🐶The “wait” command is important in the life of every dog: it is one of the basic elements of your pet’s safety and your peace of mind.
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How to teach your dog the “Wait” command? 10 rules to follow🔻
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1️⃣ You should start the training process in a quiet, safe place, with the minimum number of distractions.
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2️⃣ Start raising the difficulty by increasing the time of waiting, and not the distance. Make sure you are standing right in front of your dog. You should ask your pup to “sit” or “lie down”, and then use the “Wait” command, slowly increasing the period of waiting in the same position.
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3️⃣ You can start moving farther away only when your dog clearly understands what is requested of him/her (to sit/lie without moving).
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4️⃣ At first, constantly reward your dog for staying in one place and not changing his/her position. The interval between rewarding your pet should slowly increase, and then you can switch to variable reinforcement altogether.
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5️⃣ Turn your gaze away from your dog every now and then, so that he/she doesn’t associate the command with your constant control. Then you can also turn sideways or your back to your pet, leave your dog’s view for a bit (for example, hide behind a corner of a building or a tree, etc.).
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6️⃣ Slowly introduce distractions to training.
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7️⃣ If your dog makes a mistake, don’t be mad and don’t scold him/her. Just come back to the previous position, correct your pet and ask them to wait again, but make sure to make the task a bit simpler (decrease the waiting period or the distance).
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8️⃣ Choose the type of reward that your dog is most interested in at the moment.
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9️⃣ Make sure to always finish the “Wait” command with a release-word, for instance “Free” or “Walk”, etc.
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🔟 Remember that your pup wants to follow you everywhere and at all times, so the “Wait” command is very complicated and requires serious impulse-control from your pet. Don’t expect you pup to learn immediately, be patient and give him/her time 🐕
