The answer
Not as a separate command. Across about forty dogs and every trainer on film the rule is the same: a position carries its own duration until the release word, so the dog told to sit is still sitting until he hears okay (or 'break', in some programs). 'You don't have to say stay ever. I don't know if you noticed that, but we don't use stay.' Trainers call it the implied stay, and it covers moving commands too - 'even if it's a moving command, like a yield, they stay in it until you say, okay'. One trainer's image is a window: the command opens it, 'you don't say it again because the window's open', and okay closes it.
The reasons given are practical. Owners who use a stay command end up saying it over and over - 'stay, stay, stay, stay' - until the dog cannot tell which repetition is binding. Two trainers go further: repeating stay teaches the dog that the position is temporary rather than something that lasts. The trainers also say why the held position matters to a family: it is what lets them take the dog out among people and other dogs and know he will keep the position until released.
What replaces stay is enforcement of the release. If the dog gets up before the word, he is marked ('nope' or 'eh') and put back in the same spot and the same position (the house position, settled by Kelton on 23 Sep 2026), because letting him settle wherever he ends up teaches him the position can move. The command is not repeated as a reminder. For a long hold two go-home trainers choose the down over the sit - Drago's ('i recommend a down') and Samson's, who says it is 'much more comfortable for them to lay down'. And the release has to be the only thing that ends it: trainers proof the hold against their own movement, excitement, shopping, walking away and other people walking past, and they tell families to watch what else they say, because praise can turn into a release by accident.
The 30 Sep footage repeats the rule to three more families and adds one trainer's history with it. Pepper's trainer tells the owner he used to teach 'sit' and then 'stay', walking away and correcting a break; he dropped the word 'a couple years ago' and kept everything else the same, because fewer words are easier for an everyday owner to keep up - 'the more words i have to have you say ... the more likely a mistake is going to happen'. Reaper's owners are told 'you don't have to ever use stay again': the position is implied until 'okay', and the freedom that follows is the reward. Mazi's trainer shows it at the first lesson ('I can walk away he has to stay in the command until I release') and checks it in the house at the second. On film it holds at a distance: Kali, off leash, is told 'down' once and stays down while the trainer walks the length of a field to the bleachers without looking back, then is released and called.
Inferred, not stated on film: that this is simpler for owners than a stay command is the trainers' claim, not something the record measures.
Angier K9 is a family-owned, play-based Board & Train serving Angier, Raleigh and the Triangle, with three full owner lessons.
What to do
Give the command once and do not say stay. The dog holds the position until you say the release word. If he gets up first, mark it and put him back in the same spot without repeating the command. Say okay before you move on or give another command, and watch that praise or your own excitement does not end the hold instead.
What the trainers say
You don't have to say stay ever. I don't know if you noticed that, but we don't use stay.
It's an implied stay. So he knows that he's supposed to keep doing whatever it is you asked him to do until you give him the release word.
So it eliminates a very annoying problem, which is having to say stay a thousand times because people say, stay, stay, stay, stay, stay. And it's very confusing to the dog actually most of the time because they hear stay a hundred times and they're like, so how many times do they have to say stay for me to know that I have to keep staying right um so we just eliminate that
that's the other thing you might have seen some of the videos is is the way that like stay works. We don't say stay, it's implied. So they stay in whatever command it is, even if it's a moving command, like a yield, they stay in it until you say, okay. And then they can, they're free.
yeah cuz actually psychologically for the dog if you have to say the word over and over and say stay over and over it they learn that it's more of like a temporary thing
It's a window so that you start the window by saying the command. You don't say it again because the window's open and when you say okay, you close the window.
So, we have an implied stay with all of our commands. So, the way it is is when I put him in a sit and like, you know, we're finished with the program and really pretty much anytime except now that he's around you um when I put him in that sit, he's going to stay there in position until I say okay and then he gets up, right? If I don't say okay then he stays in position.
so come and then his release word is okay. So anything that he's doing, you never have to say stay. for you to keep him close to you or ask him to do anything else, instead you just don't say the release word.
we don't use stay it's implied so if I sit down I don't have to say stay I just sit down and then he stays in the down until he hears the word okay and if he hears okay then he knows okay I can get up right and then I'm free
But anyways, you go into that position and I don't have to say a single thing because I haven't given you the command to break yet.
