Dr. Dunbar’s 28-Day Good Dog Challenge

Go to Your Bed

Day 6 · Make your dog’s bed the best place in the house.

Today’s challenge

Send your dog to their bed and ask for a Down. How long will your dog stay down on their bed? By midnight tonight, text me your dog’s longest Down-Stay on their bed. Bonus: send a video!

Why Go to Your Bed?

Dogs learn “place” words very quickly: bed, car, inside and outside, upstairs and downstairs, and even the names of the rooms in your house. And a dog who loves their bed has a happy place to settle, wherever you are.

Step by step

Teach Go to Your Bed

  1. Secretly place a piece of kibble on your dog’s bed.
  2. Later, say “Go to your bed.” Use body language and hand signals to encourage your dog to go to their bed and claim the unexpected reward.
  3. Once they’re on the bed, say “Down,” and offer a couple more pieces of kibble while they stay down.
  4. Repeat several times.

Turn the bed into the kibble zone

Many times throughout the day, secretly drop a piece of kibble on your dog’s bed for them to find on their own. If your dog is already on their bed, because they’ve learned that the kibble zone is a good place to hang out, praise, and hand-feed some kibble.

Better yet, secretly leave a food-stuffed chew toy on their bed. More on stuffing chew toys on the No Food Bowl page.

A bed in every room

I like to have a bed (or a carpet sample) in every room:

  • The kitchen, in a corner, to keep your dog from getting underfoot.
  • The dining room, so your dog can enjoy a stuffed chew toy while you eat.
  • The living room, right in front of the TV, so you can alternate bed, couch, and bed again.

Or just snuggle on the couch. Your dog, your couch, and so, your choice.

I let my dog do the choosing. Most of the time Mars is on the couch when I’m reading, working on the computer, or watching Britbox. Sometimes though, he prefers his platform bed.
— Ian

Special tips

I have a young puppy who carries the chew toy off the bed.

Tie the chew toy to an eye-hook in the baseboard, or to the inside of a training crate, so it can’t be removed from the bed.

My dog doesn’t have a bed.

A carpet sample, a mat, or a folded blanket works perfectly.

What’s next

  • Tomorrow, Day 7, it’s Show Off Time! Film everything your dog can do so far. See Videos and Prizes for filming tips.
  • Use it every day. Send your dog to their bed whenever you’re cooking, eating, or watching TV.

Top Dog Academy

Want to see Ian teach more?

Top Dog Academy is packed with Ian’s training videos, for puppies and adult dogs alike. Everyone in the Good Dog Challenge gets a free month.

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