ok, so today when I got home from school I spotted a new mat in the kitchen. I asked mum what it was for and she said 'Its the next training task for you and Lilly'. I was a bit confused at first but she said she wanted me to train Lilly to go to her 'mat' whenever we ask her to (e.g when we're making/eating tea). I think it is a good idea, but How do we get Lilly to know it is HER mat? Is there a specific post I should read to help me teach her about this? Sophie x
Re: New Mat! Good luck with that. I read these two articles: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=2742 http://www.clickertraining.com/node/3308 There are loads of vids on youtube for clicker training go to mat/bed. Google clicker train go to mat. With Charlie it was very easy. I put the mat down, he jumped on it, I gave him a treat. Since he jumps on everything, all the time, it wasn't difficult to give him a treat if he was on his mat. He soon figured out treats only happen if he is on his mat. I said "mat" when he got on his mat and "go play" when he got off it. I would give him a treat every few seconds, then minutes, for staying on his mat. He understood "mat" in no time. Increasing frequency of treats when it got difficult (eg stacking dishwasher, doorbell etc.). I asked him to go back on his mat if he got up before I said "go play". Worked fine.
Re: New Mat! I want to do this too, to keep Simba settled while we are eating. Question for you, Julie and others who do this - is your mat in the kitchen? There's not a really convenient place for one in our kitchen/dining area but I wonder how well this would work if Simba was in the living room on the mat and we were eating in the kitchen? I think he would like to at least see us?
Re: New Mat! It is hard for Charlie if he can't see me, although I have got to the stage where I can leave the room for a short while and he'll stay on his mat, it wouldn't work for long. I can move the mat though and it still works. So while I'm preparing food his mat is in the corner of the kitchen. We go into the dining area off the kitchen to eat and I move his mat to the middle of the kitchen floor so he can see us. It used to matter if I moved the mat, but not so much now, and at first I had to train mat in kitchen in London, in Cornwall, mat outside, mat in front room....but each mat was quicker and quicker.
Re: New Mat! Our mat is in between the two rooms we use most (kitchen and sunroom/conservatory). It is in the doorway... Although this is not much of a problem for us becuase they are double doors so we can still get past it when she is sitting on it. And thank you for the links.
Re: New Mat! Our mat is directly outside the kitchen door so that Hattie & Charlie can still see me whilst I am preparing food and when we are eating. I don't use a mat anywhere else as this is the only area it was getting quite dangerous to have 2 dogs mooching. Good luck Lisa
Re: New Mat! We put Rileys bed in the room that we're in. With Lizzie cruising around it's important that we have somewhere to send Riley out of the way so he and Lizzie don't bump off each other too much. It's a minor pain moving the bed and negotiating round it but worth it to have somewhere for Riley to be tucked out of the way. He has a mat that pretty much stays in the kitchen and he goes on that when Lizzie is eating or we're cooking.
Re: New Mat! Okay good to know! First step....a new mat!! There's a spot in the kitchen I think will work....might be a bit small but we'll see.....
