To help your dog learn to pay attention to you and do as you want him or her to do, give your dog the opportunity to make choices early in training.
Use a loose lead — no pressure on the collar. The picture at the left shows Charlie sitting with a loose lead. He could get up if he wanted to, but the handler wants to teach him to remain in place until the handler releases him or gives him other instructions. This builds the dog’s time-on-task behavior.
Alternatively, when the leash is tight, and you are holding the dog in place, you are not putting the responsibility on the dog for ‘correct’ behavior. Of course, if/when the dog gets up during this exercise, you will need to correct her/him immediately, and then praise him/her when the dog sits again.