'Place'

Fred's 'place' training started (again!) today. I've tried to train this before, using the clicker. I've had no trouble getting him to understand he has to go to a mat, carpet tile, mark on the floor etc, and lie down. My difficulty has been in teaching him that he has to stay there until I say so.

I did think of teaching it like I taught his competition style stays, but I want him to learn to relax, or at least, not spend all his time waiting for a release cue.

Finally, I've been given a method I think will work. Not reward training, perhaps the opposite. I wouldn't like to say punishment, more penalty training.

I've cut out an enormous bit of carpet, as big as the crates in the car (and one in the house I've got up at the moment), and every time Fred's in a crate, the carpet is in there. Just so he gets used to lying on it. The next step is, when he's used to it being around, I bring it into the living room when we're relaxing at the end of the day. He's encouraged to get on it. If he gets off, he's put back on. If he keeps getting off, he's whisked out into a crate in the kitchen and has the door shut. All alone.

The idea being, if he wants to stay in the living room with the family, he stays in his place.

It sounds a bit mean, but he manages to stay lying on a cushion on the sofa for hours on end, so I will start with the carpet on the sofa! Then I can start halving the carpet until he'll happily sleep for hours anywhere, any time, on a thread.

Heh.

Wish me luck.

There were photos, but I deleted them in a stupid fit of stupidity.

I'd like to point out that Beauty learnt this very quickly. No matter where I go, pub, other people's houses, beach, bit of scraggy grass at a motorway service station, all I have to to is put down a small blanket or pillow, and she's asleep on it before I've finished standing up.