How to teach a dog the wait command?

We teach the dogs to wait for our permission to cross the threshold not by adding a word, but by setting firm boundaries and building a leader-follower relationship. Everything is permission-based, so everything involves waiting. During the board and train, dogs wait for permission to cross thresholds, they wait for permission to break commands, they wait for permission to eat, etc. Waiting is also a constant occurrence during training because it’s one way we begin to address the dog’s state of mind. Most dogs are super amped up—some from excitability and hyperactivity, some from nervousness or fear, etc.—but dogs don’t make very good decisions when they’re in an elevated state of mind. We teach them to calm down and think through their behavior, and doing things slow and steady is one way we accomplish this. For best results, teach stay and wait as implied concepts: build stay into your stationary commands and build wait into your interactions with the dog across many contexts.

It’s easy to teach your dog to wait. With your dog sitting, facing you, hold her bowl at chest level and say “Wait.” Lower the food bowl toward the floor two inches. If your dog stays sitting, click your clicker and raise the bowl back up again, and feed her a treat from the bowl. If she gets up, say “Oops” and ask her to sit again. If she remains in place, lower the bowl two inches again, mark, raise the bowl, and treat. Repeat this step several times until she consistently remains sitting as you lower the bowl. Mark and treat each time. Gradually move the bowl closer to the floor with succeeding repetitions until you can place it on the floor two feet away from her and pick it back up without her getting up or trying to eat it. When your dog is solid with Wait at her bowl, you’re ready to generalize the behavior. The next easy place to practice Wait is at the door. Start with your dog sitting or standing – whichever you prefer. Say “Wait” in a cheerful tone of voice. Begin to open the door just slightly. If your dog starts to go out, say, “Oops!” and close the door. Say “Wait” and try opening the door again. If she stays in place, close the door mark and release. Repeat several times. Practice cueing your dog to Wait, and opening the door until you can open it completely and she stays in place. As you’re walking, say, “Wait,” take a few more slow steps and stop. If your dog stops, mark and treat, and continue walking. If your dog continues moving after you stop, let her walk on. When she stops at the end of the leash, mark and treat, and walk on. She should quickly learn to stop when you say “Wait.”

To train the wait command, hold puppy leash and stand in front of door with her. Say wait and then slowly open the door. If puppy moves forward, close the door, try again. If puppy doesn’t move forward, then say your release command and walk through door. You also need to mark and reward, but the text does not specify when to do that.