Holding a Sit ... Dog & Puppy Training in Milton Ontario

I am often asked by my clients, is it ok to let their dog lay down during a sit/stay or long sit. And the answer I give is this:

If you plan on competing in obedience, rally-o or protection sports, then there are specific requirements that would make it beneficial for the dog to hold the sit position. If they don't or can't, an NQ (non-qualifying score) will follow in competition, resulting in failure during that particular run.

Now that being said, 98% of the owners coming in for training will never show an interest in competing in dog sports. What I maintain to be the most important aspect of staying is holding the place, rather than the specific position. If I ask a dog to sit, and they do so, but after 20 seconds or longer, they decide to lay down because the dog figures we're going to be a while, there is no point in nagging them for perfection, when in essence, they are doing what we asked, by holding their place beside us. The same thing goes for the sit/stay at a distance. As long as the dog comprehends the initial difference between the two commands, down and sit, and does both independently when asked, it doesn't matter if they slide out to get more comfortable.

There are two items that we have to watch however, one being the "dive and go", the squigglers who were asked to sit/stay, and do the dive in order to crawl forward. The other being the confusion of commands at the get go. We don't want sit to mean down, as there are times that a sit can be more useful then a down, and we want to make sure that the two are clearly defined. These are the only times that I will fix a dogs position back to a sit, and typically it just means the dog needs more work/help in that particular area.

Of course standing up is a big no no, and I'm sticky on the getting up into a sit while the dog is suppose to be maintaining a down, I just won't allow that, but I will save that for another day.

So bottom line, if your plans do not include compeition level obedience, don't sweat the small stuff. If your dog is compliant, engaging and working for you, response should be the goal, not absolute perfection.

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