Begging is a common issue that many people have with their dogs. Many of our Salt Lake City dog training clients believe that feeding their dog people food can encourage begging. It is more important to be aware of what behavior you are rewarding than if you are giving your dog people food. If your dog is sitting by you or jumping on you while you are eating, and you give your dog a treat or food from your plate then you are rewarding that exact behavior your dog was doing when you fed him. However, if you give your dog food when your dog is settled on his bed then your dog will perform more of the settle behavior. This post is about training your dog to go to bed and settle.
Many of clients find that training their dog to go to their bed is a successful way to spend time with dog training. Salt Lake City has many dog owners that spend time training dogs to go to their bed. Below is how we recommend training this behavior.
First, decide where you would like to place your dog’s bed. Stand by your dog’s bed. Your dog’s behavior is completely random. As soon as your dog moves toward the bed click and treat (c/t). Begin rewarding closer and closer approximations that your dog is performing toward the bed until your dog is all the way on his bed. First choose, to reward your dog for looking at the bed. Then when he has one foot on the bed c/t. Next c/t 2 feet on the bed. Keep clicking and treating for more feet on the bed until your dog has 4 feet on the bed. Once you have all four feet readily going onto the bed, it is time to train your dog perform a down stay. When your dog is readily going onto his bed and laying in a down you can then begin to add the command you would like to use to get your dog to lay on his bed and stay there.
This behavior works great when you want your dog to stay away from the dinner table while you are eating with friends and or family! We understand that obstacles can be created when you independently performing dog training. Salt Lake City has many dog trainers that can offer support!
We want to hear from you in a comment below!
Does your dog already know how to go to his bed? If no, what was helpful in this post?
Namaste!
Johanna Teresi, Professional Owner and Trainer of Four Legged Scholars LLC, Dog Training, Salt Lake City
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