Ever feel like your dog is mocking you?
We’re stuck in the mud, people. For the entire month of March, we learned how to keep our floors mud-free. It may be April, but it’s still spring and there’s still dogs and puppies blasting in from outside and leaving muddy paw prints everywhere. We have work to do. Never fear - it will be FUN!
There are four puzzle pieces that, when clicked together, make a picture of a well-trained dog sitting on a spotless floor in your front hallway.
Sit
Stay
Paw ( I could make this really cute, and use “Shake” instead of “Paw,” but I have another command called SHAKE (as in shake off your wet self on the front porch, instead of inside in the house. It comes in handy for bath-time too!)
Stand
I hope you’ve been practicing sit, stay, and paw. If not, there’s still plenty of time to get caught up because of #socialisolation, #quarantine, and #socialdistancing.
You can read about SIT here: https://beyonddogtraining.ca/news/mud
You can read about STAY here: https://beyonddogtraining.ca/news/how-stay-can-help-your-house-stay-clean
You can read about PAW here: https://beyonddogtraining.ca/news/the-secret-steps-to-mud-free-floors
Let’s get started on the STAND Command. Today’s imaginary dog is called Chloe. She’s a white boxer puppy and her favourite activity is romping through mud puddles.
There are lots of ways to teach the stand. I like to teach it from the sitting position. It’s SUPER easy and your dog will learn it in no time at all.
Once your dog knows how to STAND on command, you can wipe their muddy feet…and teach them to chill out on your paddle board.
Step 1: Ask your dog to sit and reward them for doing so. This can be with verbal praise “Good sit,” or verbal praise plus a treat.
Step 2: I like to kneel for this step, unless I’m working with a Great Dane. Hold a treat in your fist and lure your dog into a standing position. To do this, hold your fist near their nose, so they can smell the food, and then slowly move your fist in a straight line away from their nose, like you’re drawing a straight line on the horizon. This is a VERY small movement. Your dog should naturally stand up to follow the treat. You can also gently touch under their belly with your free hand, so they get the idea. As soon as they stand, say “Good stand,” and feed them the treat.
Step 3: Practice this five times.
Step 4: Now, you can start saying: “Chloe, stand,” lure her into stand, “Good stand,” treat with food if you like.
Step 5: As with any new command, practice this roughly ten or fifteen times, and then mix in some of the other commands your dog already knows. Eventually, you can phase out the lure and be able to say the word stand, and have Chloe know what you mean.
I’m standing…now what?!
PRO TIP: Practice this new command from a kneeling position on day one. On day two also practice it while standing. This way your dog doesn’t learn that the only time she needs to stand is when you are kneeling in your front hall. You want her to be able to learn to stand anywhere you ask her to, inside or outside.
The STAND command can come in useful for capturing beautiful photos of your dog as well.
Before you take off to teach your dog to stand, check out these resources so that you can keep up-to-date on all things COVID:
Scott Weese’s “Worms and Germs” blog has everything you need to know about animals and COVID-19. You can find it here: https://www.wormsandgermsblog.com/?s=covid
Free dog training tips and puppy socialization tips from Beyond Dog Training available here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gobeyonddogtraining/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/GoBeyondDogTraining
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@beyonddogtraining
3. Online dog training with Beyond Dog Training - this has ALWAYS been part of our business model, so we offer the BEST online dog training in Guelph. We are currently helping clients with food aggression, puppy housebreaking issues, puppy chewing the wall issues, and more!
To book an online training session click here: https://beyonddogtraining.ca/take-action
I hope you have a happy spring and enjoy those mud-free floors!
Coming soon to a garden near you: tulips!
Alyssa
Photos by: Alyssa Foulkes (Rottweiler standing in mud,) Marco López (person and dog on stand-up paddle board,) Bryan Hanson (bulldog standing up,) Patrick Hendry (dog standing on beautiful tree stump,) Richard Brutyo (Golden Retriever with tulip in its mouth.)