The stand command is a command you will wish to use in many different situations. It is great when you take your dog or puppy to visit your local vet or dog groomer. You can also use the stand command when bathing your dog and clipping the dog or puppys nails. It is also the best position for your dog to be in if you require him to stay for long periods, and of course if you are showing your dog then standing is a requirement.
For this command just the dogs nose will be enough when starting. The first thing you need to do is get your dogs favourite treats and let your dog know you have the treats in your hand. With your dog sitting hold the treat a few inches in front of their nose. Then slowly draw it away horizontally. There is no need to say anything to your dog at this stage. If your dog responds to this lure by getting up into the stand position you should immediately reward him with a treat and some enthusiastic praise.
This next step is to get the stand behaviour without using food as a lure. From now on you you will be using the food only as a reward. You achieve this by continuing exactly as you have been, but this time without any food in your hand. Ok so now the process is that you put your empty hand in front of your dogs nose and slowly move it away horizontally. most dogs will continue to follow your hand even without the treat.
If your dog continues to follow, you should reward immediately with a treat from your other hand and also praise just as you have already been doing. If your dog does not follow your empty hand you can go back to giving some varbal encouragement or a bit of a prod with your finger. Once your dog is consistently following your empty hand you can cut back on the food reward. Mix it up to keep your dog guessing, for example, reward every second successful stand, then every third and so on.
Once your dog is solid with the process you can add your verbal command to the stand exercise. Basically we can now get the behaviour that we desire from the dog or puppy (the stand), now it is time to add the verbal cue which will trigger the behaviour. What you do is say "stand" then continue with the same process as before. The process goes like this say "stand", use your hand signal, praise and reward as soon as your dog gets into the stand position.
Repeat this process many times throughout the day. This step builds up the association in your dogs mind between you saying "stand" and the act of him standing.
It is now time to drop your hand signal and any other prompting and rely on your verbal cue only. Say "stand" and wait for your dog to move. It is highly likely that your dog will continue to stand just as he has been in the previous steps. He will already have made the connection between your verbal "stand" command and the act of him standing. If your dog does not move when you say "stand" your dog is not ready for this step and you need to go back and practice some more.