Diesel’s training is progressing nicely. We have a Front-Sit that’s working well. In the coming days we’ll try to build a Heel-Sit too. First I think we need to work on steadying his Front Sit so that I can walk away and trust him to hold Sit reliably. I begin this phase by stepping carefully to the right or left while he is in Sit, then returning to my position and reinforcing his steady Sit with a click and treat. As he becomes more reliable I will stretch my movement until I can walk completely around him while he holds the Sit position without moving his furry little bottom.
I don’t normally train a “Stay”. I think Stay is a goofy command because its meaning is so arbitrary. Want the dog to stay in the car while you run in the store for a minute? You tell him Stay, right? Want him to keep sitting next to you while you fumble with your house keys? Tell him Stay! And what do you tell him as you walk out the door and want him to remain in the house? Stay, right? Each one of those Stays means something different to the dog. In many cases he can be expected to break the command because you really can’t expect him to remain on Stay for 4 hours until you get back, so he breaks stay the minute you’re out of sight. If you’ve used Sit and Stay, he now gets to blow off 2 of your commands in one fell swoop!
What does Stay mean? And, since your Stay command is arbitrary to the point of being almost meaningless, why should he listen with rapt attention to your other cues/commands?
So, Sit is a big deal in my program because it’s the cue/command that replaces Stay.
