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This is the Puppy Training Podcast , episode 164,

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. Is your Dog Willing to Wait ? This

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podcast is designed to help you on your

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journey of becoming best friends through love and

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learning , as you train your own dog from

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home , and I'm here to help you every

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step of the way . This is the Puppy Training

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Podcast and I'm your host , amy Jensen

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. Hello

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, happy Wednesday everybody . We

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are in the middle of winter here in Utah , but

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, hey , days are getting

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longer . Okay , so I

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know there is more daylight in

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a day . Technically speaking , that

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days really are 24 hours , that

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never changes , but there's more daylight and it makes

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me so happy . My kids caught me saying this last week

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and they're like Mom , days are always 24 hours long

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. Anyway , kind of funny . Do your

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dogs feel the difference between seasons ? I know mine do

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. There's always an adjustment period , it seems

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like , between winter and summer . We

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spend a lot more time indoors in

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the winter , I've noticed , and evenings seem

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very long sometimes . We

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do more mental enrichment in the winter , it

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seems , and spend more time exploring outdoors

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in the summer . It's all good , though . I

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really enjoy having four seasons . I

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like the change of it and the

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variety that it brings , so I won't

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complain . It is just fascinating to me

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how we go through seasons and shift as necessary

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. It reminds me that humans and dogs

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can be quite resilient creatures . Actually

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, here at Backstreet Urmbella

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, our goal is to help you find success in

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living life with your dog . We want your

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dogs to be part of your family and

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a joy to be around . So how

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do you train the family dog ? That

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is a good question , right ? Let's

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start with well , what are things

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you want your dog to be able to

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do ? What's on your list ? I would love

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to hear your thoughts . Send me your ideas to info

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at BackstreetUrmbellacom or tag us at BackstreetUrmbella

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. I'm continually creating content

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to help you on your training journey and I want to know

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what you are most interested in

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learning about today . So send me an email

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or send me a comment on

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our social media While I wait pun

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intended for your useful responses

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to come in . Today we are talking about

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waiting . This is something

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I know you need to teach your dog . Why ? Because

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dogs don't naturally know how to

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wait . What Like really ? Yep

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, that's true . Dogs are what we call

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impulsive creatures . So

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let's dive in . Did you know

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that a dog's ability to wait for something they want

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is influenced by several things

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. Primarily , it's rooted in their instincts

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and the training they receive . So we can

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help you with this right Now . Patience

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, or the lack thereof , is deeply embedded

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in a dog's nature . It's who they are . Dogs

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are naturally impulsive and they the

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waiting or asking them to wait can be challenging

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due to their innate desire for immediate

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gratification . So they basically see

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something they want and they're wired to go

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get it as fast as they can . This can present

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problems . When we talk about a dog living in

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a human household , can you think of some scenarios

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where this might be problematic ? More

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often than not , people ask breeders for the calm

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puppy in the litter . We want the calm one . Well

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, good news , we can help you teach your dog to wait

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for things , which means they are

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acting calm . Now , first

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, it's important to touch on the willingness

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part . Our dogs must be willing to

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wait . They must be willing to do

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what we are asking of them . How do we cultivate

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this willingness ? To help

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our dogs become more willing to work with us and

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cultivate patience , we need to be consistent

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with our training and use positive reinforcement

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. Those are the keys . We

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want to be fun , to be around right . We want

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our dog to think of us as a treat , not a threat

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. Teaching a dog to wait involves

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creating a structured environment , so we

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set them up for success and we encourage

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self-control . I like to begin with

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basic behaviors like sit and stay , gradually

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building up to more extended periods

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that I'm asking the dog to wait . Now

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we do this in the beginning one second at a

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time . I ask my puppy to sit , I

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pay them , count to one , pay them again

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, count to two , pay them again , count

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to three , pay them again , and so

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on . Once I work up to 20 seconds

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with a dog , they seem to catch on that holding

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still is what I'm wanting . Then

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I start to double and triple the time until eventually

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my dogs can hold still for hours . Now

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that would be in a down position . I would never

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ask my dog to sit for hours . It's not super

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comfortable for them and of course , when they're ready

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to lay down I would let them . We want them

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to be comfortable . So if

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you have no need for your dog to

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hold a down position for hours , then

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you don't need to work up to hours . You

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may only say you know what , if my dog would just

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hold still for five to 10 minutes , that's

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great . Then we work to five

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to 10 minutes . So pay attention to what you

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want your dog to do specifically for different

