The ability of dogs to follow instructions to a designated place and stay there for a period of time is very valuable. Through training, when the owner gives the command "return to your mat", the dog can go to the designated place (such as its own mat), lie down and stay until the owner gives the command "can move freely". This command can be used when the dog needs to rest, or when you are very busy and do not want the dog to be around, or when there are guests at home.
It should be noted that dogs can already maintain a good sitting and lying state before training this behavior. The essence of practicing the command 'return to your mat' is to practice a behavioral chain, where the dog should receive rewards for each correct step or several steps taken directly.
You give the command 'return to your mat', then walk towards your own mat and lure the dog towards it with delicious food. When the dog has all four feet on the mat, use "Yes" as a reward prompt, followed by giving food as a reward (the reward prompt is equivalent to a reward, and once the reward prompt is spoken, the food reward should be given immediately). Then immediately give the command to "lie down", and after the dog completes the lying down action, a reward will be given. Lure the dog away from the mat for a distance and repeat step 1 several times.
Further increase the difficulty and gradually increase the distance between you and the mat. Encourage your dog to leave the mat first, then walk onto it, and lie down on its own without the "lie down" command. You can try placing some training food on the mat when giving instructions, allowing the dog to search for food on the mat. If the dog cannot complete the entire behavior chain on its own without the "lie down" command through encouragement and induction, you need to go back to step 1 and repeat it several times before trying step 2 again.
Once the dog has mastered the causal relationship of the behavioral chain, it can return to the mat and lie down on its own after leaving the mat. The final step is to give the command "stay" after the dog lies down, allowing the dog to maintain a lying down state on the mat. At this point, the dog has learned the entire behavioral chain. The following is continuous practice to consolidate the training results and gradually increase the difficulty, mainly divided into three steps: continuously increasing the distance between the owner and the mat; Extend the time dogs spend on the mat; Add some distracting factors (such as toys) when the dog is lying on a cushion. Note that each time you increase the difficulty of training, there is only one variable, such as not extending the lying down time and increasing the distance at the same time. If the dog is unable to complete the entire behavior chain on its own for a long time without instructions to "lie down" and "stay" during training, do not hesitate to return to the previous step and repeat it several times before proceeding to the next step of training.
