Go to your spot
Every dog needs his own spot – a place you can send him to rest, or when he’s begging at the table. You can have just one spot, you can have several that work with the same verbal cue, or you can have a different cue for each location. “Place” could mean the one in the kitchen, “spot” can be the one in the dinning room; “there” can be his bed in the bedroom. Your dog’s “place” mat is portable. You can take it with you to your favorite coffee shop so your pup can lie comfortably under the table. You can take it to your friend’s house for a sleep over. Your dogs ‘spot” is a little piece of home that he can take anywhere, helping him feel more comfortable in strange places.
Select a dog bed or a rug that is easily portable. Stand about 2 feet away from the mat with your dog next to you. With a treat in your hand, point to the rug, say “spot” or whatever you are going to call it, lure him onto it with the treat. Once all 4 paws are on the rug “click” and treat. You can use the verbal cue from the start in this exercise because you are almost sure that he will follow the treat onto the mat.
After several repetitions starts asking for a sit on the mat before you give the treat, then ask for a down. Ultimately you want “go to your spot” to mean “go lie down on the mat”. You can also frequently ask your pup to “wait” while lying on the mat. If you reward him occasionally just for lying on the mat he’ll learn that “on the mat” is a great place to be.
When you think your dog is starting to get the idea say “spot” and wait a few seconds to see if he moves towards the mat. If he does be sure to be right behind him to “click” and jackpot when he gets there.
Gradually start moving farther and farther from the spot, until you can send him to it from the other side of the room. If he needs a little extra encouragement, place a couple of treats on the mat so when he gets there he finds a little surprise.
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