How to Train Your Dog to Stay Beside You
Introduction
Training your dog to stay beside you whether you are on walks together or whether you are lounging around the coffee shop is a great trick to teach your dog. Dogs who often get the most attention out in public are the dogs who are the most well-behaved. Many people will comment on how well-behaved the dogs are and notice how they avoid distractions. Dogs who stay beside their owners have been trained to do so. They have been trained not only to obey their owners but also to respect them enough to stay with them no matter where they go and no matter what happens around them. If your dog is trained to stay beside you whether you were walking or relaxing, he will not be distracted by other animals or people around. This is an ideal situation whether you are walking through the neighborhood on a leash, at a dog park, or out downtown in dog-friendly restaurants.
Defining Tasks
Having your dog stay beside you starts with building confidence in your dog. He wants to please you, so he will work hard to do so. You are your dog's favorite person, so he wants to be near you. Dogs also thrive when owners set real boundaries. Setting a boundary with your dog of not allowing him to leave your side when you are out and about or when you were walking together will give him the confidence to be your best friend. You can use different keywords to let him know when it's time to leave together such as 'let's go' or 'come,' but ultimately you want to train your dog to stay with you whether you are walking or sitting. Though it's easier to teach puppies how to stay with you, older dogs can be taught as well. It just may take more time and repetition for your adult dog to understand.
Getting Started
To train your dog to stay beside you, your dog will need to start with a leash. Be sure to have lots of high-value tasty treats to keep your dog's attention as well, to reward him for a job well done. This is going to require a lot of repetitive training, so be prepared to set aside some time each day to train in short training sessions.
The Leash Start Method
The Lead Method
The Sit Stay Heel Method
Success Stories and Training Questions
Training Questions and Answers and Success Stories
Spaz
Hey I’m trying to teach my dog how to stay beside me and on walk and just in general what command should I try to use I have treats? Thanks!
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How can I stop my dog barking at other dogs when we go out?
704 Dog owners recommended
Hello Holly, First, check out the article linked below and the Quiet method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bark How does pup do with the dogs up-close. Is pup excited, fearful of them, aggressive? If pup is fearful, you will want to desensitize and build confidence around other dogs by rewarding pup for calmness at a distance where pup can stay calm, and gradually decreasing that distance as pup improves. Practicing obedience commands like Heel while doing this can also help to take pup's mind off the dogs and stay calmer, so that you can reward. If the issue is excitement, you can work on the same desensitization exercise for fear, but incorporate a whole lot of obedience to get pup into a working mindset so that they are focused on you and the dogs in the background become boring. Practicing the Passing Approach from the article linked below and only rewarded when pup is focused on you and calm, can also help - passing the other dog over and over again until they are boring can help with calmness when done right. Passing Approach: https://wagwalking.com/training/greet-other-dogs If the issue is aggression, the above exercises can help, but I also suggest working on building pup's respect for you in general, and working with a trainer or aggression specific class, like G.R.O.W.L class to address the underlying issues with other dogs. Respect building methods - Working, Consistency and Obedience tend to work best in combination with each other: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-doberman-to-listen-to-you Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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