[gemy]

I will say something that maybe unpopular here, but from the get go I teach STOP very very strictly, it is MY Emergency Command to be Obeyed at ALL times. It is said in a very loud voice and a very firm one, and I do give two hoots of a fig if it makes my dog stop dead and shiver a bit, nope not a whit! Why? Because it could save not only his life but mine as well. But they are richly rewarded for obeying when I return to them. As a puppy I moderate my loud tone slightly but they are corrected immediately and firmly for not obeying. Every single walk we practice the STOP at least twice, every single Training Session, and every single swim session, and or hike.

At dog parks when the idiot ignorant clueless owners don't supervise their dogs play inter-actions and things are getting out of hand, I have been known to stop my two dogs and two or three stranger dogs with the STOP command.