My Sidekick and Me: Staying in Place

By Lisa Desatnik, CPDT-KA, FFCP, FDM, CPBC

Going to, staying and relaxing on a ‘place’ are valuable behaviors to invest time into teaching your dog. This lesson was one of my early ones I taught my own dog, Dawson, when he was a puppy. I have taught many more dogs and puppies since then.

What do I mean by ‘place’?

Really, it can be anywhere that your dog settles or stays on. Usually it is a mat, bed or raised platform but it does not need to be. And you can teach it with generalization, meaning, you tell your dog to ‘place’ and it can be an ottoman, a bench outside, or a stump.

Your cue for your dog to go to that spot also does not need to be ‘place’.  It can be any word or contextual cue. For my own dog, if we are out in the community, I sometimes will bring his mat. Just the act of my laying it on the ground is his cue to lay on it.  In my kitchen, when I am washing dishes, that was a contextual cue for him to lay on the kitchen mat. (I say this in past tense because lately he often will stay in my living room.)

To teach this, build lots of value for your dog to be on that spot. You can do this by giving your dog treats for laying there, giving your dog a chew toy on the bed, actively training this behavior. (This article will not get into the training aspect but you can see videos of me doing this on my Instagram or Youtube So Much PETential accounts.)

Here are some benefits for investing the time to teach this to your dog.

The PLACE can give your dog relief in stressful situations.
The lack of predictability in situations can be especially scary for some dogs. As an example, when they know that visitors sitting in the living room means they go lay on their bed and when they do that, no one will approach them, there is no guess work for those dogs.

Please NOTE:  I have seen many dogs who can relax on a bed when visitors are in the home but would be pacing and breathing heavy if left to move around; there are also dogs who would find this extremely stressful to have to lay near what is scary. Know your dog. Reach out to me or another qualified professional for help when needed.

The PLACE can be a preferred choice of humans than your dog’s choice of behaviors.  Laying in a place is often a much-preferred choice to begging at the dinner table, jumping on guests, counter surfing, chasing kids, approaching other people in social situations like coffee shops.

The PLACE can create safer situations.
Rather than your dog chasing kids, jumping on guests, or stealing food, your dog can settle during activities.  When there is interhousehold conflict between dogs, the ability to go to and stay in a location is very important.

The PLACE can be used for teaching impulse control in games.
I typically send my dog to a place when I prepare foraging activities or I am setting up a training lesson. You can teach your dog to stay in the place until released to tug or chase a ball.

There are so many uses for this behavior skill.

Lisa Desatnik, CPDT-KA, FFCP, FDM, CPBC, with So Much PETential was voted 2024 Cincinnati’s Best Community Choice Award winner in pet training. She is a certified dog trainer, a certified Family Dog Mediator, and the first trainer in Hamilton County to earn Fear Free certification. She is also a licensed Family Paws Parent Educator. She is committed to using and teaching the most positive, science-based approaches to changing behavior. For more information, visit SoMuchPETential.com.