Teach Your Dog To Go To Her “Place”

Teach Your Pup the “Place” Command 

Teaching your dog the “place” command can be helpful in a variety of situations – controlling your curious pup when you need a moment to relax, encouraging polite door greeting behavior, a safe spot for shy dogs when strangers visit, or even giving her a place to stay when she accompanies you to a pet-friendly restaurant. An added bonus is that many dogs will naturally gravitate to their place on their own once they learn the command.

• To start, pick a bed or blanket you will use for your dog’s place. You can have more than one in different areas of the house if desired.
• Put the place in a location where they can be close the action of the family but tucked out of the way. A corner of a room or next to the couch works great.
• Get your pup’s attention and say “place” while pointing to the spot and walking towards it. Reward when she gets on her place and lays down (you can give her the “down” command at first if needed.)
• Repeat sending him to his place until he is going to the spot and laying down without the “down” command.
• Once she starts to get the idea, start mixing it up. Walk towards the place from different directions and stop a few feet before the place so she learns to continue to the bed on her own.  This will allow you to send her from across the room in the future.
• Next, move the place around to different areas of the room. This will help solidify the “place” being the bed or blanket, no matter where the place is in the house, or out in public. This is also a good time to increase the level of distraction around your dog when asking him to “place”.
• Once you and your dog have mastered the “place” command, work on sending her to her place and having her “stay” there until released.

Check out next month’s newsletter for tips on teaching a solid “stay”!