what to when dog does not respond

Question
I am a bit confused about training my dog. he is 4 and at the initial stages of training. He knows sit, but only does it sometimes, he knows stay and also only does it sometimes. When he does not comply, I know I should not repeat the command again, so what do I do? I do not like to push his butt down to force a sit. So what choices remain? When he gets up from a stay, what can I do?  I am curious to know what trainers suggest to do when a dog does not comply if you cannot repeat the command and forcing the dog into the position/scolding is frowned upon. I am sure my dog knows what I ask him to do as we have been doing this for a couple of weeks every day.  Also, I use treats, when do I stop giving them? Thank you for your time.

Answer
Hi Jimmy, if your dog does not respond, try and ask yourself "why?".  Does he understand the cue to sit in the context you're giving the request?  For example, if you've taught 'sit' in your kitchen, that doesn't necessarily mean he understands 'sit' in the backyard.  Dogs don't generalize well.  They have to rehearse in each new environment.

The other possiblity could be that he's too anxious or excited or worried to respond to the cue.  Dogs who are in this state don't respond well, even to well-known cues.

Another reason would be that there is not a sufficient reinforcement history for the dog to continue to perform the behavior.  Dogs always think "what's in it for me?".  That's how they've survived with us for so long.  Any expenditure of energy must be for a reason, usually some type of reinforcement.  

When you trained the behavior, did you reward your dog with something he really likes AFTER he performed the skill?  This could be a food tidbit or a favorite toy.  If you lured the dog (food in your hand) to teach him a sit and you no longer have food in your hand, then he is probably not going to sit until he sees the food again.  I don't recommend luring as a way to teach a behavior for just this reason.

If you are using food correctly (after the dog responds to the cue), you can begin to fade the food rewards once you have at least 80% successful responses.  So, if the dog is doing the sit 8 out of 10 times you ask, you can start to randomly reward with food.  If the behavior starts to break down, reward more frequently.

Once you give a cue and the dog doesn't respond, give him at least 15 seconds to think about it.  If he still doesn't do it, try to find a way to make it easier for him - train with fewer distractions or go back to his training comfort zone - and ask again.  Never physically move the dog into position - that doesn't teach the dog much of anything.

Please reply back with more details on how you are using food with training and any follow up questions you have.