As a dog owner, it can be quite distressing when it’s naptime but your canine friend doesn’t feel comfortable or willing to go to its bed.
That might get you pondering about the most effective ways to get your furry, little friend to bed.
But when it comes to teaching our pets any new trick, there are no short cuts. It requires days of patience, persistence, and diligence to get the pet to learn the new behavior.
Fortunately, one of the best things about dogs is that they are some of the most intelligent pets out there, with the ability to remember commands from years ago.
Also, dogs are remarkably obedient to their owners. The combination of intelligence and obedience makes them considerably easier to train compared to other pets.
Even better, there’s a raft of expert tips that you can implement to ensure your dog learns to go to its bed within the shortest time possible.
Why Would You Want To Teach Your Dog To Go To Bed?
There are several reasons why you would want to teach your dog to go to its bed. The following are some of those;
1. You Want the Dog to Stop Barking
Barking is part of a dog’s natural instincts. However, some dogs tend to bark at anything and anyone.
It’s understandable if a dog barks at the sight of potential danger, such as an intruder, serpent, or other stray dogs.
But it can be quite upsetting when the cause is something as ridiculous as a butterfly perching on an outdoor post. Sometimes, the barking might not even have been triggered by any apparent external stimulus.
One of the best ways to redirect this behavior is to teach your dog to “go to bed.”
2. The Dog is Overexcited
Don’t you just love it when your canine friend is so excited and full of energy?
Well, the only reason you can tolerate your dog’s overexcitement is that you cherish and adore it. But the same may not necessarily hold true for some of your friends.
When you’re inviting guests over, there may be a couple of them who detest the sights and sounds of dogs. Such people will find the idea of your dog greeting and hugging them quite aversive.
While you love and adore your pooch, you must also consider the likes and dislikes of your fellow human friends. In such situations, the surest way to avert potentially confrontational situations is to give your dog the cue to go to its bed.
3. The Dog’s Eating Food off the Floor
A dog should only eat from its bowls and feeders. If the dog must eat food off the floor, you’ll need to ensure that the floor is clean and the food is dog-friendly.
But what if you just came back home from work and found your pooch munching on some identified food on the floor? You’ll have limited time to investigate the cleanliness of the floor or the safety of the food.
The only logical thing to do is to tell your canine friend to “go to your bed”.
4. Diffuse a Tense Situation
Your neighbor’s dog strayed into your compound and as you know, your canine friend is highly territorial and will defend its patch with all it’s got. If the interlopers don’t back away, a fight will certainly ensue.
The bloody aftermath may be too grim to contemplate. Therefore, your best bet is to command the dog to go to its bed.
How to Teach Your Dog to Go To Its Bed
What You’ll Need:
Here is The Procedure…
1. Lure the dog to its bed
The first step in training your dog to go to its bed is to lure the dog to the bed in a down position.
Ensure that the bed is placed in an open and visible area, such as the center of the room. That way, your canine friend will clearly know when it’s on and off the bed.
If your pooch stays on the bed, even for a couple of seconds, reward it by throwing a treat between its paws.
Insist on treating the dog when it’s still in a down position. Also, when treating your dog, don’t bribe it by visibly holding a treat over its head. Instead, conceal the reward and allow the dog to figure out how to lie on the bed, then offer the treat immediately.
2. Release the dog from the bed
After a minute or so, you can release the dog with a “free” or “ok”. Don’t pull the dog but instead, encourage it to get off the bed.
3. Repeat the process
The next step in learning how to train your dog to go to his place is to repeat the process of luring the dog to its bed and releasing it, for about 3 – 4 times.
Once the dog has mastered the commands, now stand next to its bed the same way you did when you were luring it. However, don’t lure the dog this time around, but observe if the dog readily gets to its bed.
If it does, reward it immediately. And if the dog gets on its bed and lies down on it without prompting, reward the dog heavily.
But if the dog doesn’t get to its bed even after standing by the bedside for about one minute, go back to luring the dog.
4. Add a name to the training
At this stage, we presume that your dog can now get to the bed without luring or prompting. Now, it’s time to add a name to the training.
Find the shortest, clearest, and most convenient name. A “bed”, “home” or “place” will do.
Stand near the bed and as your pooch gets on it and lies down, say the name loud enough. As usual, reward the dog if it lies down.
5. Add duration and distance
If you have been allowing your dog to stay on the bed for, say, 10 seconds, gradually increase the duration. Perhaps, proceed to 15 seconds, then 20, 25, 30 seconds, and so on.
While you add the duration, you can also increase the distance. Instead of walking to your dog’s bedside, cue the dog from the far corner of the room and observe if it heeds your command.
You can also increase the distance by cuing the dog from another room, or even from outside the house.
6. Reinforce the behavior
Now, after training your dog to successfully go to its bed, it’s now time to reinforce the behavior. One of the best ways to go about that is to place this snuggle puppy toy on your dog’s bed.
Most vets recommend this toy for its realistic appearance and texture. The toy is also machine-washable. You can easily clean it after removing the heart.
If you’re looking to teach your dog to go to its bed and avoid negative behavior, such as barking, growling, and whining, you should consider investing in this toy.
As the toy also keeps your dog stimulated, it’s useful in averting loneliness, depression, boredom, and separation anxiety.
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Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Wrap-Up
There goes our short guide on how to train your dog to go to its bed.
As we mentioned, all it requires is a bit of patience and understanding. If you diligently implement the tips that we’ve highlighted here, it will only take a few days for your furball to learn how to get to its bed on your command.
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