Do you want to teach your dog to follow the command “bed”, and you don’t know how to do it? I have prepared a four-step plan for you to learn this command. I will guide you step by step through the complete training of this new skill. I would classify the exercise of this command as moderately difficult.
Learning the “bed” command consists of four stages. Initially, you lead your dog to the bed with your hand with a treat. In the following steps, you develop this skill in your four-legged friend. As training progresses, eventually, your dog can go to a “bed” and stay there despite the distractions around him.
Command “bed”
One of the most frequently said commands to my pet is the command to “bed”. It is beneficial in everyday life with a dog because it allows you to separate it from the source of a stressful situation if necessary.
For example, my dog doesn’t like couriers or mail carriers. He gets very nervous when he sees one of them at our door. Therefore, knowing this, before I let them in, he commands my pet to go to the “bed”.
This way, my dog does not experience a direct meeting with the mail carriers, thus avoiding unnecessary stress. That is just one example from everyday life where the command to “bed” is extremely helpful. I will also show you other situations where this command is handy.
The “bed” command is beneficial not only at home
This command will work not only at home. However, for your dog to know where is the “bed” to go in a foreign space, it must have something of its own.
You can’t expect that by putting a brand new blanket in the room where the dog is for the first time, he will know what you mean by “bed”.
So if you want to use this command during a holiday trip or a guest visit, remember that you must have a bed belonging to your quadruped.
To avoid carrying around a standard, large bed or a blanket that is difficult to fold, I recommend you choose a rolled mat. For me, it is a permanent element of my dog’s layette.
We use the LOFT roll-up dog mat from Bowl&Bone Republic. It has a snap fastener, making it easy and quick to assemble. Moreover, the mat has a comfortable handle, so moving it from “bed” to “bed” is not a problem and is very simple.
That is a very useful type of bed, which works well when being with my dog on a holiday trip, I need to give him a command to go to the “bed”.
Dog mat |LOFT graphite
How to teach your dog the “bed” command step by step
Now let’s focus on preparing your pet for the “bed” command in a few simple steps. As with most skill training, treats will be helpful to reward your dog.
For your convenience, I recommend keeping the treats in a convenient pouch during training. Thanks to this, you can easily and quickly reach for the snack. What’s more, your dog won’t be distracted by the treat package.
I use the MIDI case from Bow&Bone Republic because this product also has a compartment for dog pouches. It is very convenient when training with a dog, and I do not have to take two separate sachets.
If you already have prepared treats with which you will reward your pet for the correct execution of the command, you need to take care of one more element of learning. Namely, you must specify where your pet should go by saying the command “bed”.
It would be best to choose a bed your dog already knows well. Training with a new bed whose smell is unfamiliar to your pet will be difficult for him. He will not identify such a bed with his space.
Stage one of learning the command “bed”
We can now proceed to the first stage of learning the command “bed”. Initially, training will take place very close to the bed. Call your dog to you and encourage him to come to his bed. At this stage of training, focus only on your gestures, not on saying the target command.
If the gesture alone is not enough, you can lead your dog by the hand in which you hold a treat for him. I am sure that this form of encouragement will spur him to action. Of course, if your pet follows your command and sits on the bed guided by your hand, do not forget to reward him for it.
Stage two of learning the command “bed”
Once your dog has mastered the first part of the learning, we can move on to the next one. Now try not to lead the dog to the bed but only indicate it with a gesture. This learning phase may take a little longer for your dog to understand what you expect from him.
Now is the time to add a verbal command. Why only now? Because the pet needed to understand precisely what your command was about. Namely, the idea is for him to go to his bed on his own and stay there.
Make sure your dog responds correctly to the “bed” command by repeating the command several times. If so, you can add more elements to the exercise by moving on to the next step.
Stage three of the command “bed”
Your task will be to make your dog sit in his “bed” as long as possible. You should be aware that our goal is that after saying the command, the dog stays on his bed and does not leave it after a while.
So how can you do it? When your dog correctly obeys the command “bed” and sits on his bed, give him a treat. If your pup is still in bed, wait a few seconds and reward him with another snack. Repeat several times.
Gradually increase the time between rewards. Slowly change the moment of the first gratification of the dog as well. Please give him a treat not immediately after going to bed but only after he spends a few moments on his bed.
This step is crucial because it contains all the essential elements of this command. Therefore, before proceeding, ensure your dog understands what you expect from him in this command and can fully perform your request. If so, you can go to the fourth and final stage of learning the command “bed”.
Stage four of the command “bed”
How to make sure that your dog obeys your command no matter what situation you are in? Through exercises using distracting elements. You can use a dog toy or treats for this purpose.
Say the command “bed” and wait for the pet to take a position on the indicated bed. Once he does, pick up his toy and show it to him. At the moment when the dog does not give in to encouragement and will still obediently sit in bed, give him a treat in the form of a treat.
Do the same with the great distraction. In this case, remember to reward the dog for the correct execution of the command.
Remember, however, that too much distraction from the dog will never be effective. You can’t expect your dog to resist when you encourage him to play a lot by holding his favourite toy in your hand. In such situations, most dogs will succumb to temptation and give up the ” bed ” command.
That is normal, and I would like to draw your attention not to treat distraction training as the ultimate test of your pup’s progress.
What to do so that the dog does not forget the command “bed”
You often ask me in the comments what to do so that the dog does not forget the commands he has already mastered. The only practical solution is to remind the dog of the commands he knows.
If your dog has already mastered a particular command, and you do not use it daily, he may partially or entirely forget how to perform it. That’s why, during training with my dog, we follow all the commands he has learned.
Thanks to this, he does not get out of practice and still can do them. I highly recommend this solution.
Easy-to-learn command “bed”
I hope you find my four-step plan for learning the helpful command “bed”. I would rate the training of this skill on a medium difficulty level.
Let me know if your dog can follow the command on the spot and, if not, whether you intend to teach it.
If you have any questions or want me to discuss a topic in the next post, share it in the comments section.
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