Settle on your Mat
During the Go For It! seminar I did take Rizzo out of her crate to work during “mat time”. I have not done any formal mat work but I have reinforced her at home for offering mat behavior. Also it keep some toys on her mat to encourage her to hang out on her mat – including a kong. As you can see it has payed off already!
At one point she grabbed her empty water bowl an brought it over to her mat with her to rest with. I’m looking forward to starting more formal mat work. It is so nice to have a dog that can settle nicely on a mat in a variety of environments. 
Tags: basic puppy training, dog household manners, go to mat, settle
Comments (7)
This is such a great skill to teach. I have only had some success (on a beach towel for a bone). “Take your place” and then they’ll stay on the towel for their bone and not leave while indulging on their treat.
But, there are so many other very valuable applications, answering the door, at an outdoor eatery, ect. A couple of questions:
1. What is the corrective action if the pup (or dog) leaves the mat?
2. Is there an increment of time that is allowed? For example, Rizzo left mat to retrieve bowl and then settled. I realize this is new for her, but would love to hear your method for mastering this skill.
Thanks,
Lori
Hi Lori,
If the dog leaves the mat there is a couple of reasons why. The first is the behavior was not trained to “that” level yet. So what is “that” level, frequently it has to do with the Ds of training – distance, duration, or distraction. Was the dog on the mat too long? Was the distraction too high (door bell, etc). You need to train to all of these different situations and set your dog up for success.
In Rizzo’s case of the water bowl she was actually off the mat for a mental break. We were playing to burn some energy before asking her to settle again. That is when she grabbed the water bowl and took it to her mat. It was very cute!
We want to make the mat the “best” place in the whole world (ok maybe second to heel position
. Ideally the mat becomes a bit of a security blanket. It is an easy place to get “easy” rewards – all I have to do is lay here and they deliver food to me – how cool is that! Once they become a mat addict it makes it easier to train some of the harder distractions and still stay on the mat.
I did start taking some video of training Rizzo to go to her mat this morning. I’ll edit it shortly.
Wags,
Sara
Thanks. That makes perfect sense. I would love to have both dogs take their place and be “settled” after the door bell rings and guests enter the house. (You saw how they are
) They LOVE company, but it can be overwhelming and does not allow for a proper welcome.
This may require a different approach…can ‘old dogs’ learn new tricks????
Thanks again, I appreciate the input.
I actually taught one clients dog that the doorbell ringing was the cue to go to the mat. It was a 2 dog house and one dog was really scared of people and one was very friendly. It was a great solution.
Yes you can teach an old dog. I will say doorbell barking is a harder one to get “rid” of….Dara learned to rollover for her 9th birthday!
Watch for some posts & videos about teaching go to the mat.
Wags! Sara
Sara, Love the picture of Rizzo stretched out. Kubie (Teal) does the same thing. Looks kind of uncomfortable to me but seems natural to them. Lots of good ideas on your site.
It’s exactly the same way their mother relaxes.
I’m actually trying to get it “on cue” I want that to be her down stay down. The hard thing is trying to get her to do it in a training session. I am capturing (rewarding) every time I see her doing it around the house.