The dog training game“Place!” is the game that gives your dog something to do when the doorbell rings, when elderly Aunt Gertie is on the move with her walker, even when you’re busy chopping vegetables at the table.
“Place!” isn’t the “go to your room!” order that let you know you were in trouble as a kid. Your dog’s designated place is a good thing. It’s a comfort zone where your dog is happy and gets rewarded for hanging out.
Call it what you want
As with anything you train your dog to do, you can call it whatever you want. Some people choose “Mat!” or “Bed!” You should call it whatever works for you and your dog. Dogs don’t know words until you teach them. As Humpty Dumpty said: ““When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”
It helps if the word is short and easy to say, but you be you. It’s your dog and you can teach them whatever you want. We know someone who trained their dog to understand words in Klingon. It’s a bit guttural for us, but works for her.
Set up
In time, your dog will learn that they can have multiple mats designated as “Place!” To teach the word, choose a dog bed, mat, towel, bath mat, or whatever and move it to the center of a clear area. For this initial teaching phase, choose a quiet, small spot without distractions. Your dog isn’t going to know what’s going on, so they may get a little frustrated and try to check out on you.
Until dogs learn that it’s okay to experiment, many are afraid of getting things “wrong.” To avoid it, they may choose not to play. It takes a bit to overcome their reluctance. The dog isn’t “refusing” or “acting out” if they don’t rush in to play with you. They’re confused, unused to making choices, and worried they’ll choose the wrong thing.
This is a game that everyone in the family can play with the dog at the same time. While you don’t want to overwhelm the dog, you do want everyone to be part of training games.
Possess your soul in patience
Everyone should have a few treats. Then you just all stand around the “Place!” and look at it. When the dog interacts with the “Place!” in any way – looks at it, sniffs it, paws at it – one person drop a treat on the mat and say “Good Place!” As long as the dog stays interested in the Place, toss a treat onto it every few seconds, repeating “Good Place!”
Be sure nobody is handing the dog a treat. In order to make the “Place!” valuable to the dog, the treats have to be associated with the mat. If your dog always finds treats there, it’s a great place to be.
After rewarding the dog a few times for the same interaction with the “Place!” it’s time to expect more. Say your dog looked at the mat. When they continue the same behavior (looking), tell them they’re good, encourage them, and ask for more. “That’s good!” “What else can you do?”
Do NOT tell them to get in the bed or point at it. The entire exercise is based on the dog deciding for themselves that it’s a wonderful, chosen “Place!” that they love. If you always decide for your dog, you’ll always have to. Growing their understanding is how they learn to make good decisions. Let them.
Take the dog training game place at your dog’s pace
The first time you play the dog training game “Place!” you may not get anywhere. That’s okay. It’s why every dog training game should be less than five minutes. You’ll try again another time. Your dog also has to learn to trust the process. You’ll get there. The steps, depending on the dog, are: look, touch, one paw, two paws, three paws, four paws, sit, and/or down on the place.
Once your dog gets it and goes dashing to sit or lie down on their “Place!” the other side of the coin is getting them off of the “Place!” Remember, as long as they’re interacting with the mat, they get treats tossed on the “Place!,” maintaining its value. When it’s time for the dog to move off, toss a treat off to the side and release the dog to “Find it!” or “Search!” or “Go!”
Dashing all the way
You know your dog is on target with the game if they dash over to get the treat and dash back to their “Place!” That’s when you start introducing new parts to the game. You can vary the “Place!” teaching your dog that any mat or bed can be “Place!” You can move the “Place!” around the house so your dog knows it’s the same game wherever you are.
For some people the ultimate goal of the dog training game “Place!” is having the doorbell be a cue for your dog to go “Place!” Pair the sound of your doorbell with the word “Place!” once your dog understands the word. If you want “Place!” to be your dog’s doorbell behavior, it will take some time and patience, but you and your dog can do it.
