The following is a transcript of THIS video.
Hi! This is Drew with Drew’s Pawspective and today Mulan and I are going to talk about something that I consider an absolutely critical component to any obedience training – the wait command.
I know that a LOT of dog owners out there have probably not given this command a whole lot of thought – and if they HAVE, probably think of it as too strict or controlling.
IT’S NOT!
But this is NOT the case! Keep this in mind: DOGS LOVE STRUCTURE, most importantly as it pertains to the hierarchy of their pack.
They need to be absolutely clear about who’s in charge – YOU!
Given that, the more quickly you can establish yourself as the pack leader, the easier your dog is going to be to train. This is ESPECIALLY important if you’re like me and have a VERY high-energy dog with a pretty acute case of doggy A-D-D.
Here’s how it works: [VIDEO: Mulan’s feeding]
Ok, so a very simple command that you can get a TON of mileage out of! And it’s really easy to teach, but takes a little extra patience.
This is basically just an extension of “Sit” and “Stay”, which are likely the two commands that you started with (or are working on now). The key is to use the same hand command, whether it’s an open hand with your palm facing the dog, or like I do, the index finger pointed straight upward. Regardless of which you choose, remember to keep using the same gesture!
So after you’ve given the sit and stay commands and your dog, being the great dog that she is, is staying like she's supposed to, the next step is to get her used to remaining in the “stay” position until you release her. Again, HOW you release her is kind of irrelevant – as long as you do it the same way every time.
Practice that for a bit and get her used to the idea. It shouldn’t take long. The next step (and this doesn’t have to be the same training session) is to give the “Sit” and “Stay” commands, then present her with something that she wants.
This could be a toy, a treat, dinner, mommy’s favorite pair of Armani Flip-Flops (I wouldn’t suggest that last one).
Now here’s the deal. Even though she’s mastered the idea of waiting to be released, she may not yet realize that this pertains to EVERY SINGLE TIME – even if she really really wants that flip-flop... TOY.
So you’re going to have to be prepared to immediately put her back in “Stay” and reinforce that she has to wait until she’s released in order to get the reward. And you can use this for pretty much ANYTHING. For instance, We live literally right across the street from the Mojave Desert in Southwest Las Vegas – which is a GREAT place to take the dogs to get off their leashes and explore. Now it’s usually no problem, but other people like to go there with their dogs, ATVs, motorcycles . . . shotguns...
So before she gets to take off in the desert, she knows the drill. I make sure the coast is clear, and when all is safe, she gets released to make all kinds of her own trouble.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me.
The address is pawspective@gmail.com
Thanks for watching!