no like stay because the way we train our dogs is that the sit just gets a stay like implied
lied um if you're having to say it then something's kind of like there's a little bit of a problem
So a lot of this is for safety, so that when the obedience is completely done, and we put the dog in that position, or the pet parent puts the dog in that position, then we know that the dog is going to keep that position until they're released.
you want to bring him right back to where he was. Or else you kind of teach him that like sit is a stationary thing. And then the whole implied stay that we teach, it's just void.
train we train them to know once they're in a command that they have to wait for us to release them
all our sits are implied stays so i don't have to tell him to stay
stay command instead it's implied so if you have a release marker if i tell you to do something
should be like place and all that like all that's the same right it should be i don't say stay i say
um and it actually ends up making it in my opinion i switched to doing that a couple years ago
like reaper down he goes into it down then the release word you don't have to ever use stay again
and the same thing applies where like I can walk away he has to stay in the command until I release
lot better the other thing you might notice is I don't say stay yeah we don't use stay at all it's a redundant command and it's also annoying to say over and over again
Notice he's staying in the sit because I have not given him the release command yet.
and that's it good job dude my boy so stay you never have to utter the word
all the way, come on, down, down, so, big thing for Cosmo, is he's gotta learn that when he goes in the commands, it's the same rule as the sit, or anything else, it's like
i recommend a down tell him to down on that thing and then he will stay until you give him the release command that's why we don't use the word stay
Yeah, do a Sit, Implied Stay, and then a Down, Implied Stay. And just, like, nice big release commands after each.
I didn't even tell him to wait there, I just told him to wait down. I waited until I told him it was okay.
do a little implied stay with Murphy again Murphy sit good boy.
And I'm not locking the Flexi. If he chooses to go, he'll go, but I'll stop him.
thing we don't use stay okay so all stays are implied so that will actually make your life a little less annoying because i hate saying stay
right so say somebody else needs to come through there you don't want to have to put Samson up
How it looks, dog by dog
Bo
Bo's go-home states the whole policy to the owner: no stay word at all, an implied stay until the release, and the reason given is an owner habit - people say stay a hundred times until the dog cannot tell which one counts. A break before the release gets 'nope', a send-off and a return to position. On a trail walk the trainer explains the same thing to a passer-by in one sentence.
On film
problem, which is having to say stay a thousand times because people say, stay, stay, stay, stay,
right and if he gets up before the release word it's important that you do that you tell him
come and sit and then like an implied stay so if I ask him to sit
Roxy
At Roxy and Ramsey's first owner lesson the rule is extended to moving commands - heel and yield hold until okay just as sit does - and the window image appears. The trainers give the dinner-party picture of a stay-dependent dog and the psychological claim that repeating stay makes the position feel temporary, which is 'problematic for place if you say place and you want the dog to lay there for a while'.
On film
that's the other thing you might have seen some of the videos is is the way that like stay works. We don't say stay, it's implied.
so it's better if like I think of it it's a window right so like you say the command they stay in the window and okay it's like
Which is problematic for place if you say place and you want the dog to lay there for a while
Titan
Titan's second owner lesson is titled for this concept ('One Cue, One Release'). Connor gives the window in full, tells the household to speak the same language to the dog, and gives the reason to take a dog back to his exact spot when he breaks: otherwise the dog learns a sit is momentary, and 'the whole implied stay that we teach, it's just void'. His one precision rule: if he says down, the dog cannot go into a sit.
On film
It's a window so that you start the window by saying the command. You don't say it again because the window's open and when you say okay, you close the window.
you want to bring him right back to where he was. Or else you kind of teach him that like sit is a stationary thing.
my only rule is that if i say down he can't go into a sit okay
Luna
At the in-home lesson the trainer states the implied stay for every command and says that saying stay when a dog gets up makes her think of it as a stationary command. The same lesson shows why the release word must be guarded: the family's 'good girl' after 'down' makes Luna get up.
On film
so the stay is implied with every command so you don't so you don't say stay right you say the command and the dog like every dog i train holds the position until we give the release
see like when I say down and then when I say good girl she just releases
have is the implied stay. So, Luna knows that she's not supposed to get up until I release her.
Zeus
Zeus's lessons put the rule to the owner as a simplification: you never say stay, you simply do not say the release word until you mean it. Kelton gives the identical explanation at the first owner lesson.
