When to Start Place Cot Work
Start working on the place cot when you have completed Skill Chapter 6 Step 4 which teaches you to wait a full second while the puppy remains in a down/stay.
Why Teach the Place Cot
1. 1. It teaches puppies not to creep forward during a down/stay.
- It makes the teaching of a down/stay easier because our puppies are never asked to do anything other than to stay in a down while on the cot. Working on a cot takes away some of the confusion of whether we are working on sitting, downing, or moving at heel. When the position is clear for the puppy and he doesn’t have to think about his position, the puppy can concentrate more fully on building self-control.
- Cot work builds value in a particular spot that we can later use to train our puppies to choose as their place. This place is particularly helpful when training puppies to stay put while we welcome guests into our home.
- Cot work is good practice for learning to shape behaviors.
- Cot work is a good foundational behavior that enables us to easily train a puppy to stay on a portable bed when out in public.
Why is Now the Time to Teach the Place Cot
Almost all puppies, at some point, will try to creep forward on the down/stay when you start backing up a certain distance from them. That distance varies from puppy to puppy or from dog to dog. They don’t get up. Instead, they crawl forward while remaining in a down.
What do you do in this situation? If you make them go back and repeat the exercise, the puppy might get confused and no longer understand that you want them in the down position. After all, the puppy is remaining in a down position.
We need to communicate to the dog that he was correct by remaining in the down, but he was incorrect by creeping forward. In order to accomplish this, we must separate the behavior we do want (staying down) from the behavior we don’t want (creeping forward). Isolating good behaviors from bad ones is an important part of maintaining clear communication with your dog. The dog must understand what behavior is being reinforced.
In order to accomplish our goal here of reinforcing staying down without reinforcing crawling forward at the same time, we need to stop the crawling. We do this by setting up a barrier that keeps the puppy from crawling.
This is following the same principle that we followed when teaching our puppy to heel on a fence. The fence kept the dog straight so that we could concentrate on only one aspect of heeling: eye contact. With the fence, we no longer needed to worry about the puppy creating his own habit of heeling in a crooked position.
We stop the crawling during the down/stay by getting the puppy on a raised cot. When the puppy is on the edge of the cot, it is impossible to crawl forward without getting off. When the puppy gets off the cot, he will no longer be in a down position. We will be able to set clear criteria so that the puppy understands what it is we want and what will bring him his reward. He must do what it takes to stay in the down position. Creeping forward causes him to come out of the down position when he’s on a raised surface. Therefore, the puppy will begin to associate creeping forward with coming out of the down position.
How to Teach the Place Cot
Ideally, the trainer should get the puppy on the cot by shaping. If the puppy or the trainer has a lot of trouble, you can jump-start the process with a lure and then shift to shaping.
Step 1 – Wait for the Puppy to Look at the Cot
To shape the behavior, simply stand close to the cot and wait for him to look at it. When he looks at it, mark and use reward placement to get the puppy up on the cot. Give the puppy his food. Some softer tempered puppies might initially be unsure of jumping up on the cot. If your puppy doesn’t get on the cot quickly after you’ve said “yes,” give the puppy his food anyway. Next time, try pointing to the cot. If that doesn’t work, use luring. To lure a puppy onto the cot, simply offer the food to the puppy while you hold it over the cot. Use as few hints as possible while at the same time keeping your puppy happy and engaged and successful.
Step 2 – Release the Puppy from the Cot
If the puppy is indeed on the cot, say “okay” after the puppy has taken his food. Back away from the cot to encourage the puppy to get off the cot.
Remember “okay” is a release word. There is no food reward when we use a release word.
We use “okay” to let the puppy know that he’s free to get off the cot. We encourage him to get off the cot by our movement away from the cot. Call the puppy off the cot if he doesn’t get off with a release word and your movement away from the cot.
Step 3 – Wait for the Puppy to Do More
Mark and reward the instant the puppy interacts with the cot in any way. A good first step might be the puppy putting one foot on the cot. If all you can get is the puppy looking at walking towards the cot, that’s a next step too. Use reward placement to encourage the puppy to get more than a foot on the cot if you can. If you can’t, give the food anyway. Release the puppy off the cot. Call him if necessary.
Repeat this step until the puppy is consistently offering at a minimum putting one paw on the cot and then gets totally on the cot with reward placement.
Step 4 – Wait for the Puppy to Get Totally on the Cot on His Own
Now wait for your puppy to get himself totally on the cot before marking. Chat your puppy up encouraging him if he’s just sitting. Most puppies will get themselves totally on the cot with just a few repetitions of shaping. Mark and reward when your puppy gets totally on the cot. Say “okay.” Encourage the puppy to get off the cot and repeat the process several times having your puppy get on and off the cot.
Repeat this step until the puppy is repeatedly offering to get on and back off the cot.
Step 5 – Fade Hints and Reward Placement
If you are pointing, stop. With this step, the puppy needs to be getting on the cot just based on the context of the situation knowing that you are standing close to and looking at the cot.
