Sit-stay and down-stay -- Louis not responding to release cue

Re: Sit-stay and down-stay -- Louis not responding to release cue

Yes, that is realistic if you build up to it At our dog club pups are expected to do a 30 second down stay and a 30 second sit stay by about 7-8 months (handler standing beside them). By about two months after that they're expected to do a 2 minute down and a 1 minute sit stay (handler standing in front). This is in a row with other dogs about 2m away. Not everyone gets there of course but most can.

 

Re: Sit-stay and down-stay -- Louis not responding to release cue

[quote author=CDM link=topic=10114.msg148599#msg148599 date=1426011252]... How longs realistic for a 5 month old pup to stay? 5-10 seconds??...[/quote]

Just looked back at my training records for Harvey. Initially re struggled to do 2 seconds! When he was at 5 months things picked up quite quickly and we soon got up to 10 seconds (and 60 seconds by the end of the 5 month phase - at 6 months we started increasing distance).

Note that, as with all areas of training, proofing is very important. Even when we were up to 60 seconds in the house he could barely manage 5 seconds at the training class with lots of dogs and people to distract him!

He's now 18 months old and at a recent class, which had 13 other dogs and their owners, he remained in a down stay for 2 minutes with me in the hall and 30 seconds with me out of the hall, all with other dogs barking, owners shouting instructions, and many of the dogs running around the hall - I was so proud of the progress the little chap has made. (he'll do 10 minutes in the house now but we are both getting a little bored by that point so we don't do it often!)

So, keep at it but take things gradually - I think you develop a feel for what your dog is capable of. Remember, too, that Stay has three 'D's to work on - Duration, Distance, and Distractions. Ideally just increase one of these at a time to increase the chances of success.