Place / Settle — Day 2 with your dog

Day 1 recap

Day 1 built the mat-entry + down chain: lure all four paws onto the mat, ask for a down, deliver treats on the mat, release with a treat toss off. If your dog was going to the mat voluntarily by the end and lying down within 2–3 seconds of arrival, you're ready for Day 2.

Day 2 is about increasing send distance. The behavior has to work when you're across the room — not just when you're standing 2 feet away.

Your Day 2 protocol

Warm-up: 2 reps at 4 feet

Confirm the behavior is intact before adding distance

Start with 2 reps at the distance where you finished Day 1. If your dog goes to the mat and lies down cleanly: you're ready to increase. If not: stay at this distance and add more reps before moving on. Don't add distance to a shaky behavior.

Reps 1–3: 8 feet away

Point to the mat — wait for the full down before marking

Stand 8 feet from the mat. Point clearly toward it and wait. your dog should walk to the mat and lie down on their own. Mark the moment the elbows hit the mat — not the moment they arrive on it, and not when they're still standing. Then walk to the mat to deliver treats (don't call your dog back to you). Delivering treats at the mat reinforces staying there.

Reps 4–6: Add a verbal cue "place" or "mat"

Say the word + point toward the mat

Pick a cue — "place," "mat," "go lie down" — one word, always the same. Say it as you point toward the mat. Mark the down on the mat. You're beginning the word-signal pairing. Don't vary the cue word — consistency here is what makes the cue reliable later.

End of session: Add a release cue before moving away

Use "free" or "OK" to signal they can leave the mat

After delivering treats at the mat: step back 2–3 feet, say your release cue, and let your dog leave. The release cue is what tells them the behavior is over. Without it, your dog doesn't know whether to stay or go, which creates anxiety and breaking-position problems.

If your dog goes to the mat but won't lie down (just stands there): prompt with the down signal. Don't leave the "standing on mat" behavior unreinforced — mark the four-paws-on-mat, then immediately prompt the down. Over sessions, the down will become the default on-mat behavior. If your dog runs to the mat but immediately runs back to you before lying down: you may be moving toward them to deliver the treat, which is pulling them back. Plant your feet and wait for the full down before moving toward the mat.

Why distance is the hard part of Place

Place is easy from 2 feet. The dog can see you clearly, feels close to reinforcement, and the social pressure of proximity keeps them on the mat. As distance increases, all three of those factors weaken: you're harder to see, reinforcement feels further away, and the distance creates ambiguity about what exactly you want. That ambiguity is what you're training through.

Baelor's mat behavior works because Jason built distance slowly — 2 feet to 4 to 8 to across the room over 4 sessions. Jumping from 2 feet to 20 feet in one session produces a confused dog and a trainer who thinks the skill "isn't working." It's working fine. Distance is a variable, and you control how fast you add it.

Ready? New room, same your dog.

5 minutes. Different spot. Same cue.

✅ Day 2 logged.

Context switch done. That's how generalisation gets built — not by drilling in one spot, but by proving the cue works everywhere. Day 3 adds duration and distance.

Day 3: Duration + Distance → ← Back to Week 2 skills

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