Make Your Dog Stay in Your Yard Without a Leash

There are many different tricks and commands that you can teach your dog. One of these commands is staying without a leash. When your dog knows how to stay without a leash, she will be less likely to jump on people, bolt out an open door, or run away. This command may be a little difficult for your dog to learn, since their natural instinct is to travel in a pack. No need to worry, though; with patience and time, your dog will master this command.

Steps

Teaching Your Dog to Stay in the Yard

1. Erect a fence. The best way to keep your dog in your yard without using a leash is to build a fence around your property or a section of it. This keeps your dog safely contained in one area and gives them time off the leash, as well as keeping other people safe from your dog.
   • A traditional fence is a much better option than an electrical or invisible fence. The traditional fence provides your dog with visible boundaries and will not discourage them from coming home. Your dog may run through the invisible fence chasing a squirrel or other creature, and then be too afraid to return to the yard and get shocked. The shock can also be confusing and traumatic for the dog.
   • Make sure the fence is tall enough so that your dog cannot jump over. Walk the perimeter of the fence and look for snow piles, fallen branches, breaches in the fence, holes, or anything else that might allow your dog to escape.
   • If your dog is aggressive and you allow them to be outside without a leash or fencing, and they attack someone or another dog, you are liable for the damage they cause.
2. Enrich the environment. Let your dog see that the yard is a fun place to be by giving them plenty to do. Try giving them a sandbox or even baiting the yard with fake rabbits in tunnels. Play fetch in the yard, offer them chew sticks, and make sure they get plenty of exercise. Place your dog's toys in the yard. Placing different toys in the yard will divert her attention from wanting to run away to playing with her toys.
   • It can be helpful to occasionally switch out your dog's toys so that she doesn't get bored and tempted to wander.
3. Provide outdoor shelter for your dog. When she is staying outside, the shelter will provide a place for your dog to go so that she can get out of the sun, rain, or wind. If you are not sure what type of shelter to get, visit your local pet store for advice on what would work best for your dog.
   • It may take some time before your dog becomes comfortable with the shelter.
4. Take your dog out for regular walks. The purpose of the walk is to tire your dog out to the point where she will not be tempted to roam when she is in the yard without having a leash on. Walking her one to two times a day should provide her with enough exercise.
5. Play with your dog on a regular basis. The more you interact with your dog while you're in the yard with her, the less likely that she will be become bored and tempted to run away. Throwing a ball or Frisbee to her are easy ways to interact with her.You can also keep her busy by teaching her different commands or tricks.

Teaching Your Dog to Sit

1. Stand in front of your dog. If your dog does not know how to sit already, teaching her to do so will make it easier for you to teach her to stay. Teaching her to sit is a pretty easy command, so it will probably not take long for her to learn how to sit.
   • As you are standing in front of your dog, hold a treat between your thumb and index finger and hold the treat close to her nose. Holding the treat close to her nose will keep her from jumping up to grab the treat as you are getting her to sit.
2. Raise the treat. To do this, slowly lift your hand up as you continue to keep the treat close to her nose. Say ‘sit’ as you raise the treat. Your dog will raise her head to follow the treat, to the point where her nose will be almost straight up in the air. For most dogs, they will begin to sit as they continue to raise their head in the air.
   • If your dog does not begin to sit, gently press on her back end to get her to sit.
3. Reward her for sitting. As soon as your dog is sitting, reward her with a treat and give her plenty of verbal praise. The positive reinforcement will teach her that following your command to sit is a good thing.
   • Do not allow your dog to jump up from the sitting position to get the treat. If she does this, say ‘No’ and calmly get her to sit. Once she is sitting, give her the treat. You want her to associate the treat with sitting, not with getting up from the sit position.
4. Command your dog to sit without the treat. Once she can sit with the treat in front of her nose, challenge her by commanding her to sit when the treat is in your pocket. Hold your hand in front of her nose as if you have the treat, and use the same hand motion as before to get her to sit.
   • Remember to say ‘sit’ as you raise your hand. Once she is sitting, reward her with the treat from your pocket.
5. Command your dog to sit without a hand signal. The overall goal is for your dog to respond to the ‘sit’ command without a treat in front of her nose or hand signals. Say ‘sit’ while you hold your empty hand about eight to ten inches above her head (do not start with your hand at her nose). She should sit even with your hand this high above her head; if she does not, gently press down on her backend until she sits.
   • Reward her with a treat when she sits.
6. Practice the ‘sit’ command each day. Even though this command is an easy one, it still might take a few days of training for your dog to consistently follow the command. Practice several times a day for a few minutes each time. If you get frustrated, or if you sense that she’s getting frustrated, take a break and try again later in the day or on a completely different day.

