Training Problem Finder: Two Questions, One Plan
Tell us your dog's stage and what you're working on. You'll get the cognitive reason the problem happens, a practice routine you can run today, and the guides and games that actually apply.
1Which stage is your dog in?
2What are you working on?
Your plan
Adult stay: rebuild duration before distance, every time
Adult stays break because handlers raise distance and distraction together. Reasoning-led dogs also learn that stay means 'until something interesting happens' if you never pay long holds.
Lead dimension: Reasoning
Routine: Duration–distance–distraction cycles
2 sessions a day, 3 minutes each
- Rebuild duration first: 30 seconds at zero distance, paying intermittently during the hold, not only at the end.
- Reset to five seconds, then add distance one step at a time up to three metres.
- Reset again before introducing distraction; start with something the dog barely notices.
- Pay during the stay at random intervals so holding is reinforced, not just releasing.
- End every rep with an explicit release word.
Know when to progress: A one-minute stay at three metres with a mild distraction, held three sessions in a row.
Read next
Games that support this routine
Train the dog in front of you
These routines assume a typical profile. Dognition's assessment shows where your dog actually sits across the five cognitive dimensions, so you can pick the method that lands first time.
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