Training My Hound - Ran into a Problem

I don't have a hound, I have a Brittany/Border Collie mix. She's high energy too, and can be quite hard-headed. But she's super smart.

"Stay" is the hardest thing to teach, and many dogs struggle with it. Don't worry, just continue to work on it. Here's what we do...

For a Down-stay, I put her in a 'down' and then told her to 'stay.' I then started dropping little bits of treats in between her front paws, softly (but enthusiastically) praising her. If her elbows leave the ground, I stop treating her until she drops back down. You'll have to work on deference for this to work for you (PM me if you are not sure what this means).

I do this for about 5-10 seconds to start, and then release her by stopping the treats, touching her cheek, and saying "OKAY!"

That "OKAY!" means she is released from the "stay" and can walk around again. Let her walk around for a bit, toss a ball, whatever, before you bring her back to try it again.

I keep on doing that cycle, adding time on each training session. Each time, releasing her with an "OKAY!"

Don't try to add a bunch of time on in the same day. Your dog will just get frustrated. Stay consistent.

Then you start adding distraction. I'll start walking around her while giving treats, stopping if her elbows leave the ground. In subsequent sessions, I'll have someone come in with a distraction too, like bouncing a tennis ball. All the while, I'm giving her treats, praising her staying, releasing her with an "OKAY!"

If she gets up and ignores you, not giving deference when you stop treating her, there's two things you can do: Either you're going too fast and need to go back to a shorter timeframe and work on it....or you need to step up to a better treat. We use hotdogs as training treats for the REALLY tough stuff that she's being stubborn about, because she adores them (the dog trainer uses them too).

I don't recommend working on a down-stay or a sit-stay for more than a few minutes at a time. Switch it up and work on what she knows to keep her motivation up.

Best of luck!
C. Lee

The way Dick Russell taught stay was to stand in front of the dog and make him sit. Tell him to stay and take one step back. Wait three seconds, then step forward to the dog. If he stayed, reward him. Do this at least ten times in a row. Keep doing this, increasing the distance and the time each day.
Then do the same with the dog lying down.
Once he has that mastered, add in distractions.

Sorry, have no advice but have a Hound mix. Hounds are difficult to train. They can learn basic skills but it usually takes twice as long ( in my experience). I would give it a little more time . I bet he catches on, soon. They are the sweetest dogs!

Christy Lee gave you a great answer so I don't have too much to add. I'm currently training our Chiwennie puppy (half min long-hair dachshund, half Chihuahua). He's very smart and quick to learn, but "stay" really confused him too. He'd actually get this very hurt expression when he couldn't figure it out, so I'd drop it, work on other things and come back to it in a few days. After learning a lot of other commands and therefore getting better at figuring out what I might be asking - bam - he did it perfectly one day. This also worked with my border terrier when I was trying to teach him "fetch". I let it go for a few weeks and suddenly he brought me a ball and he was the best retriever ever!

I don't have a hound, so sorry if this doesn't apply but my big bad dog is not motivated by food (seriously, he can leave a piece of steak, its so bizaar) anyway, my dog is only motivated by praise and love. Have you tried that?

~The closest we have ever had to a hound was a beagle and he was a mess, totally ruled by his nose, it over-powered everything!

I've never had a bloodhound, but obedience school/dog training classes really helped both of the dogs I've had. Any in your area? Totally worth the tuition. A pro can really help you to train a dog!