Teach Your Dog to Stay 

Before you can teach your dog to Stay - you need to teach him how to Sit, and he/she should know his name. Mastery of the Stay command is very important as it can also keep your dog out of danger. For example, when the doorbell rings an excited dog might run out the door, or a cat or squirrel may catch your dogs interest and he/she may want to chase after it.

The Stay command will take more time to learn than the Sit Command, and you will need to exercise more patience. However, mastering this command will be a blessing when you find yourself in a situation with your dog.

Dog Stay Training Technique  

First thing to do is put a collar and leash on your dog in your home and ask him/her to sit. Offer praise, and then back up one foot. If your dog stays offer praise and a treat. If your dog does not, return yourself and your dog to your original position and keep repeating until he does. Eventually your dog will get what you want him/her to do.  The first session of training should be no longer than 15 minutes, and should end on a positive note even if your dog did not learn to stay when you start to back up.

Once your dog does learn to stay when you back up one foot, increase it to two feet and offer praise and a treat. Then three feet, praise and a treat. And so on until you are able to back up at least 5 feet without your dog following. Keep repeating every day for no more than 15 minutes at a time, until this is mastered.

When your dog will comfortably allow you to move at least 5 feet away from him/her without following you can drop the leash or lead and work your way up in the same fashion until you have achieved at least 10-15 feet. All the while offering praise and treats.

Now this is a major achievement! However, Stay training is not over quite yet. Now we need to graduate to the great outdoors.

Stay training should begin in a safe, secure yard that is fenced! The first time you attempt it outside do it with the leash on, and revert all the way back to the beginning. If your dog takes to this right away, take of the leash and give it a try. You basically need to repeat all the steps above until your dog listens to you outside.

You might be asking yourself why you didn't begin outside in the first place, because now you have to repeat the whole process over again? The truth is if you would have begun the training outdoors it would have been next to impossible, because there are too many distractions in the yard. Your dog is better able to Stay outside now, because you've built a foundation inside your home of obedience.

Remember, practice makes perfect! However, that does not mean that I condone dog walking without a leash just because your dog has learned to Stay in a controlled environment. Always be cautious with your pet. Sometimes the urge to run after something can be so high that the best training in the world can not curtail a dog's natural instinct.