Now, we will start leaving the heel position in the stay. Give the hand signal and the command STAY. Leave with your RIGHT foot and step directly in front of your dog. Do not allow any movement. Pivot back to the heel position and release your dog from the stay command. If you have to make a correction it MUST be made as soon as the dog starts to err. Be sure you are using the “no” command with your correction. The dog must have direction from you, if your are going to have a happy, obedient dog.

EMOTIONAL CONTROL
Continue to work on this exercise. If you have a high energy dog, you will have to work very hard on this exercise.

DOWN/STAY
Place the dog in the down position and give the stay command just like you did with the sit. Use the hand signal. Do not leave the heel position. Again, be ready to correct at any movement. If you wait to correct till the dog is already on their feet or in a sit, you are way too late.

Gradually increase the time the dog will stay in the sit and down. Increase it very slowly and in repetitions just like with every other command. The dog must learn to stay until they are given the release command. They must be dependable before you are able to get any distance from your dog in the stay command.

COME GAME
Get a family member or friend to help with this game. One person restrains the dog while you show him a treat or a favorite toy until the dog is wanting it. Then as you say (your puppy’s name) COME, the person holding the dog releases it on your command. If you want a dog that comes when called, NEVER call your dog to you and then correct it. We want the come to be automatic - just like in the sits. Properly trained, a dog responds to the come command without even thinking about it, they associate the action with the command. Since an Anatolian is independent and a free-thinker, I doubt there is anything they do that is “automatic” - so it is even more important to always make the come command a “good” experience.

HEEL STARTS
Heel is where the dog gets to your left side with their shoulders to ear even with the left side of your body. In the heel a dog stops and sits when you stop. But for the first couple of days you need only be concerned with the dog starting on the command heel and stopping when you do. This means they stop at your left side and not out in front of you.

To start this, we have the dog in a sit position. Say your puppy’s name and as the left foot leaves the floor you give the command “heel.” At this time, you are only going to take one step to the left. You start with the left foot and step a good long step with that left foot and then bring the right foot up to it. You may need to give the dog a slight pull to get them started with you and again a slight correction to make them stop when you do. Remember, this is a new exercise for the dogs. You want your guy to understand what you want him to do. After you have moved a step for a few days, increase it to three steps - ONLY! You want your dog to completely understand that the sit when you stop is an absolute position. You also want your dog to sit in the heel as soon as possible, but again, work on this only when they understand what heel means.

Remember, work on your whole routine each and every day - twice.