I signed my dog up for the CGC class not realizing that we need a reliable sit stay to achieve the CGC title. We just don’t have it. Any tips for training this in a month? He needs to sit and stay for me to walk away 20 feet, come back, stand next to him and release him.
If you have ruined the word “stay” or your release word like I did by not being 100% consistent, choose a new word right away and start over. That is far easier than trying to undo a poorly taught or reinforced “stay.” I use “here” and point her down where I want her, because I blew stay by trying to move too fast through this important step, and leaving her too long as a pup until she broke the stay. My huge bad. I chose another word and did it right, and it worked. If you have been ambiguous about stay, you might want to try that.
The biggest thing when we did get it right was to always set her up to be successful. I made sure to work in small increments of time and ensure she understood that only waiting for the release word would get her a treat. Once I slowed down and stopped trying for minutes right off the bat, she got it. We translated that out to our off leash work too, so now she knows when we are heeling off leash even arriving back in her yard is not free time, she must wait to be released, and when she is taken off her leash same thing- butt is on the ground until I say the word go.
Good luck…I think you can nail it in a month if you spend a few minutes on it morning and evening.
When I started obedience with my dog the trainer had us do 30 min down stays. You would put the dog in down somewhere close like while you are watching TV. Then step on the leash close enough to the dog to keep them in down and make them stay. My dog would fidget for a about 5 minutes, but would end up going to sleep. At the end of the 30 min I would release her from the down, even if I had to wake her up to do it.
300 peck method.
Believe the CGC test allows a choice of position for the stay – if your dog is more stable in a down-stay, you can use that rather than the sit.
ETA: Just realized you’ve signed up for the class, not as yet the test. by all means, practice, but don’t worry! This is exactly why you’re taking the class. The instructor will help. 
How to develop a good stay: it’s just a matter of baby steps- you start tiny and gradually increase the difficulty. It’s best to work on duration and distance separately. So say you work on duration in the morning, then in the evening you work on distance- take one step away, reward and release. Gradually extend distance. For distance, it works better if you can toss the reward to the dog to the dog so the dog gets the reward AWAY from you. Many people who “have trouble” with distance work accidentally always reward the dog from their hand, so well, why would the dog be motivated to work away from you when the good stuff is with you?
Many dogs mess up in the stay because they don’t know what their release is, so don’t JUST reward the stay, also sometimes reward the release.
And proof so the dog is clear on what is required- this means you vary everything except the important things. If you’re always motionless and facing the dog when you release, the dog will think that is part of the release, so you may end up with a dog who releases early as soon as you stop moving and turn to face him.
You need a “clean” word - so, if you have tried “STAY” repeatedly with no effect, try “Wait” (or “tomato” just be consistent in what the word means). I also vary the volume and tone of voice so that I can make the word as quiet and little as possible eventually.
Pick a position that your dog likes - down, sit, or, even, stand. (I train all 3 so that I can just say the word and the dog goes into that position. It is a game for them but wil be needed in the future with distance control in competitive obedience - and I play with it with my flatmate’s dogs that dont compete just because it is fun :).)
Start short and on a leash.
Give your command as two distinct commands - ie “Sit”, brief pause, “WAIT”. Walk to the end of the leash, pause for 5 seconds, turn around and (if they have held it) say “GOOOODDDD WAIT” or “GOOOODDDDD SIT” - to reinforce that (1) the dog has done what you wanted (“Good”) and (2) the command that they have done.
RINSE/REPEAT a LOT 
- but you only need to do this in very short sessions of no more than 5 minutes at a time.
Praise for an attempt; if the dog breaks, dont punish, dont praise, just walk the dog back and ask again for the position and the stay. One command. When they break, dont go out too far the next time and turn around quicker so they can get the praise again to re-inforce what you want them to do.
After a while, when they can do 3-5 sits with no breaks, start lengthening the lead and waiting longer before you turn to face them. Then add in not praising them until you return.
RINSE/REPEAT a LOT :D.
Then comes the off-lead - start close, start short times and repeat.
I agree with Wendy (poster above) - vary everything except the commands - and make sure that you do the exercise in a range of places.
My very timid little BC prefers being near me or my older BC - we are her “safe zones” where-ever we are. Using the above method, it took me about 2 months to get to being able to do a proper recall and proper stay off-leash - with both held for 2 minutes and with me about 25 metres away. Lots of positive smiles and “happy happy” faces unlike my normal grumpy self :). We are now working on this off-farm and off-training grounds - unlike my older girl, my little “shrunken violet” needs a lot of time to understand that the command means the same regardless of where we are. A joy and a pleasure to have around - and a very steep learning curve after my last dogs!
I realize this is not the intent for this exercise, but running through it – in a “down stay” or “sit stay” really helps for proofing:
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You need a release command. That is the secret to a long down or a long sit -the dog is waiting for the “release”.
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Don’t repeat commands.
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Don’t progress until you are solid in the baby step.
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Start toes to toes with a short leash held vertically. Short stay -like seconds-and release. When you can do toes to toes without the leash add distance incrementally.
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When not needing a stay use another command like “wait”.
I haven’t done a CGC in some time -Yoshi, the last of the ridgies, is 12, but don’t you also have to do a “stand for exam”?
Paula
I don’t think that you need a stand for exam for a CGC, Paula. It is just sitting next to the handler and being touched by the tester. I don’t think that you need a stand for exam until you try to get a CD title.
As for teaching stays, I think it’s mostly patience and incorporating lots of stays into your day. As others have said, start small and gradually increase the duration, using a release word. If the dog breaks a stay, I try to put the dog in the same place and start over. The key is not pushing the dog too hard.
Don’t worry too much - every dog in the class will have exercises that are more difficult for him/her and exercises that are easier. If your dog did everything now, you wouldn’t need the class. Practice, but don’t get defeated. It may take time, but with enough patient practice, your dog will surprise you.
That’s right; the stand for exam was part of the CD in obedience. I am old, memory fades.
Paula
That’s interesting - in NZ, you have to do a stand to allow the assessor to run their hands over the dog. S/he is not sitting next to you either. And that is in “FOundation” - by the time you get to Silver, it is the same as for CD
I just took a couple of classes for CGC. You aren’t required to have the dog do a stand. They are in a sit next to the handler for greeting, inspection portion. The stay can be either sit or down which ever your dog is more reliable at. The recall can be from either sit or down. The section where you have to go out of sight, the dog doesn’t even need to remain in sit or down, as long as they aren’t jumping, pulling at the leash, barking frantically, etc.
