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Training A Puppy

Teach Your Cocker Spaniel To 'Stand' On Command

What follows are some helpful tips on training a puppy to stand when you ask him to. The 'Stand' command is very useful, particularly when grooming your Cocker Spaniel puppy, or when bathing your puppy.

Training A Puppy To 'Stand' On Command

The following explains how to teach your puppy to 'Stand' when you ask him to.

First, ask your puppy to sit.

Hold a treat between your fingers, and move your hand just in front of your puppy's nose so that he can see and smell the treat.

When you have your puppy's full attention, move your hand away from him, between 15 and 30 cms, taking care to keep your hand at his nose level, and parallel to the floor.

Lower your hand slightly to stop your puppy from sitting down again, but don't lower it too much, otherwise he may lie down.

Your puppy will stand to reach the treat; as he does, say the command word, 'Stand', praise him with, 'Stand, Good Stand', and give him the tasty morsel, and more praise. Your hand movement during this command can act as a visual prompt later.

Repeat this training exercise between 5 and 10 times every day, and practice regularly until you feel your Cocker Spaniel puppy has mastered the stand command.

Now try using the vocal and visual commands separately. If he fails to carry out either command, continue with the training, and test him again later.

Training A Puppy? - What Can Go Wrong?

Training a puppy to 'Stand' on command may take a little practice, as there are a couple of things that can go wrong.

If you move your hand too far away from your puppy, he may need to walk to reach the treat; you want your dog to stand, not walk.

If your treat hand is held too high, your puppy may need to raise his head to take the treat and, in doing so, he may sit back down. As your puppy stands, lower your hand slightly; but don't lower it too much, otherwise your puppy may lie down.

Practice, Practice, and More Practice!

Don't move on until you are certain that your puppy has learned each lesson.

Eventually, he should stand for you whenever you use either means of command, and without being bribed with a treat.

If you do decide to remove the use of treats, don't forget to continue to reward your puppy with lots of praise and affection to reinforce his training.

Continue to practice the stand command a few times each day and he'll soon get the hang of it; and when he does, you can move on to further puppy training tips, such as The 'Down' Command