Wait vs Stay vs Leave It

FAJ · Enlightened One

Wait vs Stay vs Leave It

Jennifer · Big Cheese

I use the "leave it" command for Millie before she is given her dinner and she has picked that up fairly quickly. I would imagine it wouldn't matter if you use "stay" or "wait", as long as you stick to one or other. I tell my dogs to "wait" if they are walking to far ahead of me and they seem to know that. I think consistency is the key. Probably not much help but thats just my own experience.

Dave · Enlightened One

Hi Fiona, can't see you doing anything wrong here, we cover different scenarios in Viv's class using the same commands. 'Leave It' is a signal for the dog not to touch something and that does include something that might just happen to be in their mouths at that particular moment, similarly 'Stay' is the command for the dog not to move, whether thats at a door, getting into or out of a car or when off lead it's the signal for the dog to simply stay put.

If Harry has something of high value that he doesn't want to give you then to start off with he needs to be distracted from that with something of higher value (used with 'Leave it') should do the trick...

FAJ · Enlightened One

Thanks, Jennifer and Dave. We're consistent in how we use the commands but it's very likely that Harry and Pearly have learned what to do in each particular situation, rather than really and truly knowing the command.

Dave - we do the distraction thing with Harry and it works to a degree. We suspect that he hasn't had many toys in his lifetime because he's very focussed on them. Pearly can take his chews but woe betide her if she gets to close to his tuggy-toy!! Bless 'em.

Steve · Master

I think with Harry there is a confidence thing - I'll take things off him with the "leave it" command even when he has his fav toys planted firmly under his paw and jaws - he gives a growl sometimes but he knows who is boss. On the odd occassion that he gets a bone or if I think the toy is really getting some serious chewing then I'll swap it for a treat - save my fingers!

I think playing a wee bit rough with him actuallly helps a lot - seems to help him with boundaries. Seems to think he is a bull at times - likes to test his pushing power with his head and then enjoys a tug of war.

Amber · Master

I use the Leave It slightly differently; I taught it by offering the dog a rather boring dog biscuit in my hand and when he went to take it, closed my hand, said 'Leave it' in a neutral light voice and then gave him a very tasty treat (much better than the biscuit) with the other hand! Also used a clicker at the exact moment when he withdrew from taking the biscuit...you do need a lot of hands to do this, but found that Oscar picked it up within 3 times of doing this exercise (he's an intelligent lad - Petra still hasn't really 'got' it!). I could then transfer the cue to when we were playing tug with a toy - Leave It - lets go of toy & gets tasty treat AND gets toy back afterwards. Then transferred this cue onto cats!! Oscar terrible barker at cats - tried the Leave It cue and he immediately looked at me & got treat. This doesn't always work if the cat is moving, but much less barking at them now. So my understanding of the Leave It is Leave It alone and you get something much nicer instead.

I don't use Stay only 'wait' which I reiterate all the time when we are crossing roads etc., even when we stop for a minute to put poo bags in the bin or anything, so that it is used so often in different contexts but with the same meaning that hopefully they understand it always means stop and stay still.

FAJ · Enlightened One

Thanks, Olga, sounds good - we'll give it a go!

Fiona

glendy · Master

I've always thought the difference between Stay and Wait is: Stay is more formal amd restrictive. It effectively means 'Stay right there until I come back to you' whereas wait is less restrictive (and usually used for running through door type scenarios) when the command means 'Wait until I give you another command'.

Anyanka · Master

I have to confess that I probably use more commands than generally advisable - but Bonnie, being 3/4 border collie, has a great capacity for communication & a very big vocabulary (e.g. 'breakfast', 'dinner' and 'treat'...) With Piper (a Dog of Very Little Brain) I try to restrain myself a bit more, but as we've already established commands with Bo, we can't just cut them out!

I use 'stay' when Bonnie has to stay behind, or when she's been told to lie down and stay there; 'wait' when she is ahead of me, or has to wait for her food. The two words probably sound similar enough to be identical to her, though. After all, Bonnie hears any word ending in 'x' (including 'socks') to mean 'fox', and I learnt not to say 'good catch' as she went off looking for felines!

'Leave it' means leaving something alone in our usage, e.g. ducks,hedgehogs, guinea pigs, or anything else they are not supposed to go near. If they already have something in their mouth, the command is 'give'.

JanW · Master

I find half the time the dogs are actually responding to the hand gesture which goes with the verbal command, rather than just the word.

something else to think about - especially if the same hand gesture is used with more than one command e.g. stay & wait