# what command should I use for "stay here"?



## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

HI Everyone -

Pearl is 12 weeks old today, and we've been taking morning walks off leash. Last week she started bolting back to go swimming in the irrigation ditch, when we turned around. I saw a great blog post about recalls, and I started changing direction on her to keep her focus on me. I also started click/treat whenever she would stop and look back at me. I was using a flexi lead when we got closest to the ditch, to keep her from self-rewarding. 

Well she is doing great, hardly goes far out at all without stopping and looking back. She even does these cute sprints and then brakes hard, time to look back for my treat! I need to give this a name. With our other dogs, we've used the command "stay here" to mean stop, go no further, and hang out with me. Not a come or a heel, but something useful to use when out hiking and I want to avoid something, like an obstacle, or a distraction, or keep them from going out of sight around the corner.

I am wondering if this command might be confusing, because it contains "stay" which has a completely different meaning. Is it effective or confusing to combine words like this? Obviously it makes it easy for me, because I am telling them something in a logical language way, but there is no reason to do this other than it is how I've always done it. Interestingly, I realize today that I also use "right here" to mean a tighter circle around me, as in I want them as close to me as a heel, but not in a heel.

My girls are just pets, and living in Western Montana we spend most of our recreational time off leash, so nuances are important for effectiveness, and with Pearl I want to rethink how I do these things, to give her the greatest chance at easy success. 

Thanks in advance.


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

Halt or wait might work.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I'm a little confused reading through you post, are you wanting a command that means "stay in my area" or are you wanting a command that means "stop and wait for me"


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I use 'hold up' since this is a natural expression for me


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

My situation is different because it is all on-leash (we are still working on loose leash walking and will be for a while, ah !) in a suburban environment with walkways but I decided to use "check in" when Col (5 months) starts pulling forward and I stop dead in my track. 

It just means come back to my left side and look at me; she does not have to sit, to completely stop, or to be in heel position. As soon as she is there, we continue walking. I also thank her for checking in when she is walking with loose leash and looks at me. I do not treat every check in but still most of them. I do not use a clicker but "yes" if a treat is coming and "thank you" if it is not. We'll see how that works in the long term when treats are used less heavily.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

I use 'stay close' when we're hiking and I want Kea in my general vicinity where I can see her but not necessarily in heel position. It seems to work well, and she definitely knows it's not the same as 'stay' (stay right where I put you until I come back and release you)


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## CStrong73 (Jun 11, 2012)

Another option might be "with me".


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## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

Loisiana said:


> I'm a little confused reading through you post, are you wanting a command that means "stay in my area" or are you wanting a command that means "stop and wait for me"


good point, thanks for asking.

I want both, sort of. Right now I want to name the "shaping" that I'm doing where she has ceased running far ahead, and I click/treat anytime she stops and looks at me (and then runs back for the treat). This was to stop her from bolting, but maybe I need to just call this a "come". I do like "hold up" as a completely different command. However we do have a 7 yo golden also, and I have to keep in mind teaching her a new command, although she could use some instruction/refreshing/mental challenges.

Since she is so young we aren't in any classes yet. She came already knowing sit, and "throwing" settles (voluntarily laying down when she wanted something) and since our life is lived off leash I want this to become second nature. I don't want to give her a chance to learn to ignore me.

I'm using this blog post as a guide:

By popular demand: recall training | Retrieving for All Occasions

I am doing step 1: Keep an eye on ME when off leash. I wish they continued the instructions, as to whether I should even name this behavior, or not.

So far she's doing great at "rubberbanding"

I'm considering doing this class, since we can do it right away. I don't have plans to perform or compete with her, but you never know. 

Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - OB110: Raising a Performance Puppy 1


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

All of my "Obedience" trainers have told me to only use one word commands and to be sure that none sound the same or like the call name of my dog. Therefore I use:
*Call name e.g. "Dee"* - look at me
*Here* or three quick whistles - run back to me and heal
*Sit* or one quick whistle - stop now and sit, looking back at me
*Down -* Lay down now
Kennel
*Leave *(it) - don't touch, smell, or eat
*Over or Back* - go the way I am pointing
We have a few other for field work, but that is a taste of what I use


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

If you are looking for a stop and wait for me command - we use whoa with great success. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

I commented over in the other thread but the conventional wisdom is to keep the commands to one word. None of them should sound enough alike to be confused by the dog. We use:
*wait, *don't move until further instructed or released
*stay,* used after commanding _sit, down, or stand
_*close,* get close enough to me so that I can touch you but not necessarily heel position
*place,* get in heel position


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I tend to use words that are a natural part of my vocabulary, hence, I use "wait" when I want them to stop so I can catch up. The command "stay" means don't leave the location you are standing/sitting/lying in, don't move a paw, until told to do so, so they are very different.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Just thinking out loud...
I use one word commands for commands that define a very specific behavior, such as sit, down, stay, heel, come, and so on.
I often use commands that are more than one word for a more vague action, like "back up", "walk close", "walk nice", "wait for me", "fix it", and so on. 
Not sure why.


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## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

If we are just out walking I use "with me" if I want him to wait and not move I say "wait".


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I just tell my guys - "Get back here" or "wait up". Also "slow down". 

Yes, they do understand English - especially since those words above are initially paired with a leash tug.

If I understand your post - it basically is the context of your dog charging ahead without you and you want them to hold up and wait for you. 

If you really mean that those situations where the dog is charging into territory forbidden (ditches, swampy lowlands, etc) - then what I normally say is "NO, get back here". The word "NO" to my dogs always means STOP.

^ And the above applies to all informal situations, where you are out hiking with the dogs and the dogs are "on their own time". 

When we are training and I want more precise behavior - then I do tend to be a bit more precise with one word commands that specifically apply to actions I want them to perform. Heel, come, stay, wait, etc...

Informal and formal are separate applications - because if you want something precise to always be precise, then you need to immediately reinforce when the results are not correct and immediate. In informal situations, you rarely ever will be able to reinforce exact behaviors. And I can't even imagine asking a dog to be precise when you are out and want the dog to just be a dog and have fun.

I should add for most "pet only" people - situations where you will want more precise behaviors (as opposed to just out hiking in fields somewhere) would be when you have your dog in a pet store or crossing a street or in a public area where your dog will likely get into trouble if he's not right with you and paying attention to only you. There are reasons why you take all the dog classes and teach your dogs precise behaviors.


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## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

Thank you so much everyone. This has helped me a lot. I guess I do have two types of commands too, formal and informal. We mostly use informal, since we live rurally and don't go to urban places very often. It's ironic, but the most "urban" place we go is to a campground where we spend most spring weekends rafting. 

I think I am going to stick with "wait" as a stop and wait for me. We already kind of use it that way, I just need to be more consistent and refresh Lila's training. I think that will be good to use for marking this current behavior, because what she is doing is stopping and looking back at me. If she comes, great, if she just waits, that's fine too.

I need to think more about changing "stay here". As I think about it more, I also have use "right here" as a command to stay right at me. That makes it seem like maybe it is even more confusing. Stay here is currently something that means hang out with me, don't go dashing off. Maybe that is it, hang out! Ugh. It's hard to completely re-evaluate your training terms! I don't want to confuse the matter, but now is a good time to think about this to improve my communication with the girls.

Lila and I are going to do some training again also, before I read Megora's post about formal I had signed us up for a ball herding class. Just something fun, that will increase our connection at distance. That's what I liked about agility, distance commands and connection. We'll see how it goes, and I'll probably take her through another Obedience class this fall. She's kind of lazy, didn't like agility so we'll see how she does with this ball thing.

Thanks!


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