SIT - STAY DRILL
The Sit-Stay Drill is a one-on-one training tool designed to help you learn perfect timing for when and how to reward positive behavior. Consistently rewarding positive behavior and correcting unwanted behavior in ANY type of dog will result in a dog who is more well-balanced and well-behaved. This drill begins to positively challenge your dog and helps you, the handler, develop yourself as the leader. Are you the leader in your dog s life? Sit - Stay Drill A simple test will give you the answer. Does your dog ignore you? Does your dog avoid you as it chooses? Does your dog challenge you with play fighting or dominant behavior, or perhaps your dog suffers from separation anxiety? If you answered yes to any of these, your role as the leader in your dog s life could use improvement. Give yourself permission to be assertive! Becoming the leader in your dog s eyes is critical for their safety and so you can share your life with a well-behaved, happy canine. Imagine if your dog ignores you and chases a cat into the street or develops frustrating behaviors you ll wish you had given yourself permission to be assertive and taken the time to become the leader your dog needs. eds. Chris will teach you how to do this! As dog owners, we often forget to pay attention to instincts. Our dogs are constantly telling us what is going on and how they are perceiving the world through their body language - it is our job to learn these cues and respond in the moment with rewards or corrections. Visual Reward/Correction Verbal Reward/Correction Physical Reward/Correction
Do you remember how the mother dog corrects the puppy? This is a foundational concept of Chris training philosophy. We will utilize the same principles as the mother dog in the Sit-Stay Drill. [Review the Adult Dog to Puppy Relationship, if needed]. Always use a visual cue first, then a verbal cue, then a physical cue. [See video for examples.] When we reward, issuing a verbal good boy or good girl is enough for the dog to recognize it has chosen the correct action. What you and your dog learn from this drill is so much more than just to sit and stay. Those are simple tricks that a dog can easily be lured into performing with a treat, but without the dog respecting your leadership whatsoever. The result is a dog who may still have behavioral issues and performs like a seal for a fish on it s own terms. Understanding and implementing this drill will help you be the LEADER in your dog s life by teaching you timing of corrections and rewards Imagine you had a secret tool in your pocket to refocus your dog on you as the leader at any time, in any situation - that s what Chris can teach you here: https://youtu.be/wycmgalnvmy Before getting started 1 The dog has a secure lead and collar. 2 Start in a quiet environment with few distractions. As you and your dog master the Sit-Stay Drill you can use it in busier places as a tool but start somewhere quiet. When you master this you ll be able to use it in many different scenarios - sending your dog to it s bed, overcoming separation anxiety, in a busy park or any time you want the dog to stay it s in space and respect yours. [Refer to the video for more information] 3 Make sure your hands and the lead are relaxed - you want the dog to have the free will to make the right decision.
SIT-STAY DRILL These are general guidelines which explain this drill - please refer to Chris videos for more detailed and visual demonstrations] The dog is in a sit position. If your dog hasn t already learned the command sit, gently push his bottom to the ground and tuck the tail in so there isn t uncomfortable pressure on the dog s joints. As soon as your dog is in sit back away so that they are no longer in your space and vice versa. You re going to begin with the dog s head facing 12 o clock and you ll be standing off to the side of the dog at 3 o clock or 9 o clock and not close enough for the dog to be leaning on you. The dog will be on a loose lead so that they are able to move. You ll be controlling their movement with your voice (verbal) and the lead (physical). This means THEY are making their own decisions, but you are still able to give a quick check correction if they start to move from the sit position (and don t respond to a verbal correction). There may be times where you need to use verbal and physical at the same time. Watch Chris Video: https://youtu.be/eh4judylgcm Remember, if the lead is tight you re not letting the dog make the choice. Chris calls it pulling the hand-break. What is a check? First the dog needs to have a loose lead. If your dog is pulling and the lead is tightened, you need to move your hand quickly toward the tension to create a small amount of slack in the lead and then give a quick pop on the leash. You should never pull your dog off it s feet when doing this! The check represents a nip (physical correction) from the mother dog. The mother dog s intent is not to hurt the puppy in any way - it s just to get the point across when the puppy isn t reading her other cues. When we give a check we should also give a verbal cue simultaneously, with the goal being that you can eliminate the physical cue in the future.
The goal is to create lots of opportunities for rewards! Rewarding positive behavior is the key to creating a socially well-balanced, well-behaved dog. The corrections come into play when you re trying to re-route the dog back to a positive behavior. Praise the dog for making eye contact with you with a gentle verbal reward, such as good girl. This will let the dog know it has chosen the correct behavior. The lead is always loose. Slowly take just one step away from the dog. If you take several steps, the dog may think you re beginning to walk away and want to follow you. A few things can happen here, and most often a dog will want to get up. In order to keep them in Sit, issue a verbal correction (Chris says Ahh-ah! ). Your verbal correction dial needs to adjust up or down depending on the dog s intensity. If they really want to move you ll have to adjust your intensity dial immediately and you may need to give a quick physical check on the leash - this would be an example of when you will issue a verbal and physical cue at the same time. Hint: Do you have a dog who pulls on the leash? This will also teach you the timing of rewards and corrections on the lead so your dog s behavior on the leash improves. Put them back in Sit. When they make eye contact with you and stay in Sit, give a verbal reward. Step away again. Maybe your dog attempts to edge near you just a little - match that intensity level with a verbal ahh-ah and reward as soon as they stop moving. You may give two rewards and two corrections in five seconds. You are learning to correctly read the dog s body language in the moment - the second you get submission or a positive behavior, as in they are not trying to come into your space and they are sitting there, back the pressure off by moving away and saying good dog. You may need to repeat that step a few times before you can step away from the dog while keeping their focus on you and have them stay planted in Sit. Begin to walk slowly between 9 o clock and 3 clock behind the dog, praising as they maintain eye contact with you but correcting if they try to get up. Tip: Remember to swap the lead in your hands so you don t accidentally pull on it. Remember that YOU are in control of the situation. If the dog gets distracted and tries to get up - issue a correction and start again. Move slowly, be consistent and timely, and reward often!