On film
so come and then his release word is okay. So anything that he's doing, you never have to say stay.
we don't use stay it's implied so if I sit down I don't have to say stay
Zeus (March 2026)
The March 2026 Zeus (a different dog) gets the same line at his owner lesson: an implied stay for all commands, and a command releases him.
On film
you i have him like uh i'll kind of show you how we do like we have an implied stay for all of our
Dolce
The protection dog's implied stay is built in the smallest unit first - a couple of steps, a few seconds, 'break' - and only then extended. At the owner lesson it is described as an automatic stay until okay, after which she can do whatever she wants.
On film
starting a little implied stay, uh-uh, increase that impulse control first, uh-uh, so a couple steps, good, break, break, good
once she goes to position, we want it to be just an automatic stay, right?
Chunk
One of them is not picky about sit against down for the hold; the rule at the owner lesson is that he stays in the position until released, and a break gets a quiet 'eh'.
On film
day. Which I've explained to every other dog and I'll explain it to you too. Is that we have you
of those two. I'm not particularly picky if you sit and go into a down. Some people are very
Down, and so the rule is that he has to stay in the position until I release him.
Levi
At a follow-up after the owner reported problems, the trainer tells her the main thing is not saying stay - and that if you are having to say it, something is wrong. At the next lesson he shows the hold by walking away, looking away and dancing around before releasing, and tells her to release first, then give the next command.
On film
lied um if you're having to say it then something's kind of like there's a little bit of a problem
like i can walk away and just kind of do my thing look away dance around no okay good boy
So you need to release him first and then give him.
Apollo (the Bully)
Christian states it at the first owner lesson - 'everything's implied where it's like i don't have to say stay' - and at the go-home reminds the owners they no longer need to say it.
On film
spot until we release him good boy and then he can release so everything's implied where it's like i don't have to say stay
Yeah, so it's all implied. Just say sit and then make sure he sits and then everything's implied for stay.
Max
Max's store session supplies the reason for families: the held position is for safety, so that a dog put in a position in public keeps it until released rather than getting up to greet strangers or other dogs. The word means an action, and the action is not complete until the break or okay.
On film
so that they learn that hey when the person says that word that means this action and that action needs to stay that action and is not completed until they hear the break command or the okay
So a lot of this is for safety, so that when the obedience is completely done, and we put the dog in that position, or the pet parent puts the dog in that position
Bubba Gum
Bubba Gum's release is 'break', and the hold is protected by varying where she is released from so she listens for the word rather than anticipating a place or a movement.
On film
So this is her implied stay, and she does just fine on her implied stay.
over here and sometimes it might be right next to her but when I change it
Clark Kent
In a store the trainer proofs the sit by pretending to shop and ignoring the dog, so he cannot predict the release from the handler standing and looking at him. A sit that later becomes a down is accepted, but the first position must be the one asked for so sit and down do not blur.
On film
i am purposely ignoring clark kent i'm pretending to shop and just look around so that way he doesn't expect me to just stand at a distance looking at him and then say okay
when he goes into the position originally i want him to try and get the sit right because we do also teach it down and i don't want to confuse those two things
Pepper
Pepper's implied stay is tested by a second handler: Alec gives the command and the release while the trainer walks past, which the trainer takes as proof she knows the release. The same trainer says 'she's been good on her stay' in passing - the word is not wholly absent from speech even where the method has no stay cue. At the second owner lesson (30 Sep material) the trainer sets it out for the owner: if she refuses a down somewhere new, an 'uh-uh' and a leash pop or e-collar tap, and then she stays until released, and the release is exciting. He does not say stay; the command means stay. He used to teach the command and then 'stay', and switched a couple of years ago, because fewer words are easier for an everyday owner to keep up.
On film
Practice a little sit with the implied stay.
she did good alec gave her the command gave her the release so she definitely
She's been good on her stay, too.
and then she should stay there just like she did like at the end of the
should be like place and all that like all that's the same right it should be i don't say stay i say
i used to do it where i did the command and stay um but it's the same principle so like when i was
um and it actually ends up making it in my opinion i switched to doing that a couple years ago
because in my opinion it's a lot easier to maintain it because i'm less words the easier
Lunna
Lunna's implied stay is named in two sessions and shown to the owner. At a gate door the criterion is looser - she may lie down, as long as she stays in the area while the door opens and people walk through. At go-home the owner is told why she breaks at home and not in public: an excited owner.
On film
good that's a good sit good girl a very good implied stay
after we put her in the sit as long as she stays in the same area that's fine
But in this particular environment, excited with you, she's going to do it.
