WaitDog pauses briefly until given the next command
Wait means 'freeze for a moment, I'm about to tell you what to do next.' It is shorter and more situational than stay: waiting at a door before crossing, pausing before being released to eat, or holding at a curb. The dog learns that patience earns the next thing, not that they must hold position indefinitely.
Also known as: Pause, Hold On
At a glance
- Tier
- 1 · Basic
- Time to fluency
- 1–4 weeks
- Practice
- 7× per week, 3 min each
- Equipment
- Small soft treats
Prerequisites
Your dog should know these words first:
How to teach wait
Lure
Block and reward the pause
- Start at a doorway. Open the door a crack, block with your body if they move, reward the pause
- Duration is seconds, not minutes. This is a short hold
- Reward with the thing they were waiting for (going through the door, getting the food bowl)
- If they break, calmly reset and try again with a shorter wait
Hand Signal
Flat hand, palm down, held low
- Use a different gesture than stay. Palm down vs palm out helps the dog distinguish
- Practice at thresholds: doors, curbs, before putting the food bowl down
- Keep it brief. 3 to 10 seconds is the working range
Verbal Cue
Say 'wait' before the threshold or transition
- Say it once, then pause. The next cue is the release
- Follow with a clear next command: 'wait… okay, let’s go' or 'wait… sit'
- Practice before meals, before going through doors, before crossing streets
Success criteria
- Unlearned
- Rushes through doors and to food without pausing
- In progress
- Waits at doors, curbs, and before meals on verbal cue alone
- Mastered
- Waits reliably in new environments until given the next cue
Common mistakes
- Making the wait too long. Wait is seconds, stay is minutes
- Using wait and stay interchangeably so the dog can't tell them apart
- Not following wait with a clear next cue, leaving the dog in limbo
- Letting the dog self-release. Always give an explicit next cue