Whether you have a puppy or older dog, use of the wait command is important for a couple of reasons. First, it teaches your pup patience and impulse control, and what dog couldn’t use more of that quality? Second, it reminds your dog who the alpha is and who controls her resources. The wait command can be used in all of the following ways:
- Wait to eat food
- Wait to exit a doorway
- Wait to get in the car
- Wait to grab a toy
- Wait to cross a street
- Wait to greet a guest
- Wait before going up/down stairs
- Wait for treats
To teach the wait command, it’s important to choose the right setting. Beginning in a non-distraction, quiet setting is important, so your pup can better focus on you without any distractions. First, put your dog into a sit and place yourself in front of your dog, 3 feet or so away. Next, tell your dog “wait!” before making any movements. Slowly, and I mean sloooowly, bend over and start moving your hand (with treat) toward the floor. Most likely, this will set your dog into motion. As soon as this happens, say “no!” and stand back up straight. Put your pup back into a sit and then say “wait!” again and start slowly bending over and moving your hand slowly toward the floor. Again, your dog will most likely move. Rinse and repeat the above process until you get the treat all the way down to the floor. This could take 15 to 20 minutes, so be patient. You should probably say the word “wait!” 5 – 7 times as you’re bending down to place the treat on the floor.
Once you have the treat touching the floor, and before you remove your hand from the treat, simultaneously say “OK!” and remove your hand from the treat. Your pup will then pounce on and eat the treat. Grab another treat and put your dog back in a sit, 3 feet from where you are standing. Rinse and repeat the steps in the prior paragraph – it won’t take you 15 minutes to get the treat to the floor, but could take a few minutes – patience. Again, once your treat is touching the floor, simultaneously say “OK!” and remove your hand from the treat. Rinse and repeat 10 more times and then take a break.
OK, break time is over. Now, move yourself to 2 feet from your sitting dog and tell him “wait!”. You will probably find that your dog is more antsy for the treat, as she is now closer to it. As you bend over to place the treat on the floor, be prepared to say “no!” and reset several times until you again get the treat touching the floor. And again, say “OK!” and remove your hand from the treat. Rinse and repeat the above 10 times and then take another break.
I imagine you know I am going to tell you to stand 1 foot from your sitting dog. Rinse and repeat the above until you get 5 solid waits, then take another break.
From here, it’s all about increasing the duration of the wait. Don’t try to get to 5 seconds of wait time before doing 1,2,3, and 4 seconds. Once you get to 5 seconds, take another break. Then when you start again, start at 1 second, then 3, then 5, then 7, and so on.
Now you can start practicing the wait command on each of the 8 ways noted above. As you can see from my instructions on waiting for treats, use the same methodology on the other 7 ways. For example, for waiting to go through a doorway, put your pup on leash, have her sit at the doorway and tell her to wait until you exit through the doorway first and then immediately tell her “OK!”. Do that for a few times and then increase the duration to 1 second, then 2, etc.
Good luck!
