What is place, and what should it mean to my dog?

Bullet

Bullet's file is where place is defined for an owner, and then shown in public. At the end of a park visit the owners ask the question most owners ask: why raised beds? The trainer answers with a definition, not a product. Place is anything off the ground, because that is easier for the dog to understand. Cots are recommended because they are light, go camping and onto a deck, and stay cool underneath. They also all feel the same, so the dog learns to 'find that texture' wherever the cot goes. One owner says out loud what she had missed: she'd thought it was about cooling and hadn't seen it as a designated spot the dog can see. The field trips then use the idea without the cot. In a Ross store Bullet takes several cues and an 'ah ah' to get onto a fixture, while the trainer reminds him he has climbed lots of things. At Lake Benson he needs several cues to get onto a bench, and the handler thinks about splitting the cue in two. The send ('up up') is the part that sticks, and 'place' is for staying. On an evening walk it goes 'Up, up, up.

King

King's owner has a big fat pillow for him and says so. The trainer, Kelton by the case record, recommends a cot for two reasons. A big, stuffy dog will prefer the cooler surface, and on a cot 'it's very clear for the dog like what the boundary of the place you left them is'. That clarity is what makes the correction fair: when he gets off, 'it's like clear as day to them like why they're getting penalized'. In this family place is for guests. It is one of three options when people are over, alongside the kennel and 'calm liberty', and the trainer ranks it by how often it will be used. He also warns against the most common owner reflex, answering a bad choice with 'sit, down, place' ('They band-aid it with obedience'). In the same lesson he adds that credit is due for time served: a dog who gets up after forty-five minutes gets a stretch and goes back calmly, one who gets up after two minutes is simply put back. The field footage shows the portable version: a downtown bench offered as a place, and a long hold on a low platform in a park during a phone call, with dogs passing at a distance.

Zeus

The most complete statement of the rule is in Zeus's second owner lesson, and it starts from the owner's mistake: she asks whether place is 'just to put him somewhere to sit'. The trainer says no. Place is on top of anything raised. A mat is the worked counterexample, because a foot on the floor at the edge 'doesn't feel really any different'. He then gives the everyday picture: his own dog left on a picnic table at a park while he talks to someone or gets water. Place is for 'immobilizing them for a minute'. The criterion is all four paws on the cot and nothing else, so no sit or down is needed unless wanted. He explains why place is so often taught first: its edge is clear and consistent in a way heel's never is. Enforcement follows from that. A foot off gets the marker and, early on, the collar right away. Later the dog gets the chance to fix it on the marker alone, and a repeat soon after the first gets more (the iPad example). Zeus holds place for the rest of the day after one correction, while visibly wanting to get off because a cat is nearby.

Luna

Connor gives Luna's family the rule as one fact the owner can check without judgement: 'the paws can't touch the ground'. Any position is fine and two paws can hang over the edge, but the moment one touches the floor she has broken it. Everything else in the lesson is proofing against that edge in her own house: the door opened and closed, the owner walking out, the trainer running across the room. She breaks it a few times and runs back to the cot on her own, which he reads as her knowing what she did. Two further pieces belong to this concept. Whining on the cot is read as her reaching the top of her current threshold, which rises with repetition, not as distress. And he gives the duration standard: about fifteen to twenty minutes before go-home, with twenty to forty left for the family to build. His reason is practical: 'monitoring them for like 40 minute reps is just like unrealistic in terms of like a work day'. He also says he doesn't train place much any more because staff 'run drills on place' all day.

Sage

Sage's file only adds the word leaving the training room. In a park the handler walks her to a rock, cues place repeatedly with 'up here', and waits until she is 'all the way' up before praising her and moving on. The standard doesn't change with the object: partly up is not place.

Bo

Bo is the case the 'never a punishment' rule comes from, and the place in question is his crate, not a cot. Bo growls and guards when people other than his trainer open his crate. Kelton, by the case record, stops partway through the session to explain the reasoning: Bo thinks the crate is where he gets sent for punishment 'because that's happened to him'. So 'we can't act like these places are punishments for him we don't do time out with the dogs in these cases', said with the emphasis he asks for. The crate is to become somewhere with nothing to fight about, where obedience is asked and rewarded. The file keeps two things apart: the spot a dog has to live in is protected from punishment, and place itself still has a rule that gets enforced.

