Training a dog to stand

Training a dog to stand is one of the most useful dog training commands, along with the sit and down/drop.

 

When your dog is standing nicely, it's easier for you to groom him or for the vet to examine him.

As with the other dog obedience commands, we will use positive reinforcement techniques to guide the puppy to give us the right behaviour.

---

On this page:

Train your dog to stand

Practise the three positions: sit, drop, stand

Next steps

---

Train your dog to stand

The stand is usually taught after the other dog training commands of 'sit' and 'down' or 'drop'.

Before we get started on training a dog to stand, make sure you have your treat or reward ready and your clicker with you if you are using one (or your marker word).

You can find out about rewards at Puppy Training Tips and about clickers and marker words at Clicker Puppy Training.

Step 1

Begin with your dog in the sit position.

Hold a food treat a little in front of your puppy's nose and draw the treat horizontally away from the puppy, slowly enough that the puppy can follow it.

As soon as the puppy is in a standing position, click/mark and reward with the treat.

Try not to let your puppy take any steps forward towards the treat as he stands. If this happens when training a dog to stand, you are probably not marking and rewarding quickly enough. Remember to mark and reward as soon as the puppy is in the right position – that is, as soon as his back legs are straight. Don't keep drawing the food away at this point or he will think he needs to follow it.

Keep practising this in short bursts of only a couple of minutes.

Step 2 - Adding the verbal cue

Once he has this mastered, add your cue word 'Stand' as you draw the treat away.

Repeat the exercise but as you move the hand say Stand, briskly and brightly (remember you don't have to shout or growl!).

Click/mark and reward as soon as he is in the right position.

Repeat until the hand movement and the verbal cue are happening together.

Step 3 - Adding a hand signal

Once your puppy has the stand position working well, start to fade the lure – that is, hide the treat in your other hand while you move your hand from in front of the dog's nose. Use your cue word at the same time. Your puppy will learn to follow the hand, not the treat.

Practise this a few times.

Top

Practise the three positions: sit, drop, stand

Now it's time to practise the stand along with the sit and the drop. See Training a Dog to Sit and How to Train a Dog to Lie Down.

Ask your puppy to Sit, then Down or Drop, then Stand.

Mix up the commands you give so the puppy won't know which one is coming next.

If you always do sit, then drop, then stand, the puppy will get used to the order of commands and will start to anticipate.

You'll find that as soon as you ask for a sit, you'll get a drop and a stand in rapid succession! So make sure you practise them in different orders: sit-stand-drop, stand-sit-drop-stand-drop etc.

Mix up the timing of the reward too. You might reward after 2 position changes, or after 5 or after 3.

And remember to practise them only one at a time too so your puppy doesn't think that sit must always be followed by another position change.

Next steps

Once you have finished training a dog to stand, to sit and to lie down or drop, you are ready to learn the stay command. This will allow you to ask your puppy to stay in a particular position until released. See Training Your Puppy to Stay.

 

 

Return to top of Training a Dog to Stand

Go back to How To Train A Puppy