Wait

Now that we've discussed stay; I wanted to talk about Wait.  Yesterday I was working out at the outdoor gym at the park again.  Luke has become very used to our routine there now; he waits patiently by my side and wags if I talk to him, he's so cute.  There were a few others there; one man came and tied his dog to a tree close by and it sat happily watching him work out.  The day before  I had seen a dog tied to the same tree and he was barking his face off while his owner worked out.  Some wait nicely; some do not.

Wait is a similar behavior to STAY but different as well.  For me; "wait" means to just chill, you can move about a bit but wait in the same area and I may or may not release you from afar.  I use wait for when I open up the hatch of the car; when I am going in the house ahead of the dogs; when I want my guys to wait on a walk while I tie my shoe or pick up some poop.  It would have been a good command for the gentleman to give his dog tied to the tree.

If your dog does not like to wait and barks defiantly at you then you have work to do.  It is easy to instill a solid wait and reward a wait but again timing is everything.  If you toss treats to them when they are quietly waiting; then you are rewarding in perfect time.  If you simply returning to them to tell them to stop barking; you are rewarding the barking.  You are going to your dog when they bark; they are learning to keep barking.  Many dogs would prefer any attention over no attention so returning to them is not a good idea.

And chill is the name of the game; you should remain calm giving off a relaxed aura for your dog.  If they really become upset while you ask them to wait or stay; do it at close range until they get use to you slowly getting distance.   Baby steps and perfect timing reward will result in a happy pup waiting for you patiently.