Bernie
The family had listed stay among the words they wanted. At go-home the trainer explains there is no stay command - it is implied - and that the most important thing is to say okay first, before doing anything else.
On film
stay command instead it's implied so if you have a release marker if i tell you to do something
the most important thing is that you say okay first before you do something else
Dutchess
On a late session the trainer names the implied stay as what still needs work with her.
On film
only thing is her implied state, which I think I'm just going to have to use negative reinforcement to bring that out.
Louie
On a park walk the handler narrates the convention - he told Louie to sit, so it is an implied stay - and that the dog no longer needs to see a treat to hold the position.
On film
there he wanted to kind of get up and check something out, but I told him to sit, so we're doing an implied stay.
Marvin (Giant Schnauzer)
At go-home the trainer states the implied stay, and the owners try 'break' as the release because Marvin does better with it.
On film
And so the stay is implied.
Yeah, okay, I think he's going to do better with break.
Lucia
The word slips out of the handler and is withdrawn at once - a small sign of how firmly the house avoids it.
On film
Stay. Oh, we don't use that.
Thumper
Stated as house rule in a how-to video: all sits are implied stays.
On film
supposed to sit and all our sits are implied stays so i don't have to tell him to stay he
Neo
At an owner lesson: once in a command he waits to be released, so stay is not needed; a break gets 'eh', then the collar, and he goes back.
On film
train we train them to know once they're in a command that they have to wait for us to release
doing good but he gets up before i release him well i want to reinforce that behavior of sitting
Phoebe (the Rottweiler)
On a public outing the down's stay is implied and proofed at crosswalks.
On film
And then the stay in the down is implied.
now i like to have him wait in a down stay at any kind of crosswalks
Reaper
At Reaper's first owner lesson the trainer explains the release to freedom: ask for a position, and the release word ends it - 'you don't have to ever use stay again', because staying is implied until 'okay'. Then the reward is the freedom itself: 'go go go', and he can sniff and do what he likes.
On film
work with them on um so the release to freedom is essentially just if you ask them to do a thing
like reaper down he goes into it down then the release word you don't have to ever use stay again
in right because you can just use the implied whatever it is it's implied that they stay in it
until you say okay okay good job and then reaper can get up and do whatever he wants right and then
Mazi
At Mazi's first owner lesson the trainer demonstrates the implied stay with a down: he can walk away and Mazi has to stay in the command until released. At the second lesson, in the house, he notes that the implied stay 'seems pretty good in here' before moving on to the down, still being made fully verbal.
On film
and the same thing applies where like I can walk away he has to stay in the command until I release
same principle for all that yeah okay good job mozzie yeah so he actually the implied stay seems
Kali
Kali's recordings of one evening walk show the implied stay used without comment. She is put in a down and left there while the trainer finishes explaining something to camera; on the trail she is put in a down while he waits to see whether anyone else is coming; and in her first full off-leash session she is told 'down' once and holds it while he walks the length of a field to the bleachers, not looking back, until 'Okay' and the call. The word 'stay' is not used at any point.
On film
i'm gonna put her hand down at this thing callie down down i'm gonna leave her in the
Sorry, the camera went back for nothing. They went the opposite direction. Callie, down.
All right, I'm just gonna wait for you there for a second.
i'm gonna walk pretty far away see how far i can walk i'm not looking at her so
Okay.
Akira
At Akira's evaluation the trainer points out that he never says stay: it is redundant and annoying to repeat, and he dropped it a year and a half or more ago. The release word does the job - until he says okay, she is still in the command.
On film
lot better the other thing you might notice is I don't say stay yeah we don't use stay at all it's a redundant command and it's also annoying to say over and over again
years ago um instead it's implied so the release command takes care of that completely if i say okay
Apollo (the Sharkie)
Apollo holds a sit while the trainer starts to walk away, 'because I have not given him the release command yet'; breaks get 'uh-uh' and 'nope'. Later the implied stay is listed among his steadily improving skills.
On film
Notice he's staying in the sit because I have not given him the release command yet.
You can see his implied stay, his place,
Astro
At go-home the trainer shows Astro waiting in a down for one thing only, the okay. The release marker 'makes a stay like redundant because you stay until you're released' - so stay is a word the family never has to say.
