Teach Your Dog to Stay
Based on the work you've already done with the wait command, you'll start teaching your dog the meaning of stay as a self-control exercise. By building on small successes, you'll provide a good foundation for solid stays in practically any situation.
Self-Control Sit-Stay
Start with your dog sitting in heel position, on leash. Hold the leash a foot or so above your dog's head so that it has no tension or slack. Give your dog the stay command and signal. Drop a treat about a foot in front of your dog. If your dog stays, praise her, pick up the treat, give it to your dog, and release. If your dog gets up at any time before you get the treat to her, drop it back on the floor, quickly reposition your dog physically (don't tell her to sit), either with tension straight up on the leash, or tuck her into position, and remind her to “stay,” firmly. Wait a few seconds, then reward/release as earlier.
When your dog has had three to five successful repetitions, make it a little harder by throwing the treat a little farther away, so you have to take a big step out to get it. Repeat until you can get the treat about six feet away from your dog and have her hold the stay while you retrieve it. Every time you return, go all the way back to heel position before you reward, then release. Make sure your dog actually gets up and moves out of the position each time you release.
If your dog isn't food motivated, don't despair; you can still do this exercise. Find a toy, a tennis ball, a stick, or anything that your dog adores, and use it as the temptation object instead of the treat.
Self-Control Down and Stand-Stays
Repeat the self-control sit-stay exercise with the down-stay and the standstay. Even if your dog is a superstar at the self-control sit-stay, start at the beginning, placing the treat right in front of your dog in the down and stand positions, gradually moving the treat out to six feet away, as you did with the sit-stay, getting three to five successes and coming back to heel position to reward and release each time before moving on.
If your dog is having trouble holding the down, step on the leash so he can't get rewarded for breaking the stay. Depending on the size of your dog, you'll step on the leash from 2 to 8 inches from where it attaches to the collar. You don't want your dog to feel tension on the leash, but you also don't want to give him enough room to break the position. When training the stand-stay, any leash pressure should be forward, and come from under your dog's chin, not upward, over his head.
Ring Around the Puppy
When your dog is holding the stay with the treat six feet away, instead of simply picking up the treat and taking it right back to your dog, take a step or two to the right or left, then walk away from the dog, pick up the treat, and bring it back to heel position to reward and release. Gradually continue adding a couple of steps per repetition to the right or left in an arc, until you can get all the way around your dog. When you can get all the way around in one direction, go the other way, again adding a step or two at a time before you go back to heel position to reward and release.
You don't have to use treats to train the stay, although it does usually make the process faster. Give the command the same way, and progress the same way, just don't drop the treat for your dog to focus on. During the ring-around-the-puppy exercise, do extra repetitions before crossing behind your dog so he doesn't pivot to follow you.
Again, Without the Treat
Repeat your whole stay training process without the visible treat on the ground. It should go very quickly the second time around. You only need one or two successful repetitions before moving on. If your dog gets stuck during the process and makes a mistake, don't panic. Repeat what he can do successfully several times before progressing. If you're doing multiple successful repetitions, reward variably, sometimes releasing with lots of praise and some play, sometimes with several treats before the release, sometimes with just a calm “good stay” and release.
