PET PARENT RESOURCE CENTER

Treats Unleashed has been offering obedience training in the St. Louis area for a little over a year now. We asked our head trainer, Jeff, what some of the most common questions he receives from pet parents going through their first training session.

"What's the difference between 'Stay' and 'Wait'?"

While these sound like similar commands at first, these are actually two important tools to add to your training toolkit. The difference comes down to duration, distance, and distractions. Wait is more about the duration, while Stay is more about the distance between you and your pup. Start with short distances or durations at first, and gradually increase to improve or lengthen the behaviors. Both are great practices for coming inside and outside of the house.

"How can I get my dog to walk with me?"

Cooperative or Loose Leash Walking is one of the most important behaviors for a dog to know, and this takes time to get just right in most environments. We tend to think of taking the dog for a walk as a physical exercise. To our canine friends, the walk is a way of spending time together and bonding with your best friend. Bonding with you is critical for your pup to be able to pass by distractions, such as other people or dogs. For the best results, we recommend keeping your dog on one side consistently with some high reward treats to maintain the behavior of loose leash walking.

Find out more about building a relationship with your dog when you sign up for an obedience training class at Treats Unleashed! Next session will begin at the end of June/early July in the St. Louis area, with classes coming to our new shop - Lake St. Louis!