Retraining Your Pooch to Sleep in His Bed and NOT Yours

pug on bed

As opposed to training your dog only to go to her bed at night time, make this a command that will work any time of day. Teach her the command “go to your bed” by praise and positive reinforcement. When she does go to her bed give her lots of treats and praise. Once she gets the hang of it, gradually keep her there longer and longer. You should also implement a release word such as “free” or “okay” to let her know it's okay to leave her bed.

That Mutt recommends that once she gets used to the command sleeping in her bed should be a lot easier since you can now use this command when it's bed time. If she still has trouble with sleeping in her bed continue to give her treats and praise. Hopefully, in time transitioning back to her bed will be easier. 

The “go to your bed” command comes in handy in many situations such as:

– When you have visitors over
– When you’re eating dinner
– When you’re busy and don’t want to be pestered
– When you have multiple dogs and need them to “chill out”
– When you’re working on a project and need your dog out of the way
– To get your active dog to calm down

How to teach a dog to go to her bed.

Step #1: Give the command “go to your bed.”
If your dog actually does go to her bed, make sure to give her treats and praise. Most likely, she’ll need you to guide her.

Remember to have some sort of word to release your dog from her bed such as “free!” or “ok!”

Step #2: Begin increasing the distance.
Increase the difficulty very gradually so the dog is successful.

Step #3: Increase the time.
You’ll most likely be practicing this step along with step two. Basically you want to teach your dog that “go to your bed” means “go to your bed and stay there until I release you.”

At first, you’ll only expect your dog to remain on her bed for five seconds while you’re sitting right next to her. Give her treats and praise. Then release her with – “free!”

Step #4: Increase the distance between you and your dog.
Now you can begin to walk away from the bed. At first, you might take a single step back. Then return to your dog and release her.

Go at your own pace. Be positive. Use lots of praise and treats. Make sure your dog views her bed as a fun place to hang out.

Extra tips for teaching your dog to go to her bed:
– Give your dog a special treat when she’s lying on her bed such as a bone or a puzzle toy
– Give your dog the “go to your bed” command before you feed her
– Keep your dog on a leash during training if it helps



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