On film
okay so yeah he's waiting for the release marker so the release marker is nice because it it removes the it makes a stay like redundant because you stay until you're released from the command
Callie
Setting out Callie's day-two plan, the trainer lists sit and down with their stays 'implied' - no separate stay command is planned.
On film
call and target that as well we're obviously going to also target sit stay down stays implied though
Cosmo
Connor tells Cosmo's family that the down follows the same rule as the sit or any other command: it has the stay implied in it.
On film
all the way, come on, down, down, so, big thing for Cosmo, is he's gotta learn that when he goes in the commands, it's the same rule as the sit, or anything else, it's like
Drago
At go-home the trainer teaches place this way: put Drago in a down on the cot - he recommends the down - and he stays until released, 'that's why we don't use the word stay'. A break before the release gets 'nope' and pressure until he is back in the position.
On film
i recommend a down tell him to down on that thing and then he will stay until you give him the release command that's why we don't use the word stay
Hattie
Hattie's training is set as sit with an implied stay, down with an implied stay, and a big release after each. In a field, a break gets 'nope' and the trainer says 'that is the usefulness of an implied stay'.
On film
Yeah, do a Sit, Implied Stay, and then a Down, Implied Stay.
a little implied stay nope that's it okay good girl that is the usefulness of an implied stay
Kane
In a place session Kane holds a down without being told to wait: the trainer points out he only gave the down, and Kane waited until told it was okay.
On film
I didn't even tell him to wait there, I just told him to wait down.
Murphy
On a group outing Short the handler runs 'a little implied stay with Murphy again': a sit with no separate stay word, a 'nope' and a re-sit, then 'Sit there you go. Good job'.
On film
do a little implied stay with Murphy again Murphy sit good boy.
Oscar
Oscar's implied stay is proofed against all three Ds. With dogs approaching, the trainer asks for a sit and leaves the flexi unlocked - 'If he chooses to go, he'll go, but I'll stop him' - and in other outings adds distance and duration, with 'nope' and a return to the spot on a break.
On film
I'm just going to try an implied stay with this as a distraction.
and do an implied stay hey oscar sit do a little bit more duration a little bit more distance this
Peque (PK)
Peque's session plan is the down and its duration, which the trainer notes 'should be implied' - no stay cue.
On film
as she needs it to be but today we're gonna work on down and stay duration
Rocky
At Rocky's in-program lesson the trainer tells the owner 'we don't use stay... all stays are implied', which he says makes life less annoying than repeating stay. In a recall session Rocky's implied stay in the sit is tested and holds.
On film
thing we don't use stay okay so all stays are implied so that will actually make your life a little less annoying because i hate saying stay
implied stay in the sit hasn't broke it yet
Samson
At go-home Samson's family are told to use the down when they need him stationary - it is more comfortable for a dog than holding a sit - and not to say stay. If he gets up, he is put back in that spot, because letting it go teaches him the down is optional, and 'okay' ends it (much of the passage is uncertain audio).
On film
it's much more comfortable for them to lay down so I normally use down you put him in the down
down, and then you don't have to say stay. If he gets up, you go, eh, eh.
Why it works
The stated mechanism is about what repetition teaches. A command given once and held until release teaches the dog the position lasts; a stay repeated over and over teaches that the position is temporary and that the binding instruction is whichever repetition came last (watch 31:27; watch 28:10). The safety argument is separate: a held position is what lets a family use the dog in public (watch 08:11). Inferred, not stated: none of this is compared on film with a dog trained to a stay cue, and the 'temporary' claim is the trainers' explanation, not a measured effect.
On film
yeah cuz actually psychologically for the dog if you have to say the word over and over and say stay over and over it they learn that it's more of like a temporary thing
It's a window so that you start the window by saying the command.
Where the trainers differ
What to say when the dog breaks.
One view
'Nope', send him, put him back.
On film
right and if he gets up before the release word it's important that you do that you tell him
Another view
'Eh' said quietly for a broken position, with 'nope' kept for things never wanted; then the collar.
On film
doing good but he gets up before i release him well i want to reinforce that behavior of sitting
How to read it
The marker vocabulary belongs to the how-many-correction-words concept; here it matters only that the dog is marked and returned, not re-cued.
Is the word 'stay' ever used?
One view
Never: it slips out and is withdrawn; saying it at all means something is wrong.
On film
Stay. Oh, we don't use that.
lied um if you're having to say it then something's kind of like there's a little bit of a problem
Another view
It survives in description: trainers still say 'down stay' and 'good on her stay' when talking about the dog.