At this point, you should also no longer need reward placement. The puppy should be completing the behavior on his own.
Step 6 – Give the Behavior a Verbal “Place” Cue
Once your puppy understands how to get himself on and off the cot without hints or reward placement, it’s time to name the behavior. I use the word “place” to tell the puppy to get on a cot.
Step 7 – Teach Puppy to Go to the Cot from a Distance
The next step is to teach the puppy to run to the cot when you are not standing right next to it. Use the cue “place.”
Gradually add distance between you and the cot. The puppy should run (or at least move quickly and confidently) to the cot and jump on it. If the puppy seems hesitant, you are raising criteria too quickly and backing too far away from the cot. Make it easy enough to keep your puppy successful and confident. He should enjoy this game of running to the cot and being reinforced for it.
Step 8 – Training the Down on the Cot
Once your puppy is enjoying this game of getting on and off the cot, you can cue your puppy to “place” and then to “down.” If he goes down, mark and reward. At this point, don’t worry if the puppy is hanging off the front end of the cot. Most puppies will get as close to the edge as possible. Reinforce the down on the cot several times.
Step 9 – String Together Two Behaviors: Getting on the Cot and Going Into a Down
Fade the mark in between the place and the down. Do this by occasionally not marking in between. Fade this in between mark for just getting on the cot gradually and randomly. This will be your first attempt at chaining two behaviors!
Step 10 – Train the Down/Stay on the Cot while Trainer Steps One Step Away
After you have marked and rewarded the puppy for downing on the cot, move your feet around a bit or back away from the puppy one tiny step and return. If the puppy stays down, mark and reward repeatedly to build reinforcement for staying on the cot.
If he jumps off (without being releases), tell him “place” again and reward him for getting on and going into a down. Wait a second and mark and reward for staying still.
If your puppy should begin the habit of jumping off the cot instead of remaining in the down when you move your feet, stop rewarding the puppy until he performs the failed portion of the exercise: the stay. When the puppy gets off the cot, tell him to “place” and then to “down”. Then back away one tiny step and return. Only after he has successfully remained in the down while you back away does the puppy earn his mark and reward. The game has now changed forever. The new game is staying on the cot until he is released to get off.
Step 11 – Trainer Backs Away from the Cot
Once the puppy is remaining in a down on the cot with minimal foot movement from the trainer, it’s time to begin stepping away from the puppy one full step and returning.
As long as the puppy is on the cot, we will continue backing away from him, returning, and then marking and rewarding his success in remaining in the down while on the cot.
After a few repetitions on the cot, many puppies will creep forward as far as they can go without falling off. This will often put them right on the edge with a foot or two hanging over the side. Most puppies are unaware that their feet are hanging off the cot and this does not affect their down/stay. I will continue marking and rewarding until a foot touches the ground.
I do not mark when a foot touches the ground and in order to get the mark and reward, the puppy must get their foot back on the cot. I simply wait for the desired behavior and mark the instant the puppy’s foot leaves the ground. If the puppy doesn’t get his foot back on with waiting, try chatting to encourage the puppy to try something different. If that doesn’t work, get the puppy off the cot and then get him back on again.
Step 12 – String Together Three Behaviors: Getting on the Cot, Going Into a Down, And Staying in a Down While you Step Back
By this step, you should rarely mark in between the getting on the cot and the down.
Now, after the puppy has gotten on the cot and gone into a down without reward, occasionally step back one short step and return fairly quickly before marking. Increase the frequency that you require all three behaviors before marking and rewarding. Do this gradually and randomly. Don’t string together all three behaviors twice in a row. Do it only occasionally until the puppy rarely if ever makes mistakes on it.
How Many Sessions to Work the Puppy on the Cot
Work down/stays exclusively on the cot until the habit of creeping forward is broken. You won’t really know until you try the down again on the floor. However, err on the side of caution. It won’t hurt to practice on the cot too long whereas trying on the floor and failing will set your training back. Work on the cot for a minimum of 6-8 training sessions before returning to the floor.
If you do try the down/stay on the floor too soon and the puppy reverts to creeping forward, go back to the cot exclusively and work on the cot longer this time.
Once you go back to the floor, I like to continue practice on the cot as well. Working on the cot gives a better opportunity to build self-control because the puppy doesn’t have to remember if he should be sitting still or moving as in heel. When he’s on the cot, he is always supposed to remain in place. When the question of moving or staying is out of the picture, the puppy can more completely focus on building self-control.
Most, if not all, puppies are able to perform at higher levels when on the cot when compared to on the floor since there is less confusion as to what position they are being asked to maintain. When on the cot, it is always the same: the down position.
I practice working the puppy both on and off the cot during the same training session once the creeping problem is solved. Practicing in both places build self-control. Working in two very different places gives variety. It also keeps the training more interesting both for puppy and for trainer.
