Teach Your Dog To Go To His Spot

Note: Remember, sending your dog to a spot should never seem like a punishment. Even if your dog has been misbehaving, if you send it to its crate, it should still be showered with praise for being a good boy and listening to you.

Choosing a Behavior

In addition to choosing a spot, before you start training you should also choose a behavior. Sometimes you will want your dog to go all the way onto the mat or bed. Other times you will simply want to see your dog put a paw on it, since your only goal is to get your pet out of the way, rather than to send it to bed. Choose what you are training for beforehand, as confusion on your end leads to confusion on your pet’s end. Also, make sure you choose a word that you will remember and stick with. If you are sending it to a bed or mat that will be around for a while, choose “Bed” or “Mat” as the command. If you are sending it to a piece of paper in the corner of the room that you are planning on removing, choose a more generic term like “Spot.” Your dog doesn’t know the difference but it will prevent you from changing your mind later and causing confusion.

Teaching Your Dog to Go to its Bed or Mat

Grab a bag of treats and get your clicker ready. When your dog moves towards the mat, click and reward. When your dog appears to be getting it, wait until your dog takes a step in the direction of the spot, click and reward. After that has been successfully completed, try 3 steps and so on.

Once it appears your dog is getting it, after your dog grabs the treat and gets rewarded, say “Spot!” and wait until your dog tries the trick again. Once they go back to the location, reward them with praise, give them a treat and say “Spot!” again.

After your dog has appeared to catch on and has done the trick a few times in a row, don’t say “Spot’ and wait. Your dog may try to go to the spot without your command, but do not reward them. Once they have left the spot, say the command again and if they go to their place, reward them and give them a treat. This will help them understand that they are waiting for the command and not for the clicker.

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