*Bangs head on wall*

[iBaman]

So, Sheldon works for his food. Simple stuff, sit, lay down. maybe a roll over. And then a stay. And he'll stay for a minute....but as soon as he thinks i'm not paying attention, he goes for his food without a release. HOW DO I FIX THIS?!??! It's beyond frustrating. We've been doing this with him for the past 3 months, morning, noon and night.

[kiya]

You have to work on that "stay".
I make Lakota sit then down & she must "look" before I release her to eat (I don't use stay for this). While she's "looking" in my eyes I say "ok" then she's free to eat. Maybe your dog is not focused on you at that time, he's focusing on the food and forgets your not done. You could try giving "leave it" for the food part but he shouldn't break the stay.
Have patience Lakota was tuff, now she goes to her spot while I am making dinner and waits for me.

[cassadee7]

I think a long stay like a whole minute or more might be a little much for food, if it is just sitting there in a bowl in front of him. I also have Saber 'work' for her meals but she is so excited for the food I think it would be counterproductive to do something like that. I just ask for a sit and a watch. Sometimes I throw in a down, a spin or a touch but I think making her wait longer than that when she is hungry and the food is right there is a bit much.

That said, anytime you are making a dog wait/leave it, you have to make sure they CANNOT get the food. Once they get it, that is a reward for breaking the stay/leave it. So if you want to do this, stand right by the bowl. However I think cutting the stay out and making the work a bit shorter might be better. (Waiting while you prepare the food is different and easier, I think, since it is not right under their nose taunting them).

[Lilie]

Work on the stay during training sessions and not when you feed your dog. If you can't reinforce the command don't use it. Sit, then release to eat.

[iBaman]

Originally Posted by cassadee7

I think a long stay like a whole minute or more might be a little much for food, if it is just sitting there in a bowl in front of him. I also have Saber 'work' for her meals but she is so excited for the food I think it would be counterproductive to do something like that. I just ask for a sit and a watch. Sometimes I throw in a down, a spin or a touch but I think making her wait longer than that when she is hungry and the food is right there is a bit much.

That said, anytime you are making a dog wait/leave it, you have to make sure they CANNOT get the food. Once they get it, that is a reward for breaking the stay/leave it. So if you want to do this, stand right by the bowl. However I think cutting the stay out and making the work a bit shorter might be better. (Waiting while you prepare the food is different and easier, I think, since it is not right under their nose taunting them).

I make him sit and stay while I'm preparing it too. It's just super frustrating...

Originally Posted by Lilie

Work on the stay during training sessions and not when you feed your dog. If you can't reinforce the command don't use it. Sit, then release to eat.

His stay is perfect during training....

[Lilie]

Originally Posted by iBaman

His stay is perfect during training....

Picture the most perfect Christmas present ever, ever in your total life. Picture me holding it right in front of you and you know I'm about to give it to you...just about to...in a moment...just about to...just....

Take all that emotion that would be building up for you ...and put it in your pup. It's just not mentally ready for that type of pressure. It gives you everything you want before you put the feed down. Even after you put the feed down it's sitting for you....

If you really want your pup to stay as well before you release him, then make sure you release him before he breaks. You try to set him up to succeed. If he can't stay for a full minute, then ask him to stay for 10 seconds and release.

[Cassidy's Mom]

As Shawn said, stay closer to the bowl so you can pick it up before he gets it. If he breaks the stay, the bowl comes up. When he sits again, bowl starts to go back down. If he breaks before the bowl hits the floor, the bowl comes up again.

This is actually REALLY easy to train as long as you can prevent him from getting the food until you release him, and it's not hard to manage the situation to make sure that he can't. Pay attention the entire time, start small (at first I set the puppy up a few feet away, and the bowl goes right at my feet, so I'm much closer than s/he is), and for much shorter duration. My initial criteria is that the puppy has to remain in a sit while I lower the bowl to the floor, but I release as soon as I set it down. I progress to releasing after I've removed my hands off the bowl, then after I've stood all the way back up, then after I've taken a step away from the bowl. Eventually, I can be several feet away with the bowl right under the puppy's nose, (and I require eye contact as well) but I work up to that after we have success at each previous step.

Here is Halo at only 14 weeks old, we'd had her exactly a month:



It is possible!

[iBaman]

Originally Posted by Cassidy's Mom

As Shawn said, stay closer to the bowl so you can pick it up before he gets it. If he breaks the stay, the bowl comes up. When he sits again, bowl starts to go back down. If he breaks before the bowl hits the floor, the bowl comes up again.

This is actually REALLY easy to train as long as you can prevent him from getting the food until you release him, and it's not hard to manage the situation to make sure that he can't. Pay attention the entire time, start small (at first I set the puppy up a few feet away, and the bowl goes right at my feet, so I'm much closer than s/he is), and for much shorter duration. My initial criteria is that the puppy has to remain in a sit while I lower the bowl to the floor, but I release as soon as I set it down. I progress to releasing after I've removed my hands off the bowl, then after I've stood all the way back up, then after I've taken a step away from the bowl. Eventually, I can be several feet away with the bowl right under the puppy's nose, (and I require eye contact as well) but I work up to that after we have success at each previous step.

Here is Halo at only 14 weeks old, we'd had her exactly a month:



It is possible!

I might try this...that's a very good idea. He's so food driven it's crazy. And his focus lasts all of 10 seconds before he looks away. Maybe I should work up to it more...

[Caledon]

I've always made Dakota wait for her food by doing a down stay, then releasing her to eat. I think it is great for impluse control.

Started off slow with a short down/stay, then a release to eat the food from the day we got her at 10 weeks. Then we dropped the stay and just used down and increased the time, then released to eat. Now we just ask her if she is hungry and she goes to the same spot and puts herself in a down.

I get the best focus and the best down stays while she is waiting to be released to eat. Once we ordered pizza, which came just as I asked her if she was hungry and I put her food in the bowel. Answered the door, dished out the pizza, ate it all the time she was in a down stay waiting to be released. I had forgotten about her as I came around the kitchen a different way and didn't pass her.

Work slowly and take baby steps. We are also very inconsistant with how long we take before we release her to eat. Sometimes it is very quickly, other times not so fast. She knows we will release her.

[chelle]

I don't make Bailey stay nearly as long for dinner as for when we're doing actual work. Maybe 10-30 seconds and I purposefully am inconsistent. I also agree with the others that you put yourself between the dog and the bowl so you can grab it if he breaks. He'll figure out very quickly that if he breaks the stay/ rushes the bowl, the dang bowl goes UP. Repeat as needed.

In your first post, you said he breaks the stay after a minute? Do you mean that literally? That's kind of a long time to wait to eat, Dad! (or mom) I'd bet if you back down how long you're going for with the stay that you'll get the cooperation you want.

Good luck!