The dog will want to follow you with his eyes and when he swings his head around WITHOUT lifting his bottom off the ground - that s the magic moment! Your dog has earned an immediate verbal reward. When you ve been able to circle around the dog while they continue to watch you and stay in Sit you know they are now looking to you as the leader and looking for your approval. You may even be able to explore dropping the lead altogether and just using verbal corrections when you and your dog have really started to master this drill. When you and your dog have succeeded, give a physical reward - call your dog over to you and give them some love! You can repeat the drill to practice being the leader and choosing when you are your dog s playmate. Most dogs view their owners as playmates who are trying, unsuccessfully, to be the pack leader which is the root cause of dog s behavior issues and insecurities. By doing this drill, you re establishing yourself as the leader and from that point, you can come down and be your dog s playmate at any time. Your dog is reassured with you in charge and it s more well-balanced because of it. [We will talk a lot more about this later on!] When you feel confident in your ability to keep your dog s focus on you as the leader, you can begin practicing this drill in more distracting environments such as a park or in public. It s the perfect tool to help encourage positive behaviors in situations that may have been challenging for you and your dog. Use this drill often! The Sit-Stay Drill quickly develops the leadership in the relationship, utilizing the same tools at the mother dog used with the puppy. Ask yourself, does the mother dog use treats? We want to educate dog owners on the idea that luring your dog with treats and cookies, as a distraction or a reward, doesn t develop your dog s mind to be well-balanced and socially healthy. It simply teaches them to perform a specific action as opposed to a more holistic approach that develops a calm, sound-minded canine. [There is a time and place for treats - we will talk more about that later on.]
The Sit-Stay Drill is effective for any type of mind: nervous, excited, aggressive or separation anxiety. [We will explore each type of mind in more depth later on.] The Sit-Stay Drill teaches you how to adjust your assertiveness to the dog s intensity. For a NERVOUS or SHY dog this drill builds their confidence in you as their leader and rewards them for displaying calm, curious behavior. The result is a dog who is more well-balanced because it can rest assured that you are in charge of the situation and whose calm behavior was rewarded. A nervous dog may try to get closer to you for reassurance during the drill - this will require a correction. Don t forget to put your dog s emotional needs before your own to help them become a more confident canine! The dog that seeks you for reassurance is the same dog who may have separation anxiety - the Sit-Stay Drill can even help overcome that mind. If your nervous/shy dog is trying to get away from you, obviously your cues will be much more gentle. [Refer to a Mama Bear & her Cubs for a more detailed explanation of the nervous mind.] Always match their energy level. [Are you struggling with a nervous dog? Chris will work in more depth on this type of mind later on.] An EXCITED dog is going to require you that you match their intensity level when you give them corrections, as well. This means they may need a more serious verbal correction and are more likely to require a physical correction before they understand the drill and begin to focus in on you as the leader. These dogs will also benefit tremendously from the drill - when they ve mastered this they will have an easier time focusing on you in busy situations and looking to you for commands. With an excited dog, your rewards are reinforcing a calm, submissive mind. An EXCITED dog may also try to jump on your or lean on you at the beginning of this drill. This drill will assert that you are the leader, teaches them to respect your space and to look to you for direction. Put them into Sit and match the intensity of your corrections to their energy. This drill will work for an AGGRESSIVE mind. Chris excels at resolving a dog who has dog-aggression and this tool will be critical in managing that behavior. Signs of excited/dominant behavior include any uninvited action that intrudes on your space, such as knee leaning, jumping up or putting their paws on you. In this dog, your rewards are reinforcing calm, submissive behavior and them respecting your space. Chris uses this Sit-Stay Drill for any behavior. Whether your dog wants to chase a car tire or a native animal, whether a dog is dog-aggressive or struggles with separation anxiety or obsessiveness, the Sit-Stay Drill will help you remedy the behavior in the heart of the moment. Any situation can be turned around with drill.
Positive behaviors during the Sit-Stay Drill -Dog is making calm, curious eye-contact with you -The dog is maintaining eye-contact while staying in Sit -The dog stays in Sit as you begin to slowly step around them without their bottom leaving the ground. -Dog comes to you at the end of Sit-Stay Common mistakes during the Sit-Stay Drill -The dog sits but eye-contact is not on you, it s on something else that is a distraction. Don t give a reward - think about where the mind is! You re actually rewarding whatever the dog s focus is on, so make sure it s you. If your dog is in the sit-stay but not paying attention to you, they re technically not doing anything wrong but they aren t choosing the correct behavior, either. There s a time for rewards, a time for corrections and a time to do nothing. No good or bad behavior means no reward or correction. Be patient, wait for the moment the dog makes eye contact with you and reward immediately. You can open an opportunity for a reward by moving your feet, walking around behind the dog and create a window w for the dog to choose an action - respond with a reward or correction (as appropriate).
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