The Importance of Release Cue for Stay Behaviors

Jessica Lara

October 19, 2023

Stays and Releases

To have a reliable stay you must have a clear way to indicate to the dog that the stay is over. A stay is any Duration Behavior that you have cued the dog to do. Duration Behaviors include, sit, down, stand, kennel, up onto platform, laying on mat, or automatically wait at a threshold.

We want the dog to end their Duration Behavior/Stay Behavior when we give them a signal to do so, usually a verbal cue. This can be a general release cue such as “free!” or “all done!” or is can be another known cue such as “touch!” or a marker cue to chase a tossed treat.

We don't want the dog to get up when: the treats stop, human turns away, human gives praise, human pets dog, another dog walks by, 2 seconds have passed, a leaf blows by, or any other environmental or internal cue.

Select one general release word (verbal cue) that lets your dog know that their stay is over and they are dismissed. To reduce frustration for both dog and handler, we always want clarity and consistency in our communication with our dogs.

Depending on your goals, I usually recommend selecting a release cue other than "okay." We say "okay" a lot in conversation and most pet dogs probably will probably hear “okay” 100x a day. Select a unique work so your dog does not have to decipher which "okay" is relevant to them. If your release word is already “okay” I suggest saying it in a unique way to your dog such as “OH-kaaaaay.”

Things to consider:

Is a reliable stay needed for you and your dog’s lifestyle? Leashes and baby gates work just as well.

Can you identify what stimuli currently functions as a release cue for your dog? Is it the kennel door opening? The leash unclipping? Is that working for you? If so, no need to add additional training there.

Will everyone who handles your dog be consistent about releasing your dog from their Duration Behaviors? If not, consider how your dog will interpret these inconsistencies. Maybe they just know that one handler is not someone advantageous to listen to or maybe they are unsure what is expected of them. Confusion is the most aversive stimuli in dog training. How can we be more clear to the dog?

What behaviors do you want your dog to stay in until released? Would a sit stay be helpful to you? What about a stand stay? Stay at the front door?

Do you want to cue “stay” or do you want an implied stay? For example, some handlers cue “down” and have taught their dog to lay down until released from that one cue. Other handlers say “down” and the dog can get up whenever it would like but if they say “stay” the dog should stay until released.

I consider the behavior cue and the release cue the bookends to a Duration Behavior. My dog’s have never been cued to sit without also being released from the sit. They have never exited my truck without a release. Because of this, they are reliable in a variety of situations and that allows them to fit into my lifestyle more harmoniously. This is a priority for me, but it’s not a priority for everyone, and that is okay. Decide what trained behaviors would be helpful for you and how dedicated you are to teaching and maintaining them.

Work with a qualified trainer if you need help!

Jessica Lara

August 2, 2023

Lunging and Barking: Reactive Dogs

Jessica Lara

August 2, 2023

You’re on a walk with your dog and you see another dog coming your way, your heart rate quickens, you tighten up your leash to weather the storm of barking, lunging, screaming, rearing up on hind legs and yodeling, spinning, thrashing the leash, maybe turning and attacking you. Maybe you have been pulled over and dragged by your dog, maybe your dog has been in a fight. Sound familiar? You have what is commonly referred to as “a reactive dog.” You may even try things like: letting them say hi to the other dog so they stop barking, jerk on their leash to let them know you don’t approve of this display, chant leave it leave it leave it as you pass other dogs, pull out cookies and command a sit sit sit until the other dog passes, apologize to the human and seemingly perfect dog passing you and assure them that your dog is very friendly, stand in front of your dog’s view playing goalie and saying quiet! No! Leave it! But still this routine persists. It’s stressful, embarrassing, frustrating, and confusing. Why does your dog do this?

Time to call in a qualified behavior professional. This is not something your dog will grow out of. It will likely get more intense and show up in more places. If your current strategies have not improved the behavior, it’s time to pivot.

The #1 client inquiry I receive is to address reactivity. We are seeing more reactive dogs because we are asking more of our dogs than ever in history, confining them more, and meeting their needs less. Reckless breeding of unstable dogs is at an all time high. Increased dogs spending their socialization period in the rescue system. Dogs used to be off leash and free roaming with little behavioral pressure and a lot of agency. Dogs spent most of their time outdoors. Dogs had jobs. Dogs were active all day and brought inside or on the porch to sleep at night. The majority of dogs on this planet right now are free roaming street dogs, living in human society very peacefully. It’s the captive pet dogs who are struggling. The best thing you can do for your dog is to pack up and buy acreage in the country and provide them the work their ancestors did.

Eno the Australian Shepherd pup learning to herd ducks.

The next best thing is to: fully stop exposing them to the situations in which they are reactive for 2 weeks minimum, maybe even a year. Identify the stressors in their lives and cut those out. Give your dog a stress free staycation. During this time provide increased enrichment and off leash hikes. Provide your dog breed specific outlets. Take a look at their diet. You may work with a trainer on remedial socialization depending on the root of your dog’s reactivity. Consult with your vet to rule out health concerns. You may benefit from talking to your vet about behavior meds. Begin training the skills you need to walk around the neighborhood harmoniously in your living room. Things like heel, go sniff marker cue, hand touch, auto eye contact, name response, cue response, pattern games, yield to leash pressure, following a lure, stationing, changing direction with you, self regulations exercises, fluent treat eating, ambling gait, and your leash and treat handling mechanics. Practice doggy body awareness and strength training exercises. Dogs who feel awkward in their bodies can feel unsafe in high pressure situations. Your dog is going to LOVE getting so much of your attention through training games, they won’t even miss their walks. Once these skills are fluent in your living room, train in another room of your house, then your yard or apartment hallway, then with a friend over, then at a sniff spot, build the strength of these skills in the presence of distractions. Work with your trainer to practice these skills in the presence of a calm dog outside of the range in which your dog is fixated on them. Weekly, reduce the distance of the other dog until you are as close as you need to be for a walk. Then try it with a more active dog, a big dog, a small dog, etc. Now you are ready to take your skills to the street, staying close to your home and keeping the walk short begin training sessions where you will see unplanned dogs. Expand as you have success.

