Good morning all I would like to train my puppy to "go to bed". His bed is a crate which he is very happy to sleep in. At the moment when he is due a sleep I am throwing a tit bit in his crate and when he moves towards it to go in his crate I am saying "go to bed". My concern is that he will associate this phrase with his movement towards the treat rather than the action of going to his bed. Is there a better way? I thought about going in the crate myself but then I am asking him to come to me rather than go by himself into his bed. He's only tiny (8 weeks) but I don't want to confuse the issue so early on. Any advice from more experienced dog folk? He is my first dog but I have read enough to know that getting it right the first time is definitely the way forward with all training. Thanks all Sersi
Re: Go to bed! Hi there , I think what you may be doing wrong is to reward an action before he has done it . What I would do is wait until he goes towards his crate , then say the command and once he goes in , him him the treat , this way he will soon realise that to obey the command means a treat rather than throwing the treat in first, hope this makes sense
Re: Go to bed! Hmmm. I dont think I would worry too much. The puppy likes his crate, he enjoys sleeping in it, he knows he gets a treat when Mum says 'go to bed', and he is happy to oblige! Where is the problem - seems to me everyone is happy! 8) Dont worry too much Sersi. Labradors are clever and sensitive dogs. He will soon realize that other commands (like 'sit' and 'come') also result in a reward. It seems to me that your first steps are going very well! I am not a dog trainer, but in my experience Labs are eager to please, and it sounds like you are off to a very good start.
Re: Go to bed! I think what you're doing is probably ok, at some point you'll gradually give the treat after he goes to bed. We certainly popped treats in Riley's bed to encourage him in and now he occasionally gets treats after he's gone to bed.
Re: Go to bed! Thanks ladies, Makes sense Kate - I will try to give the command when he goes into his crate by himself and reward once there. I think you're probably right Karen - there's so much amazing information about how to do everything "right" that I think I have probably become overly keen to do EVERYTHING just so. When I was young we just bumbled along with our dogs and they did just fine. My pup has been an absolute angel so far so I'm not spending my time dealing with the usual crying / sloppy poo / crate training / sleep deprivation issues I was expecting to be. Will sit back with a cuppa and just enjoy. ;D
Re: Go to bed! Yes agree. Don't worry about it. He'll very quickly get the right idea and even pick up the signs that you are about to go out (eg putting shoes on or picking up the cars keys) and he will pop into bed without asking! I find the general exception to this is actual bedtime when our dog goes stone deaf and stupid and has no clue what I'm on about.
Re: Go to bed! You`re right , there seems to be a lot of pressure to do the right thing from day one . Most of us make mistakes along the way , I certainly did and spent a lot of time worrying far too much . Funnily enough, it was around the time I stopped being so paranoid that Sam began to relax and " get it " a lot more , enjoy your puppy
