Fate is doing it, this morning she stayed still on the road for three minutes. Then she did it again at home, she’s beginning to get it, and I am beginning to muster the patience to help her do it. This is important to any dog, but especially to a high-octane border collie, who is never still.

The good trainers all say a dog doesn’t really know how to stay until she or he stays for three minutes without moving. I put her in a lie down, tell her to say. I had to get the release command clear in my head, a lot of dogs think the release command is “good dog,” we talk too much to them during training.

My release command is “OK,” she gets that from working with her on the gates and doors. I thought this would be difficult, Fate is so distractable and explosive, but it was simple really, I just had to be patient, calm and clear. You have to give them a chance to succeed, not a chance to fail. I am intensifying this training, it is essential to her long-term stability, herding work and life as a pet in a house.

This is a dog who really wants to please, even when she just can’t. A milestone, for sure, I am not a patient person, standing still for three minutes seems like an eternity to me. I imagine it’s worse for Fate, but I see that she likes it, takes to it easily, and it settles her down. We are going to have fun with it. More to come. I’ll do five minutes by the end of the week, I think.