Teaching Your Dog to Lie Down

1. Command your dog to sit. In order for your dog to respond to the ‘down’ command, she should first learn how to sit. Your dog can also learn to stay from the down position, so training her to lie down will also help you teach the ‘stay’ command.
2. Give your dog the verbal ‘down’ command. As you are telling her to lie down, hold a treat directly in front of her nose and guide the treat down to the floor between his legs. Your dog’s head will lower as you lower your hand. If your dog has not already started to lie down when your hand has reached the floor, pull the treat back in a straight line along the floor. As your dog continues to the follow the treat, she will stretch out her legs and eventually lie down.
   • When her elbows reach the ground, verbally praise her and give her the treat. As with the sitting position, reward her when she is still in the down position, not when she gets up.
   • Once you have rewarded her, say ‘ok’ to let her know that she can get up from lying down.
3. Command your dog to lie down without the treat. Once she knows how to lie down with the treat, command her to lie down without the treat. Just like with the ‘sit’ command, hold your hand in front of her nose as if you have the treat in your hand. Say ‘down’ as you move your hand down to the floor. Reward and praise her when she lies down.
4. Practice the ‘down’ command every day. This command is a little more challenging than the ‘sit’ command, so it may take more daily practice. Once your dog is able to consistently respond to your command, challenge her by saying ‘down’ in different locations and with different distractions (eg toys, friends). Be patient with her when you practice the command in new situations.

Teaching Your Dog to Stay Without a Leash

1. Command your dog to sit or lie down. Your dog can learn to stay from either position. The goal of the ‘stay’ command is to have your dog stay in one position until you release her from that position. As with the ‘sit’ and ‘down’ commands, you will want to reward her for being in the position, not coming out of it.
2. Stand in front of your dog. Do not give her any verbal commands or use any hand signals. Simply stand there for one to two seconds. If your dog is still staying in her original position, give her verbal praise and a treat. After you have rewarded her, say ‘ok’ to release her from that position.
   • If your dog moves before you say ‘ok,’ correct her by saying ‘no’ and command her to sit or lie down again. It make take her a few tries before she knows that she is supposed to stay in one place.
3. Stand in front of your dog for a longer period of time. This time, stand in front of her for three to four seconds. Slowly increase the time that you stand in front of her while expecting her to stay. Each time that she stays seated or lying down for the designated amount of time, verbally praise her and give her treats.
4. Add a verbal command and hand signal. Now that your dog understands how to stay, add in a verbal ‘stay’ and a hand signal. After you have commanded to her either sit or lie down, tell her to ‘stay’ and raise your hand in front of her at the same time. For your hand signal, face your palm towards her with your fingers up as if you were making the ‘stop’ signal with your hand.
   • Just as you did before, remain like this for longer periods of time, starting with one to two seconds. Given that your dog already is comfortable with staying, she may easily adjust to responding to your verbal command and hand signal. If not, keep on practicing until she understands and responds appropriately.
5. Make the command more challenging. Once your dog understands how to stay and knows how to follow your verbal cue and hand signals, make the command more challenging for her. This is what is knows as ‘proofing’ the command: making sure she can follow the command in different situations.
   • Increase your distance. After you command her to stay, take a step back and wait. If she stays, reward her and release her from the position. Practice gradually increasing your distance from her, and reward her each time that she stays. As you step back, do not turn your back to her; she may interpret your turning around as a signal to get up from her stay position.
   • Add a distraction, such as a toy. When you command your dog to stay, walk away from her with her favorite toy in your hand. Continue to give her verbal praise for as long as she stays, and then release her from the position.
   • Practice the command in a new location. If you’ve been practicing inside the house, take her outside and vice versa.
   • To really challenge her, play ‘hide and seek’ with her. Command her to stay and then run and hide from her. Once you’ve hidden yourself, say ‘ok’ to release her from the position. This one is pretty hard, so don’t be surprised if it takes a couple of tries before your dog knows how to stay when she can’t see you.

Tips

• Be patient with your dog and do not punish her if she messes up while learning the stay command, it’s okay! Simply give her another opportunity to get it right.
• Even after your dog learns to stay, she may still want to run from the yard for a variety of reasons, such as fear, loneliness, and searching for a mate. If you are having problems keeping her in the yard after teaching her to stay and trying different activities to keep her busy, consider taking her to the veterinarian to try identify the underlying cause of his tendency to run away.
• If your yard is not fenced, you may want to consider building a fence to keep your dog in the yard. If your yard is already fenced, check for possible gaps or holes where your dog may try to escape. If the fence has holes where you dog can look through and see the outside world, you may want to cover up these areas to reduce your dog's temptation to leave the yard.

Related Articles

• Stop Your Dog from Running Out of the Backyard
• Stop a Dog from Pulling on Its Leash
• Prevent Dog Bites
• Train a Dog

Sources and Citations

See also

• Find a Lost Dog
• Avoid Foods Dangerous for Your Dog

What links here

• Train a Dog
• Prevent Dog Bites
• Stop Your Dog from Running Out of the Backyard
• Stop a Dog from Pulling on Its Leash
• Teach a Dog to Fetch