Having a dog that will go to a designated place and stay there until released is such a nice tool to have. It’s great for when people come over, or if you are out in public and need your dog to stay in one spot for safety or convenience.
Goal: Have your dog go to the mat, lay down, and stay until released on cue.
Step 1: To start off we are going to C/T (click and treat) every time the dog looks at the mat. When you give the treat, toss it away from the mat. After 3-5 times, move to step 2.
Step 2: We are going to wait for your dog to do something on the mat, sit or lie down. If they sit, just C/T once, we don’t want them to learn its go to your mat and sit. If they lay down, click and then give them a jackpot (a few treats at once). Also, if they lay down, you’ll want to give the treats on the mat in between their feet. Then say “Release” and if they get up, click that, wait for them to return to you to get the treat. Most dogs won’t be able to hold the down for this exercise in the beginning. Do this as many times as you need to make sure your dog knows it’s the going to the mat AND laying down that gets the treat.
Step 3: Put that behavior on a cue! Once your dog is reliably going to the mat and laying down it is time to put it on cue. Start this exercise like step 2, but when they start to lay down, we are going to say “go to your mat”, then C/T when they lay down. Release them. Do this exercise a few times, gradually saying “go to your mat” a little sooner than you did the last time.
Taking this to the NEXT level:
Distance: Now that your dog knows go to your mat you can move your body further from the mat to get him to go from a distance. Don’t make him lay on the mat too long at this point.
Duration: When you can be 5 or more feet away from the mat and he will go lay down on it, start working on how long he lays on the mat. So when he lies down, you delay your click by a second and then treat like normal. Build up to 3-5 seconds and then vary the time he has to lay down (ex: wait 3 sec, then 1, then 5, then 3, then 7, etc). Make sure you always release with “release”.