Dogs, why do they do it???

Do you think he was trying to say do not waste your money

Well done Zach. Don't let them get to cocky.

In the same way you can guarantee a dog will spit out a treat he would normally wolf down when it's given by a stranger. To add insult to injury he will have a look on his face that says "I'm not eating that poison!".

Know the feeling Chris, normally Alfie sits as soon as I stop walking, when Its just us. We were walking with my daughter and granddaughter the other day after I told them all of his excellent ways ..........Did he sit??? Not once at any crossing, he just stood still looking at me with his head to one side one ear up and one down as if to say "you can't show off now" my granddaughter laughed every time, I had to laugh as well...

To  mis-quote  a  certain  elderly  northern  Comedienne  :-- "They  Knaw  Yer  Knaw"

{  Just  for  the  youngsters  amongst  us  ;--  it  was  Hilda  Baker  referring  to  her  very  tall,  very  thin  stooge    !

simples

dogs learn in context, dog has learned to stop and sit at roads (well done you) dog has not yet learned to sit on command (as such) in a room, the context is different.

Yep - they aren't very good at generalising their learning. It's why you need to train in lots of different situations to really embed a command.

Dog training went well last night, did his sits, heel and from a sit he stayed still while I took a step away from him!!! he gave me such a funny look, yep in our local field he usually sits and stays while I turn my back on him and walk away to 20mtrs, then turn and tell him to come to me.

Yep - they aren't very good at generalising their learning. It's why you need to train in lots of different situations to really embed a command.

   ...in gundog world its called proofing  just because it will perform a specific task in your gardn or field does not mean it wil do it in real life working situation so the behaviour or command must be practiced and proofed in different scenarios. This is what you have, a learned behaviour but not yet proofed / generalised

Well after all that sitting and being told to go down in training, I think I have got it. Did a nice sit then a down without been told, when is someone going to show me how to pick up a glass??