I’ve been revisiting and working on a few signs and commands with Foster lately. He has a teenage boy Dogo brain, which means we’ve had some issues with rebellion. Not in a Like hell I’m gonna do that! kind of way. Really it’s been more Just you make me. I dare you! posturing. I’ve been waiting for this stage of his brain development to kick in and over the past few months, it’s become clear that he’s there.
We’ve been doing some tether training, which allows me to reinforce a bunch of behaviors I want and stop a few I don’t. 
Historically, of my four dogs, Galileo has had the most reliable “stay”. I can put him in a sit-stay and walk clear to the other end of the park, circle back and do it again- and he won’t budge until I release him. Consistently. Every time. I know two absolutes about Gali. One, he will eat any rock he finds, and two, if I tell him to stay, he will and won’t budge.
In working with Foster more intensively lately, I’ve realized he’s pretty good at this too. And he loves the praise for a job well done. So, I’ve been working on his sit-stay performance and he’s getting pretty good.
In these photos, I have him in a stay position and I’m slowing walking away. In the first photo, I’m about 10-15 feet away. The second about 20-25, and in the third, I’m easily 30 feet away. Unlike Galileo, I don’t use a release sign with Foster. I always walk back, reward him then sign for him to play or lay down or some other command. At this point, I really want him focused on the stay, not just waiting for a release and reward. Maybe in time, I’ll teach him a release sign, but for now, he has to wait until my old-man knees carry me back from yonder. 
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