I love a lot of commands- when a dog comes to heel, down from a distance, come. But there's one command I love the most. This is the place command and I will tell you why.
What does the place command do?
I use it with most dogs I train. Whether an aggressive dog or a well behaved dog. The reason being is because place has several benefits
It gives a dog a place to go in the house so they don't get into trouble
Many hyper and unruly dogs have a lot of energy and lack of boundaries. They have no place to go and it shows. They are the dogs that when everyone else is still, they are still moving around. Whether its sniffing the ground or just looking around looking for some mischief to get into like a bored kid. When you teach your dog place and get her to stay on place you will notice something. Your dog might start shaking like its going through withdrawal symtoms. This is your dog learning impulse control.
They give a dog there own space
Dogs don’t like to be underneath us all the time. Even the dogs that do, you need to know that this is not healthy. You have to teach your dog to not panic while you are away from them. Some dogs develop seperation anxiety because they can’t stand when their owner leaves them. Believe me, if you incorporate the place command you are minimizing this problem. The bed is also like the their crate-a safe space.
They help a reactive dog learn how to be a passenger in the world
This command is especially useful for reactive dogs. Once they learn the 4 steps to the place command you teach your dog to ignore the world around them and just relax. For example once the dog learns to stay on their place bed then I can add distraction like kids shouting from 20 feet away and have the dog remain on the place bed.
Now comes the steps to the place command
it seems so simple yet to achieve great results you have to put in effort.
Step 1
Send the dog to place
Lure dog onto place bed with a piece of food. Get them comfortable going on the place bed. Then walk up to place bed and stop abruptly a foot away from the place bed. Remember to pull the dog back as they are likely to just keep walking due to forward momentum. Next say PLACE, then guide the dog onto the place bed.
Step 2
Distance
Same as step 1 but you increase the distance where you stop
Step 3
Get the dog to stay on the place bed.
Once your dog is on the place bed move around them in a circle. If they try to get off, Say uhuh or nope and repeat PLACE.
Step 4
Correction
Once your dog understand how to stay on the place bed then its time to add correction for failure to comply. Be careful not to move to fast to this command. Make sure that your dog understands the command. You will know your dog knows because you would have performed it hundreds of times correctly.
Thats it!!! My favorite command in a nutshell. Its many used and benefits and how to implement it.
Thanks for reading and comment to let me know what dog training question are giving you problems or if you’re just curious .