Teaching a youngster to stand still?

[VR]

I've recently introduced my 4 year old to clicker training - he's very taken with it!  

One of the things I would like him to learn is to stand still when tied up as he tends to fidget and swing around the tie ring. It's also a problem if I want to try and lean over him (he is not yet backed) as again he moves off. So my question is how exactly would you teach this?

Do I:
a.) just click and reward whenever he is tied up and standing still?
b.) make him stand (somehow!) then give a vocal command for stand, then click reward?
Or what?  

Also he's going through a stage at the moment where everything has to be investigated, with his mouth   When target training instead of just nudging it with his nose as he was, he now instead tries to grab the target with his lips. Obviously, I don't want to encourage this so what I've been doing is only clicking when he nudges the ball with his nose and not when he grabs at it with his lips. When he does that I just ignore it - would you say that this  was the best way to go about it or does anyone else have any better ideas?

Thankees in advance to anyone who can help

[ash]

Right, I've gotta be quick but...

One of the things I have been working on with Tommy is ground tying, or basically just standing still.  I stand him up in the middle of the yard and either drop the leadrope on the floor, or put it round his neck. 

Then I ask him to stand for five seconds, click and treat, doing this lots of times so the reinforcement rate is high, then six seconds, seven seconds, and build it up ever so gradually.

The best we have managed is one minute, with me walking around him and away from him.

You just have to keep the reinforcement rate high, and literally build it up a second, or a couple of seconds at a time.

Just make sure you always click before they move, you want to make sure that it is the standing still that you are clicking!

Have to dash and bathe small son, but I hope that isn't as garbled as I think it is! 

[VR]

No no, not garbled at all! That does make sense, thank you. I just wasn't sure how to approach it. I will try that tomorrow and see how it goes. What you say about keeping the reinforcement rate high though is logical 

[Pikku Karhu]

Agree with Ash, start clicking for just few seconds of standing still and very slowly build up from there.

Once you have a behaviour, then you can add a verbal cue if you want. I wouldn't add a verbal cue before he stands still quite nicely, as he may start associating it with a wrong thing. I'd prob just stand very still myself and simply wait until he does the same, even for just for a few seconds,  then c/t. When he fully understands the behaviour and you have built a little duration, then add the verbal cue.

As to the grabbing the target, you're spot on - only click when he does what you want him to, and simply ignore the unwanted behaviour. He will soon learn there's no point grabbing it.