Finn

Finn is a nervous dog, still shaking a little early in his program. For him place is justified the other way round: not as a stay but as 'a secure area for them to feel more relaxed and comfortable'. It is slotted between sit reps, which are hard for him in their own right. He holds a sit beside the handler and breaks it the moment the handler steps away. The trainer reports he is doing really well on place and suggests the next rep with a little more duration. For a fearful dog the same exercise is offered as a refuge, not a demand.

Louie

Louie's home-context session is the plainest statement that place is for calm, not just for staying put. The trainer says the video will be boring. He puts Louie on the cot to see how long it takes him to settle, and holds back on purpose. Then he gives the reason: settling and chilling on the place cot 'can transfer over to all kinds of things' and is 'very useful for developing calm behavior in the house'. The measure is when the dog lies down of his own accord, not a set time. The transfer claim is stated here and not shown.

Stormie

Stormie is a six-month-old puppy with poor impulse control. Connor calls place work his main tool for her and the door his main test: his job is getting the dog to wait until told. She fails it 'many a time'. Her best is about ten minutes, which he calls his usual goal time, and now distractions are being added one at a time. He describes the end state in household terms: tell her place when you walk out the front door or cook, 'without it being like every two seconds'. The facility footage shows the same thing in use by staff. A kennel and admin staff member records herself cleaning with Fiona parked on the cot, and on another cleaning day puts Stormie away instead because 'she's not there yet without me having to constantly correct her'. Deciding who is ready to be left on the cot is part of the concept.

Callie

Callie's file has both halves of the concept's second question, and it is where the choice idea is put most clearly. At go-home her trainer contrasts the cot with the crate. In a crate the dog is 'physically locked in', but on the cot she isn't, so 'she makes a decision whether or not she can come off'. Staying teaches patience and lets an excited dog 'be present, be around' when guests come, while she settles herself. When she gets off she is told 'nope' and put back. A correct release is followed by 'yes' and petting. The family are told to practise place while they watch TV and eat. In the program the choice is tested hard: a house lesson near the end runs long place-cot stays while the trainer goes to another room, the fridge and outside, headphones off to hear if she gets up. The second go-home part deals with the family's gated area. It had been where she went when she jumped or acted up, so she didn't want to be there. The trainer renames it 'my sanctuary', with 'no timeouts unless she does something that's absolutely not acceptable'. Her field sessions put place on a rock on a state-park trail.

Fiona

Fiona is a small chihuahua-pug mix, and her file shows the surface problem at home. A week after go-home her owner reports that 'bed' held right through a family dinner and then stopped working the next morning: she sits and stares 'like i hear you but i'm not doing it', and creeps off before release. The trainer's first fix is the equipment. The home bed is low to the floor, so she fetches her own portable cot from the car, because 'the cot helps because it's raised from the floor' and 'she can't scoot scoot off of it'. The field trip shows the other direction: in a Bass Pro Shops she is coaxed onto a fixture ('you can do it') and the trainer states the rule for the camera: 'you can place on any elevated object, doesn't matter what it is'. At the facility the kennel staff use her as the dog who can be trusted to stay on the cot through mopping and a carpet cleaner.

Sputnik

Sputnik is the counterexample. At the go-home lesson in the family's yard, this high-drive cattle dog goes at the older dog, Bear, during ball play. Kelton, by the case record, answers with a string of 'nope's and a correction. Then he puts Sputnik on the place cot in a down, choosing it because 'the boundaries are clear'. He points out that the dog is now lying differently. The house rule he gives the family is explicit: whenever Sputnik spoils play, 'his fun ends he gets punished... and then he gets put on the place cut', waits, and is let back out. He calls it by its name: 'basically punishing him and then putting him in timeout'. He also says openly what was never trained: Sputnik has not been asked to hold place while other dogs play, which he calls 'almost insanely hard'. Here the cot is a waiting spot after a correction, a short spell before the dog goes back to play. It is not the dog's bed or a place he is shut in, and the fun is given back.

Kali

Kali (new in this update; said of Kali and Kane together, in their home). Asked about cots, the trainer gives the raised-edge reason in his own words: place is only distinguishable from a sit or a down if it is raised, and a blanket on the floor lets the dog drift half off without registering any difference. A blanket on top of the cot is fine; he likes mesh cots because they are comfy and breathe. The only rule is all four paws on the pad - no sit, no down required - and a paw stepped off can be corrected. He explains why place often comes first in the program (on or off the cot is easy to make clear) and that its duration can scale to hours without being hard on the dog. He also calls place 'kind of like a band-aid' that can still be useful.