Puppy Tilly biting old lady Dandi’s flexi leash. Both dogs needed support for Reactivity Reduction.

Now you have training games, enrichment, and hikes and breed specific outlets for your dog. Walks no longer have to be your dog's main source of exercise and enrichment. Add walks to the rotation of your dog’s daily activity.

This is how I address reactivity, other trainers will approach this differently. There are many proven ways to successfully help you and your dog with Reactivity Reduction. Before you work with a trainer, ask them what their process is. Ask lots of questions. Your trainer should be happy to explain their reasoning for their method.

Questions? Ask in the comments.

Jessica Lara

June 6, 2023

Puppy Socialization Resources

Jessica Lara

June 6, 2023

So you got a new puppy and you have heard of the importance of socializing them. What exactly does this mean? Should you take the puppy everywhere right away? Should you wait til after they have all their vaccines? We will go into detail ahead.

Baby Roo Dog fresh from a pile of puppies found on Craigslist

Socialization means sub threshold exposure to novel stimuli during The Critical Socialization Period. That is between 3-12ish or 16ish weeks of age. This is a developmental stage in which your puppy’s brain is a little sponge ready to form opinions about the world. This means you are putting your puppy in situations to observe, investigate, sometimes interact with new things, while ensuring they feel comfortable.

Most people do not realize how incredibly important adequate socialization is, or what that even means. Everyday I interact with dogs who have behavioral issues likely caused by experiences or lack of experiences they had from 3 to 12 weeks of age. These dogs are stressed and fearful in normal, everyday situations. Situations that they should have learned about during their imprinting period.

Under socialized dogs can be awkward, nervous, fearful, aggressive, over exuberant, overstimulated, and living in an unreasonable state of stress in their day to day lives. These are the dogs who bark at trash cans, are scared of the dark, won’t pee outside when it’s raining, bark and lunge at men with beards, won’t jump in an unknown car, pace and pant when they travel with you, pull towards and growl at dogs on walks, bark the entire time you have guests over, hump other dogs, hide from the vacuum, nip at children, howl in the bath, fight the vet, have to be muzzled at the groomer while they shake in fear, bite your cable guy… are surrendered to a shelter.

Yes, behavior issues are not always related to the Critical Socialization Period. Yes, genetics matter, a lot. Yes, everything is a combination of genetics and environment. Yes, each individual puppy benefits from different degrees of Socialization. But once you have a puppy, adequate Socialization is the biggest thing you can do to help this dog become well adjusted for their future life with you.

While, being in a pandemic does present challenges to socializing your puppy, there are also many advantages. Fortunately, we live in a Professional Dog Service Utopia, here in Portland, with every single imaginable service available. Did you know there are puppy nannies? Play date matchmakers? Forums for meeting up with other dog owners? Professionally led Puppy Social Hours? Pick up and drop off puppy socialization programs? Puppy Day Camps? Those are all things you can pay for and are well worth the investment in your life with your dog.

This is how I socialize my puppy: I scouted out opportunities around town months before I brought her home. I found trains, elevators, arranged meetings with cats, sports complexes, skateparks, found livestock, and signed up for Puppy Socials from trusted trainers. I selected a checklist to complete, this is linked below. I had the checklist 75% completed by 12 weeks of age and 99% completed by 16 weeks of age. We went on outings 3-4 days a week and stayed home 3-4 days per week to work on body handling, walking on surfaces, listening to music, and to learn about household stuff like vacuuming and being left alone. I always, always had a treat pouch or pocket full of treats on me. I was completely dedicated to observing her body language and adjusting accordingly. If she yawned or licked her lips I moved her away from the stimuli. My goal was for her to always be displaying relaxed and confident body language. We watched things at a distance, getting closer as she showed interest. She got treats if anything scared her. I advocated for her and demanded that people stop their dogs from approaching her. We passed by most people without greeting. We went to playgrounds. I gave my vet a squeeze tube of baby food to help build a positive association. We went to the vet just to get treats and leave, we walked outside when it was raining sideways and dark out, we walked through puddles, we sat in busy parking lots, we walked near busy playgrounds, and had so much fun exploring together.

Socialization does not only mean letting your puppy wrestle with other puppies. That is about 5% of it. Mostly, your puppy should be learning to observe and not interact with animals, people, places, or things. That’s what good canine citizens do, they settle at food cart courts, they nap next to your friend’s dog when camping, they pass by the neighbor’s screaming kids, they mind their own business while calmly keeping you company. The world is not overly exciting, novel, or scary to them. Teach your puppy how to be this dog. Even if this is not in your dog’s genetic lottery, do your best to support your dog as they mature.

If your dog is over 16 weeks, it is not too late. They are still young and impressionable. Treat them like an 8 week old puppy and work with them where they are at. Dogs can continue to gain confidence and life skills well into old age.