You’ll teach it to stay in four stages. First, you’ll teach it to sit. Then you’ll teach it to stay with you near it. Then you’ll teach it to stay with distance. Then you’ll teach it to stay with distractions.
Before you can teach your husky to stay it helps to have taught it to sit.
You can do this as follows:
- Get some treats that it likes and get your husky in front of you
- Say “sit” and lure it into the sit position by slowly raising the treat above its head until it naturally sits.
- When it sits reward it with the treat
- Continue to do the above until it naturally goes into the sit position when you start to lure it with the treat.
- Now repeat but stop luring it with the treat. Instead, just show it the treat and say “sit” it should naturally go into the sit position.
- Now repeat but don’t show it the treat. Instead, simply say “sit” and wait for it to go into the sit position and then reward it. You might need to remind it to sit with the treat after a while for the first few attempts.
If you want to watch how this is done what the video underneath the next stage below.
Related: why your husky pees in the house.
After you have taught your husky to sit you can begin to teach it to stay.
To do this do as follows:
- Get some treats that it likes and get it in front of you
- Tell it to sit and reward it for doing so
- Now you’ll tell it to sit again but this time you’ll hold your hand out as if you’re gesturing to someone to stop and say “stay” then wait for half a second and then reward your husky for staying still and keeping its attention on you.
- Repeat the above. Each time you do it require your husky to stay for a little bit longer.
- Continue to do the above exercise regularly until you can get it to stay for at least 30 seconds.
You can see how this is done in the video below
Now you’ll want to get it to stay by adding distance between you and your husky.
Related: why does my husky sleep on its back?
To do this you can do as follows:
- Get some treats that your husky likes and get your husky in front of you in an area with some room such as a backyard
- Tell your husky to sit and stay then reward it for doing so
- Now repeat but this time after you tell it to stay take a few steps back and then come back and reward it for staying don’t add a pause before coming back yet
- Now repeat the above and increase the distance that you go back each time
- Once you’re able to get your husky to stay when you’re a long distance away start to add a pause before going back to reward it. Start out with a small pause then gradually build it up.
Once you’re able to get your husky to stay when you’re not near it you can start to get it to stay when there are things around to distract it.
To do this do as follows:
- Get some treats and toys that your husky likes and then get it out in front of you
- Start by telling it to sit and stay and then reward it
- Now do the same but after you tell it to stay simply show it the toy and then reward it for staying.
- Do the above again a few times and then begin to make it more tempting for your husky to go for the toy by dropping it on the floor.
- Now start to make it even more difficult by waving the toy around or by throwing the toy. This step will often be a challenge for many huskies so don’t jump into it too soon.
- Do the above again but add some distance between you and your husky.
You can watch the video below to see how it’s done.
Now you’ll want to get it to stay in different locations. You would think that just because you are able to get your husky to stay at home then you’ll be able to get it to stay just as easily in other locations but this isn’t normally the case. Getting your husky to stay when there are things around to distract it is a lot more difficult. So, it would be worthwhile to go through the stages above in multiple locations. Start by teaching it in locations where there is not much around to distract it then build up to doing it in tougher environments.
How to get your husky to stay at the door
Once you have taught your husky to stay when it’s being distracted by things such as toys you should make sure to make the jump to teaching your husky to stay when the door opens. This is an important thing to do since huskies will often have it in their nature to try to bolt out the door whenever it can do and it’s how many huskies get seriously injured.
To teach your husky to stay at the door you’ll teach it in a similar way to how you taught it to stay when it’s being distracted by toys in stage four above.
To do this do as follows:
- Get some treats that your husky likes and put a long leash on your husky
- Go to the door with your husky and put one of your feet on the leash to stop it in case it decides to run when you open the door
- Now tell your husky to sit and stay and then make a very small movement towards the door as if you were about to open it. Then reward your husky for staying.
- Repeat the above. Each time you do it get closer to actually opening the door.
- Once you’re able to get it to stay even when you put your hand on the door handle and twist it around do the above but this time actually open the door. Start by only opening it a tiny bit and then gradually increase the distance that you open the door. Remember to keep a foot on the leash when you do this.
- Once you can get your husky to stay even when the door is all the way open begin to increase the duration that you keep the door open. Start with small durations and then gradually increase it.
Things to remember
When you are teaching your husky to stay when you tell it to there are a number of things that you can do to improve your results.
Train it in multiple locations
Huskies (and most other dogs) won’t always be able to generalize their training to new environments. This is why it’s helpful to train your husky in a number of different locations so that it will listen to you in a wider variety of circumstances.
Train it regularly
It’s important for you to train your husky to stay regularly so that it doesn’t forget its training and so that it will stay when you need it to. A good way to easily train your husky to stay daily is to make it wait to eat its food until you say that it can do.
Reward good behavior don’t punish bad
Another important thing to do is to reward it for doing the training correctly instead of punishing it when it does it wrong. This is why it’s more effective to train your husky in small steps so that it’s more likely to get it right when you gradually increase the difficulty of what it’s doing.
Why to teach your husky to stay
There are a number of benefits to teaching your husky to stay that I will mention below.
Being able to get your husky to stay when you tell it to despite there being a number of distractions will help you to interact with others while your dog is around. Being able to talk with them without having your husky jumping around will help them to get more comfortable around your husky and it will make having guests around a much less stressful experience.
Helps you keep your husky safe
One of the main ways that huskies get injured is when they run out the front door. Being able to get your husky to stay when the front door is open will help you to keep it safe.
Reduces stress
Having a husky that doesn’t listen to you can be a very stressful experience especially when it is hyperactive. Being able to get your husky to stop misbehaving when you say so will improve your relationship with your dog and help to make your life easier.
Teaches your husky that you are in charge
By getting your husky to stay when you tell it to regularly you will be able to reaffirm in your huskies mind that you are in charge. This will help to reduce its bad behavior and to make it more responsive to your command.
Related Questions
How do I get my husky to come when called? To do this you should first make sure to teach your husky to stay when you are not near it. After doing that you’ll want to tell it to stay and then to go a few steps back and to call it to you and then to repeat doing that by increasing the distance each time. I have written about how to do this in the past here.