Go to Bed – How to teach your dog

Go to your bed, to your spot, to your crate is a very useful behavior to have in your tool box with your dog. Your dog might be dirty, you need to take a phone call, there’s a knock on the door, it’s time for your dog to settle. The trick is to make “going to bed” a very rewarding and fun experience.

If you have different rooms, you’ll need to train it in each room.

Here are the steps

Part 1

• Have your dog on leash.
• Toss a few treats on his mat.
• Hold the dog away 6-8 feet.
• Rev him up by getting him excited with words such as “ are you ready?”
• When your dog looks to you, tell him “Go”
• Swing your arm towards the bed in a bowling motion.
• The second your dog’s feet hit the bed, say “yes” just before he eats the treats.
• Reward him with another treat on the bed.
• Release with OKAY or your release word.
• Repeat several times, making it a fun game.

Part 2

You will be repeating part one but you will not toss the treats onto the bed.

• Have your dog on leash.
• Hold the dog away 6-8 feet from the bed
• Rev him up by getting him excited with words such as “ are you ready?”
• When your dog looks to you, tell him “Go”
• Swing your arm towards the bed in a bowling motion.
• The second your dog’s feet hit the bed, say “yes” just before he eats the treats.
• Reward him with several treats on the bed.
• Release with OKAY or your release word.
• Repeat several times.

Tip: When your dog runs to the bed to look for the food make sure to drop the treats on the bed and do not feed him from your hand.

Part 3

Same as step #2

Instead of immediately marking his move to the bed with a “YES” and treat.

• Wait to see if the dog offers another behavior.
• If your dog sits tell him YES and reward.
• Repeat several times.
• Next when your dog sits, do not mark with a yes.
• Wait it out and wait for a down.
• Once he is down, mark with a YES and put a PILE of treats on the bed.
• JACK POT immediately if your dog lies down!

The goal is to have the dog run to his bed and lie down.

Part 4

• Repeat above and now add your cue word(s) to the action.
• Go to bed, Bed, crate, kennel up, settle,   You pick the words, and then always use that.
• Continue to practice having your dog go to his mat.

Part 5

So now your dog is going to his bed or crate willingly and lying down, but how do you get him to stay there?  The steps above can be taught in a couple of days, the next step needs to be practiced a lot and the time needs to be added very slowly.  So now that you have a 10 second settle on the bed, you can’t expect to jump to 10 minutes.  You’ll need to add in seconds, then minutes.

• Set up a chair near the bed and grab a magazine.
• Use your method to get your dog to the bed
• Reward with a treat when your dog is lying down on the bed.
• Toss a treat every few seconds.  Start extending the time in between.
• Act like you are engrossed into the magazine, meaning don’t watch your dog directly.
• Decrease the number of treats being delivered again, longer time in between.
• Work up to a minute, two or three.
• Release your dog, you get up and walk around.
• Try again if you think your dog is up to it.  If he is amped up, then try again later.
• Try this stage as many times as you can and begin to add seconds to the time, then minutes.

Problems that might arise: Your dog continues to bounce back up.

Solution: Try for shorter times and work on releasing your dog before she releases herself.

Problem: Your dog is acting totally wild and won’t settle.

Solution: End the session and try again after a really good exercise session.

Problem: You have added some time, but feel the need to continue the treats.

Solution: When your dog has settled for 5-10 minutes, and is still awake and alert, you might offer a stuffed Kong or a chew to work on.

I hope you find this helpful with your dog.  Let me know how it goes.