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scenarios and train for that . For

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example , if you want your dog to chill while you eat dinner

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, work up to the duration of your dinner

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time . Now with duration , start

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, like I mentioned , with those short intervals and we just

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incrementally increase the time as your dog

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becomes more comfortable . I like to reinforce

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that good behavior with treats , praise their

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food , releasing them and

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playing their favorite game is awesome , but

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we want to reinforce the positive association

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with waiting patiently . Remember

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they don't think that waiting will bring good things

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. We want to show them . Did you know

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that actually , if you wait for that , good things

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happen . Now maybe your dog is getting

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really good at waiting when things are calm around the

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home . But what about when life happens and distractions

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are present ? Waiting distractions

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during training is really important for real

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world scenarios . We want to introduce

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various stimuli gradually , such

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as noises , toys , other

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pets , while reinforcing the

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waiting behavior . This will help our dog learn

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to focus on cues amidst

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potential distractions . For specific

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scenarios like waiting at the door , incorporate

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door etiquette into training sessions . I

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like to think what do I want that to look like ? What

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do I want the situation to look like ? What do I want

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my dog to do ? I use cues

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like wait or a stay before opening

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the door and reward my dog's willingness

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to comply . I also like to teach

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people how to get their dog to go to a mat or

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a spot or a place right Maybe a favorite chair

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in that room . The dog hears the knock on the door

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. That's the cue to go , get on the chair and

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wait until released . So

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we want to practice these things , obviously setting our dogs

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up for success . I'm not going to imagine

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that I can teach my dog to wait

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in a quiet room with no distractions

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and then the doorbell is going to ring and I'm going to immediately

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be able to get great behavior of the dog

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sitting on the chair , waiting and not getting off

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in the midst of this great distraction

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. That's really tempting and exciting . So we

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want to make sure that we have the end

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all goal in mind and then break

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that behavior down into small successful

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steps for our dog and practice

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that they are successful . They get rewarded and

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praised for accomplishing

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each little step all the way up to the final behavior

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, which takes time . So in the meantime we manage

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right . We use a leash , we use a crate , we

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use a baby gate or a pen . When

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that doorbell rings or a knock comes , we

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manage and then , when we have time

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, we train and work on better behavior until

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finally the trigger can happen

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, like the door , the door knock or the bell

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, and the dog can do the final behavior . I

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might also use a weight during meal time . Maybe

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I would like my dog to lie down in

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the kitchen on a mat or under the table

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and chill out while we eat dinner

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. So using the weight cue

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can signal to my dog it's time for you

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to be still while we eat

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Now . Greeting guests is another situation

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where patients is vital . We teach our dogs to wait

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calmly , either sitting or standing , until

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I signal it's okay to approach . I like to use the

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cue , say hi . So when I say that

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my dog knows , oh , I can go now over

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to that person and greet them , but I expect

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them to wait to do so until I

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cue them that it's okay to do so Now

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. Being consistent is key in reinforcing

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these behaviors and helping our dog understand what's

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being expected of them . We

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teach you how to work through these specific skills in our classes

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and courses here at Baxter and Bella . So if you need help

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, please let us know . Please reach out and ask

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. We are happy to coach you through

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these things . After all , our goal is for

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you to be successful . So

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think what do I want my dog to

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do ? Then reach out to us and

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let us help you get there . Your dog's

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ability to wait can be enhanced through patient , consistent

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training that gradually challenges

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and reinforces your dog's self control

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. Remember , they come with zero patients

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. They're just not born with it . So we

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have to teach them . And we teach them , as I mentioned

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, second by second . So

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they wait for one second , they get rewarded . They

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wait for two seconds they get rewarded . We build

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that up to that 20 seconds . Then

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we can start adding in the distractions and

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the distance and longer durations

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to make it more difficult for our dogs

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, but also doing it carefully such

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that that difficulty's not too much for them . We

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don't want our dogs to be frustrated or give

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up or not like training . We want training to be

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fun and engaging

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to them . So we help them win

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, with lots of little successes along the

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way to our final goal of the

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end all behavior by understanding

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and working with our dogs natural instincts , we

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can help our dogs develop the patients needed to wait

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patiently at the door , lay

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down under the table for meal times and

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when greeting guests , you guys go give

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your dog a big high five from me . Have a great week

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and happy training . If

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you have a question about anything you heard on this

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podcast or any other puppy training question

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, visit my site BaxterAndBellacom

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to contact me .