stay means stay, not lay down!!! duh!!!

OK so I have been working with Maya on her Stay. She sits 99% of the time and will sit up to 1 full minute.
So we have been working on stay. I put her in a sit and push my hand towards her nose the way everyone says to do it. I then take one step backwards and she does fine. I try and walk backwards further and most of the time I can walk backwards across the room and sometimes turn in a complete circle and then return to her and she wont move... but sometimes she gets these streaks where she lays down as soon as I start to move backwards. I turn around and ignore her for a few seconds untill she gets up. Then I put her back into the sit and give her the stay command and go back to only taking one or two steps backwards before returning and praising her.

Any tips for how to make this better?

Our instructor had us walk in a circle around the dog while holding the leash. Returning to the heel position after circling. After CeCe was solid on a 6 ft lead I started using a much longer lead, a few feet at a time.

Don't make it two commands; we almost never use stay - it is the command you last said until either the free command or another command to replace.

So if I say sit - that's it; that's all I require - my dog could care less if I ignore her; so I will lift her back to a sit every time she breaks it. If she gets up and moves; lead her right back to the spot and start again. Go baby steps and then progress; but why use two commands; just the physical command should be enough.

When she breaks the stay give a no reward marker, like "uh oh". Then just take her back and try again. If you turn around and ignore her if she breaks position, then allow her to basically self-release, by waiting her her to get up on her own, you are reinforcing breaking her stay.

In the obedience class I went to the trainer said that it is really kind of uncomfortable for a dog to sit for very long and he recommended that if you are going to have the dog stay, it should be in a down position, not a sit. Don't know how much truth there is to that, since I quit the class after he choked my dog with a slip collar. Maybe others can chime in on that.

Most people try to move too far away from the dog too fast. If your dog is breaking stays often, you are moving too fast.

The dog must learn to hold a position with you nearby, with mild to moderate distractions, before you begin to move away.

Second, stop backing away from the dog. Until the dog can hold a sit stay with you walking away NORMALLY, with your back to the dog, to the end of a 6 foot leash, and sit there even if you put light forward tension on the leash, I don't leave more than 6 feet, or take off the leash.

When I start moving further away, I use a line or a flexi leash. Dogs are encouraged with food rewards when they stay. Be sure to vary the amount of time you stay away. The only correction should be to put the dog back into position, and as OACDs mentions, use a negative marker like uh oh!, said in a conversational or cheerful tone of voice.

Once the dog is firm with you 6 feet away, and will not cave in to tension on the leash, introduce light distractions such as a person walking by, or a ball rolling by, or food on the floor a few feet away.

Encourage the dog to pay attention to YOU by walking in at random moments and food rewarding the dog. Walk right up to the dog keeping your hand with the treat in it next to your body. Don't reach out to hand the treat, this can cause dogs to move. As the treat goes into the mouth, IF the dog has not moved, say Good Stay. Leave and return often.

A real concept of STAY takes some time for most dogs to grasp. Like most training, if there are issues, go back to square one. Basics are very important, esp. in stays.

Ditto Reds post... always build length of time a dog successfully holds a stay without correction (sit or down) before adding any distance. That would be a 5 min. sit or down to start. I actually time this for students, as most people are impatient and end exercise too soon. Also, when using a 6 ft lead, best to take up some slack, keep in left hand and keep directly in front of dog as you pivot around and return to heel position. Move off with your right foot as you go around that imaginary "pole" your in front of your dog that you're circling. Some dogs will execute a stay but then break this when owners go behind dog to return to heel. Helpful to move off on your right foot and keep lead hand steady so there's no motion made that your dog interprets as a signal to heel. Making your position a little more formal will make it easier for the dog to understand.

Sorry, I had to chuckle at that comment! I couldn't think of a better reason to quit! Except for because I was in jail for kicking the crap out of him.

Yeah, he literally choked him until he puked. It was pretty bad.

We started stay training with the 6 foot lead, working up to being at the end of the lead and then walking to the left and then right, moving in and out before releasing.
Now I've been trained to turn and walk away confidently when doing a stay. It's amazing to see the difference when I do this as opposed to walking away backwards, looking nervous that Fergus will break his stay. Our trainer showed how walking backwards away from the dog, bent forward a bit, just invites the dog to break a stay. Body language and confidence play a big part in training, I'm amazed with the difference it makes.