Stays

This has been my biggest issue with Macy.  It’s weird, because Marcie and Maggie have rock solid stays and I have decided this is NOT going to be an issue with Dulce.

I’ve been doing lots of research.  I like “When Pigs Fly” because it

follows Karen Pryor’s philosophy and my own.  It is also available on Kindle.  Which means I could instantly download it.  Also, there is an ongoing series in Clean Run which I am going back to read.

When Pigs Fly has a whole section on Stays – I shared this link on Facebook so I wouldn’t forget it (which is why I am blogging about it – if I write something down I remember it)

http://kindle.amazon.com/post/3T7LFH3VS3F0U

I also did a private lesson with Paula Weir at Dog Training Center because I didn’t really get it when she covered it in class and at the time I thought we weren’t going to have class for two weeks.

Basically both sources tell me the same – start by clicking and treating the stay behavior.  Then drop the click while still treating.  Extend over time before distance. 

However, it takes a LONG time to get a stay that way.  Sometimes I’ve tempted to go back to the jerk and yell method, but I know it will come, I got there with both Maggie and Marcie.  Maybe I just don’t remember how long it took.

I mentioned that to EE – that I don’t remember training any of the basic behaviors that Marcie did well.  She doesn’t really remember either – though we did our early work with a different instructor.  She thinks that Marcie was an “old soul” and just knew what I wanted and did it.  Wish these two girls were like that – but I’m not sure that the old soul part is true.  I just think I probably spent more time on the preliminaries with Marcie and don’t remember it.  I also don’t think much of any training on Maggie because, well, she’s Maggie and she was always weird.