If you’ve ever been to a Dog Obedience Competition, you already know that the “long sit” is perhaps the toughest of all obedience trials. Basically, the finalists of several obedience competitions put their respective dogs on a sit. Then, they leave the room. Whichever dog stays in their sit/stay the longest wins. At a recent Red River Obedience and Rally Trials in Shreveport, Lousiana, a bulldog named Sir Charles Barkley IX held out for three whole minutes before he finally broke his sit. Three minutes on a sit, when the owner isn’t even there? That’s awfully obedient!

The winner, a Golden Retriever named Skater, is an Obedience Trial Champion. Skater and his human, Dave Gannon of Mineola, Texas, won the “Highest scoring dog of the trial” — 199 of a possible 200 points. Skater will travel as far as 300 miles to competitions, which he participates in about twice a month. “We come here to find out whose dog is the best,” said Gannon with a smile, the retired airline pilot was one of only four owners and their dog picked for the 2005 USA Obedience World Class Team. “It’s nice when you see them do all that you’ve trained them to do.”