Again, this lesson will be easier to teach with the aid of a
helper. The first thing is to have the puppy realize you have treats on your person by playing with him for a bit,
now and then offering one. Now that you have his interest, sit on the floor or lawn and have your helper take the
pup about 4 ft. out from you and hold him with his feet on the ground/floor, facing you. Use the "COME"
command. At that command, have your helper let the pup go, so he can run to you for the treat.
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After you have done this three or four times, your helper will again hold the pup facing you while you show
the treat. You will extend your arm, holding up your open palm (facing the puppy), blocking his view of your eyes, and
saying the command "Stay". You will repeat this command 2-3 times. The puppy
will be wanting to come to you but, your helper will not allow this to happen. You will keep playing with
the treat, so the puppy can see it but, keep it near your body. Do not hold the treat out toward the pup.
This would be unfair teasing. You want him to know, coming to you would mean a "good thing" but, you
don't want to be cruel.
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After
issuing the 3-4 "STAY" commands, with about 3 seconds between each command, issue the "COME"
command. That will be the signal for your helper to release the puppy. When the puppy reaches
you, offer only the one treat and give him praise for a "job well done". Now, we know at this
point, he hasn't done all that well but, he needs to think he has.
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Repeat the procedure for no more
than 10 times and rest the effort for the day. We don't want to push the training because especially here, we are
attempting to teach the puppy to "STAY and then "COME" (just the opposite) in the same practice session.
That, in itself is confusing enough to a young mind and also, we never want to make training boring. IT MUST
ALWAYS BE FUN AND/OR EXCITING! The helper needs to constantly be aware of how much she/he is controlling the pup.
As the practice progresses over several sessions, the amount of restraint needed should become less and less until
none is needed at all. As this begins to happen, the helper will slowly move from the "Control Mode"
to an "Encouraging Mode" aiding the puppy to stay. This will be gentle "coaching"
for the puppy to wait until the "COME" command is given. Once your pup has a decent "handle"
on these commands, the distance canbe increased to 10 ft, 20 ft., or more. Use your judgement but, don't push too hard,
too fast. Little steps with constant forward progress is much better then big steps with blunders.
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Success
in this effort depends completely on you, your attitude, your helper, their attitude, the puppy, his attitude, and time spent
on lessons. Generally, this can be taught in as few as 6-10 lesson sessions but, don't become dismayed if it doesn't
happen for 15-20 sessions or more. What ever it takes, the result will be well worth your time and efforts.
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When
your pup has mastered the "COME" and "STAY" commands, you can add in a third and forth action
that, many times, will come in handy. They would be the "SIT" and "DOWN" command.
Then, you would have,"Sit, Down, Stay, and then Come". This will be a series of actions your
"Pride and Joy Westie" will preform to make life for both of you more pleasant and SAFE.
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Soon, I'll be writing a page on training for the "Sit and Down"
commands. These generally are the first commands to be taught but, I had a few requests to create the "Come and
Stay" pages just recently. Now, I'll have to work backward. I've been wanting to write these pages and many
more for a long time but, there's only so much time to do all that needs to be done.
Please check back.
