Place

How it works

Its value is that it turns a vague instruction into a concrete one. Asking a dog to settle gives them nothing to do, while asking them to go somewhere specific gives them a location, a posture and a clear end point. It is built in stages: getting onto the mat, staying while nothing happens, then staying while progressively more happens nearby. The release is as much a part of the cue as the send, because a dog who never learns when they are finished cannot relax on the mat.

What it looks like

The doorbell rings and the dog is sent to their mat in the next room. They stay there while the delivery is taken in, and are released half a minute later. The greeting behavior at the door never happens because the dog was somewhere else.

Commonly confused with

Management

Management arranges the environment so a behavior cannot happen, such as closing a door. Place trains the dog to do something specific instead, which travels to places a closed door does not exist.

Related terms