I have a 4 month old Standard Manchester terrier. I have the 8 weeks to 8 months DVD but they don't teach stay in that video. Ed said you should not teach stay at that time.

My question is, when can I start to train my puppy to stay and many other commands? He already knows sit, down, come, sit at door and wait till I pass first, go in your crate, walks pretty nice on leash other than stopping to smell to much "which I am correcting".

Are you training with a "marker"?

If so, does she clearly understand it?

If so, "staying" is definately something you can work on. Positive punishment (i.e. a verbal or physical correction) would be inappropriate, however the "correction" of simply witholding the reward for progressively longer periods of time would be fine. We're talking seconds or a second at a time.

Here are the four options in training something (or someone):

1. Something Good can be given
2. Something Good can be taken away
3. Something Bad can be given
4. Something Bad can be taken away

With puppies, we only like to do 1 and 2. #2 means that by not relinquishing a treat, you will be decreasing the likliehood that your puppy will break from a sit for that given period of time. The treat simply doesn't come out of your hand. Not a big deal in the puppy's mind. It has nothing to do with disapproval from you or physical discomfort.

The most precise way is with an audible cue. If you pretend each period is a second, and "g'boy" is my marker (which it is), and provided the dog remains sitting, it'd go like this:

Sit..."g'boy!" (give treat)

Sit...."g'boy!" (give treat)

Sit....."g'boy!" (give treat)

Sit......"g'boy!" (give treat)

Etc.

And if your dog breaks from the sit, just don't give a treat, and don't be afraid to take a step back and cover old ground.

4 Months is still very young.

Starbuck is 6 months and can barely sit still for 5 minuites.

I think his point in the video is that you can't expect a young dog to sit still very long.

There are a couple other topics on "Stay". Most people don't use that command. They use "Sit" or Down" and that means you 'sit' or 'down' until released. So there is no need for "Stay".

Yeah. My 11 month old Sheltie is just getting to the point of maturity where he can actually maintain a sit or a down for any length of time. He didn't have the focus before. And he's a smart dog.

For me and my pup:

SIT is Sit until I say otherwise or until I walk away, as in he is sitting beside me. Same thing with DOWN. He is at my side, or within leash length.

STAY is Hold Your Position (wheter it be Sit or Down) while I walk Away and go about my business, on or off leash. I've been practice "off leash" in our kitchen, meaning he has the leash on but I've dropped it to the floor after I tell him to STAY.

Just my personal preference here...

Cheers!

Yes, I am training with markers. It's command, good boy,"when I say good boy he looks for the reward" treat.
My puppy likes to pick up and eat bad things on walks so this is not ok for me to tell him no? I don't yell or raise my voice, just a nooooo then I go in his mouth and pull the object out. Sometimes I catch him trying to obtain a dirty item and I say no and pull him towards me/away from the dirty item.

When given a command sit/down he usually complies, if not I just ignore and wait him out until he does then reward.

My puppy is very shy, when we go on walks he will stop and stare at people, he will also refuse to pass people sitting on chairs in front of stores, sometimes he tries to run away, sometimes he will just sit. I have to resort to pulling the leash to get him moving, when he does move I tell him good boy and keep walking.

So I should never tell him "no" for anything he does wrong, like nipping, trying to go in the trash, jumping on the couch, ect.

I was not happy with the 8 week to 8 month DVD. There is coverage in there about socializing but no where on the video does he talk about what to do with a shy puppy.

I use "Leave it" for anything I want her to leave alone (Bees, lizards, dog poop etc.)

I thought Ed said on the DVD to give strangers treats to give to your puppy to help him overcome his shyness.

Hi Paige,

The whole puppy-training-thing can really send you up the tree. It looks and sounds really easy on a DVD or written down on a website but every puppy is an individual and my experience was that nothing happened quite the way I thought it would. A shy dog, just like a dominant dog, may require a little something more in the way of training and handling. You have a good foundation with the DVD and whatever additonal help you need with your pup you can find here on the forum. You're doing it right!

With a shy pup you should probably take things slow...introduce new situations and people one-at-a-time, make it a positive, relaxed experience, and slowly build on that. Your pup is still a baby and will be hesitant in new situations.

If it helps my dog went through a period where he was terrified of fire hydrants...would not walk near them, tried to run away??!! So we gently "introduced ourselves" to the hydrant and now he visits his "friend" on every walk

I did say "NO" when my pup was doing stuff he shouldn't...but I didn't correct him with a prong or electric collar...I redirected his attention. At 4 months, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. But it will all come together as he gets older and that is a really cool thing to see.