How to teach a dog the wait command?

To practice, use the "wait" command every time you let the dog go outside or leave the crate. When your dog is ready to explore the yard or leave the cage, start by giving the command "wait." Then, open the door a little bit, and see if the dog lunges forward to get out. If so, close the door quickly. Next, try to give your dog the command again. Each time you give the command, open the door slightly and close it quickly if your dog lunges forward to get out. In the early stages of training, reward any hesitation. If you give your dog the "wait" command, and they hesitate, praise them and open the door. As you open the door, use a command that lets them know it's OK to move forward, such as "free" or "go ahead." Once your dog begins to truly "wait" when you give the command, make it wait a few more seconds before the release. You can also teach your dog how to wait in other contexts, like waiting for food. Simply lower the food bowl toward the floor, and get it to your knee without the dog moving towards it. Move the bowl back up toward you if your dog moves. However, if you reach your knee and your dog behaves, offer a treat as a reward. You can use "wait" before you go outside for a walk on a leash as well. You may also want your dog to wait before getting out of the car or at the top of the stairs while you go to the basement. Anytime when it's in your dog's best interest—safety and self-discipline—is a good time to use this command.

To teach your dog to wait, start by having your dog sitting and then take one step out at a time, come back in, say the command ‘Wait’, and then give your dog a treat. Keep practising this and try to get one step further away each time, so that your dog starts to associate staying still with you coming back and them getting a treat. It’s important when you walk away and come back, you continue to let your dog know that you are pleased with them. Smile and look happy, rather than stern or staring at them because that can make them get up and follow you. Before learning to wait, your dog should know how to sit, you can teach your dog to sit by holding the treat close to your dog’s nose and raise it slightly over their head so that their bottom naturally has to touch the ground to follow it. As soon as their bottom touches the ground, say your command, and then give plenty of praise, plus the treat as a reward.

Ask your dog to lie down. Give your dog a hand signal - for example, a stop sign with the palm of your hand facing your dog. Say 'stay' and then give it to them. It's important to reward your dog while they're still lying down, and not if they've got back up. Practise this many times in short but regular sessions, gradually increasing the length of time your dog stays in the down position. You can also teach your dog to stay in a 'sit' position. Follow the steps above, but start by asking your dog to sit.

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.