside you or in front of you. Work up to that again – don't assume your dog remembers it just because you passed it several months ago.

Using 300-Peck duration training, work up to a 30 second StandStay. Click for 10 seconds, start again. Click for 11 seconds, start again. Click for 12 seconds, start again. When she's holding 15 seconds, start increasing your time by 2 seconds each time. When she makes a mistake, moving ANY paw, start back at 10 seconds again. If she temporarily can't handle 10, go back to 1 second.

When she's able to successfully give you a 30-second StandStay, cut back to 10 seconds and start increasing your distance. Move one step away from her, click. Remember that the click ends the behaviour, so try to get the food to her before she moves, but if you can't, that's OK. The click told her what she was doing right. Start again. Move 2 steps away, click. Start again. Move 3 steps away, click. Don't rush. The distance is naturally building the time up again.

CONTINUING EDUCATION: Practise in many different locations around the house, around the yard, on the sidewalk, at the park. Start using the StandStay to earn life rewards – ask for a StandStay before you open the back door, before you let the dog into the car, before you give her a meal.

Keep practicing your SitStay For Examination. By the time you get to Level Five, youll need the dog balanced on this behaviour – not afraid of examination, not out-of-control excited about the examination, and clearly understanding the behaviour that gets the click.

LEVEL FIVE

The dog does a Stand-Stay for examination. The handler may remain by the dog’s side. Appropriate cues. This behaviour must be performed with no food or clicker in the ring or area.

DISCUSSION: Now we take away the distance, ask for a Stand, and put the tester back in the equation. Watch how we're bouncing around with what is difficult and what isn't. We've divided the StandStay up into so many parts that it will be easy for the dog to tell you exactly where she's having a problem. When you know exactly where the problem is, it's easy for you to take it away from the rest of the associated behaviours, fix it, and then put it back.

LEVEL SIX

The dog performs a full Group Examination for one minute with the handler 20’ away. Appropriate cues. This is an optional behaviour.

DISCUSSION: The Group Exam isn't part of obedience competition any more, but it's a good test of a dog's skills. Do your StandStay in a line of dogs practicing SitStays or DownStays, and have your tester go over the dog while she's in line. The examination is more detailed than the earlier one, involving holding the dog's head, touching the ears and tail, and running hands under the chest and partway down the legs.

LEVEL SEVEN

The dog performs a full Group Examination for three minutes with the handler 20’ away. Appropriate cues. This is an optional behaviour that must be performed with no food or clicker in the ring or area.

DISCUSSION: An easy continuation of the Level 6 behaviour.