On film
She's been good on her stay, too.
now i like to have him wait in a down stay at any kind of crosswalks
How to read it
Probably not a real disagreement: the rule forbids stay as a cue, not as a description. Worth saying on the page so owners are not confused by it.
Common owner mistakes
- Saying stay, and saying it over and over.
On film
So it eliminates a very annoying problem, which is having to say stay a thousand times because people say, stay, stay, stay, stay, stay.
Bo · Watch at 28:10 ↗ I don't have to say that anymore.
Apollo (the Bully) · Watch at 2:03 ↗ - Re-giving the command as a reminder instead of marking the break and putting the dog back.
On film
You don't say it again because the window's open and when you say okay, you close the
Titan · Watch at 43:05 ↗ - Letting the dog settle wherever he ended up after a break.
On film
you want to bring him right back to where he was.
Titan · Watch at 21:18 ↗ - Moving on, or giving the next command, before saying okay.
On film
the most important thing is that you say okay first before you do something else
Bernie · Watch at 22:12 ↗ So you need to release him first and then give him.
Levi · Watch at 9:18 ↗ - Letting praise or excitement end the hold.
On film
see like when I say down and then when I say good girl she just releases
Luna · Watch at 43:21 ↗ But in this particular environment, excited with you, she's going to do it.
Lunna · Watch at 3:09 ↗ - Standing and staring at the dog, so he reads the release from your posture.
On film
i am purposely ignoring clark kent i'm pretending to shop and just look around
Clark Kent · Watch at 3:20 ↗
Questions owners ask
So how do I tell my dog to stay?
You don't. Give the position once - sit, down, place, even heel - and the dog holds it until you say the release word. 'You don't have to say stay ever.' If you find yourself needing to say it, one trainer says, something is wrong.
On film
You don't have to say stay ever. I don't know if you noticed that, but we don't use stay.
lied um if you're having to say it then something's kind of like there's a little bit of a problem
What do I do if he gets up before I release him?
Mark it and put him back, in the same spot, without repeating the command. Connor explains why the spot matters: if the dog ends up somewhere else, he learns the sit is a momentary thing and the implied stay is 'just void'.
On film
right and if he gets up before the release word it's important that you do that you tell him
you want to bring him right back to where he was. Or else you kind of teach him that like sit is a stationary thing.
Does this apply to heel as well, or only sit, down and place?
Every command. At one owner lesson the trainer says dogs stay in the command 'even if it's a moving command', and the heel holds until okay just as a sit does.
On film
that's the other thing you might have seen some of the videos is is the way that like stay works. We don't say stay, it's implied.
Why not just say stay? Isn't it clearer?
The trainers give two reasons. People say it over and over until the dog cannot tell which one counts; and repeating it teaches the dog the position is temporary. There is also a practical reason for families: a position that holds until released is what makes the dog safe to take out among people and dogs. One trainer answers from his own practice (30 Sep material): he used to teach the command and then 'stay', and dropped the word a couple of years ago, keeping everything else the same, because the fewer words an everyday owner has to say, the fewer mistakes creep in.
On film
yeah cuz actually psychologically for the dog if you have to say the word over and over and say stay over and over it they learn that it's more of like a temporary thing
So a lot of this is for safety, so that when the obedience is completely done, and we put the dog in that position
um and it actually ends up making it in my opinion i switched to doing that a couple years ago
it is to maintain um because the more words i have to have you say as like the everyday person
My dog already knows stay. Is that a problem?
The record does not answer this directly. One family had listed stay among the words they wanted and were told at go-home that it is implied instead.
On film
stay command instead it's implied so if you have a release marker if i tell you to do something
The lesson
The goal
Hold any commanded position until the release word, with no stay cue, and return the dog to his spot when he breaks.
Learn first
The drill
As filmed: cue the position once. Start with a couple of steps away and a few seconds, then release. Add distance, time and distraction - walk away, look away, dance around, pretend to shop, have someone walk past, open and close a door. Vary where you release from, so the dog cannot predict it. A break gets a marker and a return to the same spot; the command is not repeated. Release with the word, then give any next command.
Watch out for
- Saying stay.
- Repeating the command after a break.
- Letting the dog settle wherever he ended up.
- Giving the next command before the release.
Check yourself
You say 'sit', walk across the room and pretend to be busy. Does he stay until you say okay?