[potentiallygolden]

Most of the basic obedience dog training I've seen involves the "Stay" command. But a while back I saw a YouTube video of a dog trainer who does not have a Stay command, but rather the expectation is that the dog performs whatever command it's been given until a release command is issued.

Does anyone have a preference on this?

 

[cubbysan]

That does make a lot of sense - but in the case of a dog getting loose in traffic, etc the Stay command I think would be more of a life saver.

 

[LibertyME]

For me "stay" = dont you move a paw out of place...I am coming back to you.
I am not going to give you another command until I am back into heel position.

Where as a sit implies wait ...dont move....however you best pay attention because I might call you to me..I might ask you for down ....I might release you to play tug...I might have you catch a cookie..I might ask for a high five etc

 

[solinvictus]

I agree with this. Sit means sit until I ask for another behavior or I release you. Down means down until I ask for another behavior or I release you. The same with stand.

I don't want to tell my dog to sit/down/stand and then see it choose to get up on his own.

" but in the case of a dog getting loose in traffic, etc the Stay command I think would be more of a life saver."

Sit, Stand, Down can all be used in place of stay as long as you teach the dog to mantain the command until released.

Others may disagree with me but I don't believe a dog truly understands the behavior if the dog is the one to choose to get up from the position on his/her own.

 

[Aislinn]

{{" but in the case of a dog getting loose in traffic, etc the Stay command I think would be more of a life saver."}}

I agree with this 100%. Years ago when I lived in Leavenworth there were no school buses, so you had to pick your kids up when school was out. My dog, Jamie, went with me. A loud backfire spooked him and he slipped his collar and ran into the traffic. Everyone gasped and started to run after him. I told them to stop. I saw he was in the middle of the road, called a sit and stay. He did it, even though he couldn't see me. He was way down the road, cars on either side. I ran to the middle and called 'front'! He ran straight down the middle of the road between the car lane and sat in front of me perfectly. My heart was beating so hard it hurt. But if he hadn't known that stay command so well, I don't know what might have happened. I also expect a sit to be held until I release, but in those circumstances and being out of his sight at the time, 'stay' was an ace in the hole for me.

 

[CarolinaCasey]

For me, stay means the same as LibertyME. I don't want him to even shift his bum while he's waiting. I will come back to heel position before I ask him another task.

Wait means stay put til I release you. Unlike stay, I can release from across the room, from anywhere really. I have a hand signal for the release and the word "OK" together.

When I release from a stay I use this same word/handsignal.

 

[Megora]

I was going to say earlier... it may come down to training style as well.

For the most part, my dog needs an additional reminder/emphasis that he is not to move a muscle until I return to him (stay) or call him (wait).

I think part of the problem for me is that in my family everyone tells the dogs sit before they get a treat. If I wanted my dog to understand that sit means sit until released, I would honestly have to forbid my family to do anything with my dog. Because they will not follow through or be as firm and specific as I am. When they ask for sits, it's an informal trick for treats.

And actually, I went to the petstore today and like always the shoppers coming into the store stopped by to fuss over my dog. They all ask for sits, of course... he sits for them, but there is no control over him holding that sit or being released even.