Home Based Dog Training

The stand is one of the simplest commands to teach, because a person is allowed to touch the dog in order to stand it in almost all scenarios.  One may physically stand the dog at all but the highest levels of competition.

The stand is important for many reasons.  It is called “The Stand for Examination” because often people will “stand” their dogs at the veterinarian's office.  If one can get a dog to stay in a stand, it is easy for the veterinarian to examine it.

Another scenario for which the stand is handy is grooming.  A professional groomer will often want to stand a dog while washing, brushing, etc.

A word of warning here:  Never, ever, ask your dog to stand and then allow something traumatic to happen to it.  If a dog learns to associate the stand with getting a shot, or something else unpleasant, it will learn to refuse to stand.

To teach a dog to stand, start with the dog on lead, sitting in the heel position (which means the dog's ear should be in line with the seam of your pants, on your left side).  Position the loop of the training collar under the dog's chin.  Give the stand command, and then with your right hand, gently pull the leash, which will tighten the collar, out in front of the dog's face, in a direction parallel with the floor or ground. You are gently “correcting in the direction” you want the dog's head to move.   At the same time, using the back of your left hand, push up on the dog's belly. 

Be careful not to pull up on the leash, because that will make the dog think you want it to sit.  Be careful not to pull down on the leash, because that will make the dog think you want it to lie down.  Pull the leash straight out in front of the dog's eyes.

Ask someone else to help you practice the stand.  Put your dog into a stand and then tell it to stay (see “Training Your Dog to Stay”).  Your assistant should approach the dog, confidently but gently, and allow the dog to smell his or her hand.  Your assistant should then apply gentle pressure down the dog's spine.  This is how a judge will test a dog's stand in competition and this is similar to how a veterinarian will examine a dog.

Remember that if you give a dog a stand command, you must then give another command to let it out of its stand.  Either follow the stand with a heel command, or a sit command, or a release command.  We don't want to ask a dog to stand perpetually.

Practice the stand by mixing it in with all of the other commands you are teaching.  Remember to only practice for ten to fifteen minutes per day.  We want our dogs to look forward to training, so remember to keep your training time interesting and fun, so that it won't be drudgery for the dog.