Teaching your dog to settle

We caught up with Bruce’s Dog Trainer Lucy to discuss the importance of teaching settle to our dogs.

Why do I need to teach my dog to settle? The reason you want to teach your dog to settle is to give both you and your dog an opportunity to relax.

Teaching settle can help build your dog’s independence, reduce separation anxiety and releases a hormone known as dopamine, which makes them feel good.

Read on to find out how to teach your dog to settle…

Place a mat, blanket or towel on the floor.

Let your dog sniff the mat and reward them for going near and investigating.

As time goes on, begin to reward your dog when they have two paws on the mat, eventually building this up to all four paws on the mat. Always remember to reward your dog to show them great things happen on this mat.

Continue this until your dog is fully comfortable standing on the mat.

Once your dog is comfortable and relaxed on the mat, it’s time to ask them for a ‘down’.

Ask your dog to lie down and then reward them when they do so.

Eventually, after staying consistent with your training your dog will naturally associate the mat with settle.

Over time, slowly increase the time of each settle and begin to practise the settle in different environments, gradually increasing the level of distractions.

Make sure you have time to dedicate to your dog to teach them to settle.