Teaching Your Dog to Stay: Duration, Distance, and Distractions

Ryan Leese
13 minutes ago
3 min read

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The cue stay is one of the most useful skills you can teach your dog — but it’s also one of the most misunderstood. Different trainers use the word differently, and some prefer to use wait instead. Others argue you don’t even need a specific word if the behaviour is taught well.

In this post, we’ll break down what stay can mean, how to teach it step by step, and how to avoid the common pitfalls.

What Does “Stay” Mean?

For me, stay simply means:👉 Your dog holds a position — sit, down, or stand — until you return and release them.

That’s different from wait, which I use when I might recall my dog out of position (like waiting before dinner or at the door). Both have their place, but consistency is key: make sure your dog knows what each word means.

The 3Ds of Stay Training

To build a reliable stay, think of the 3Ds:

Duration – how long your dog stays.
Distance – how far you move away.
Distractions – what else is happening around your dog.

Imagine these as three faders on a sound mixer. At the start, set them all to zero, and raise them one at a time.

Step 1: Duration

Start with your dog in a sit. Count two seconds, say good, and reward. Gradually build to 4 seconds, then 6, 8, and 10.

👉 If your dog gets up before the end, go back a step. For example, if you aimed for 10 seconds but they stood at 6, reward at 6 next time and build from there.

Patience is everything here — pushing too fast is the quickest way to lose progress.

Step 2: Distance

Once your dog can hold position for 10 seconds, reset your duration to just a couple of seconds and start working on distance.

Take one small step back, then return and reward.
If your dog follows you, make it easier — for example, by just shifting one foot back.
Build slowly to 5 steps away.

When 5 steps feels solid, combine it with duration: five paces back, hold for 5 seconds, then return and reward.

Step 3: Distractions

Distractions are everywhere — birds, cars, people, or even your own movements. To train this:

Ask for a sit.
Turn your shoulder slightly, then return and reward.
Progress to turning your back, walking away, or doing silly movements (star jumps, clapping, etc.).

The key is to start easy and increase difficulty gradually.

Stay vs Wait: Do You Need Both?

Stay → Dog remains in position until you return and release them.
Wait → Dog holds position until recalled or given permission.

Both can be valuable, but you don’t have to use both if it feels complicated. What matters most is that you and your dog have a clear, consistent understanding.

Cueing and Releasing

Say the cue once. Repeating “stay, stay, stay” only teaches your dog to tune you out.
Hand signals can help, but don’t let them overshadow your verbal cue.
Always use a release cue (like “okay” or “break”) so your dog knows when the exercise is finished.

To teach this, say your release word, then toss a treat forward. That way, your dog learns that the word — not your body movement — ends the stay.

Out of Sight Stays

Once your dog is confident, you can introduce “out of sight” stays. Start small: step behind a wall or door for a second, then return.

Here’s how I practiced with my collie, Merlin:

Began with him on a raised platform (a “station”).
Asked for a stay, briefly stepped out of sight, and returned.
Gradually extended to a full minute.

Remember: keep it varied. Sometimes return quickly, sometimes take longer. Sometimes reward, sometimes don’t. That unpredictability builds real reliability.