Pepper

Pepper (new in this update). At her second in-program owner lesson the owner asks what counts as place. The trainer's answer: always something a little off the ground - a cot a couple of inches up, a park bench - because anything directly on the ground is just a down. A bed-bag type of bed can cross over, but the dog has to be shown that it is what you want.

Reaper

Reaper (new in this update). On a walk in the owner's neighbourhood the trainer gives the whole idea: being raised matters because on a towel the dog cannot tell his body being fully on it from being on the floor. A bed can work but squishes down. The rule is simple - all four paws up, or a foot on the ground - and very clean: hanging paws are fine, a paw put out means he is put back. Nothing else is required (he can stand, spin round, lie a different way), and that is why place, unlike a sit, can be extended to almost any duration.

Astro

Astro's place drills state the one rule. He may do whatever he wants on the cot, turn round to watch the other dogs included, as long as his paws stay up there.

Beo

At Beo's lesson the trainer describes how he usually builds place: a few rounds of up and sit, then, around the third or fourth time, a shift to asking for a settle. He says bully breeds settle 'really fast'.

Bernie

Bernie places on a park rock on film. At his owner lesson the cot is sized as well as raised: it has to be high enough that the line between ground and cot is clear, and wide enough that his paws don't hang off the edge.

Bubba Gum

Bubba Gum's trainer calls place 'the most black and white command possible': all four paws are on or they're not. Off without a release earns a nope and a put-back, then a consequence. If she wasn't asked to place, getting off costs nothing.

Kalypso

Kalypso's family have no cot yet and are told to use anything raised and big enough for her. A dog who doesn't know place yet may head for the couch instead, so get creative.

Louie

The other Louie's cot is described as 'an object lifted off the ground slightly', used for impulse control while trucks go by. The family are told to get one as a control spot for when guests come in, with put-backs until the release.

Major

At Major's lesson, talk about keeping a heavy dog cool brings out a reason for the cot: it is lifted, so air reaches the dog from underneath, unlike 'the cute little beds'.

Max (Goldendoodle)

Before a store visit Kelton puts Max on a bench for a place stay, checking the surface first. If it were too slippery he wouldn't make him do it, but it is wide and flat enough.

Ozzy

At Ozzy's go-home the family hear why the cot matters. Clients who try place on the bare floor get a dog who doesn't know what is wanted, while an elevated surface is 'very clear'.

Penny

Kelton prefers the raised mesh cots for Penny because they are comfy and cool. He tells the family not to feel bad about long evening holds, where she ends up asleep up there.

Peque (PK)

For PK, place is 'usually something that's like raised like this', and she stays on it until released. It is used through dinner or with guests, and unlike a locked crate it makes her practise regulating her emotions and patience.

Rocky

Rocky's trainer gives both halves. Anything elevated can be place (a picnic table, a park rock), and he will not use flat dog beds, because with paws on the floor it gets harder for the dog 'to distinguish whether they're on the cot or off the cot in their minds'. He adds that some dogs do fine on them, but many don't.

Shadow (German Shepherd puppy)

At the GSD puppy Shadow's home, Connor re-teaches place on the family's own bed, because 'it is like a texture different' from the cots used in training, and he has to make the rules the same there. This is the first time the texture claim is acted on, not just explained.

Teddy

On a walk Teddy is placed on a picnic table, and because the command is place he may walk around on the table.

Thor

Thor works on a place cot in the yard, and because he likes to get up on the picnic table, the trainer sometimes places him there instead.

Thumper

Gemma places Thumper on an object outdoors and notes that it is 'probably too small for you'. Size is part of whether a raised thing works as place.

Can place be used as a time-out after a correction?

How to read it

Not resolved. Differences in the evidence, laid out rather than weighed: Bo's rule is about a crate in a crate-guarding case ('in these cases'). Callie's is about an enclosure and allows an exception. Sputnik's is a cot used for a short spell after a correction already given, then release back to play. By the case records, the Bo and Sputnik lessons are the same trainer (Kelton).

Does the dog have to sit or lie down on place?

How to read it

Zeus's trainer allows for side B ('unless you want him to do that for some reason'), so this may be a difference of habit, not of rule. Fiona's follow-up uses 'bed, sit' and 'place sit down', but in a low-narration stretch. Coverage pass 1 Oct 2026: Astro's and Teddy's handlers allow any movement on the object; Beo's trainer builds place with a sit for the first few rounds and then asks for a settle, which reads as a teaching stage rather than the rule.

What makes place travel: the same texture, or any elevation?

How to read it

Probably complementary: identical cots at home, and anything raised in public. Bullet's own field trips put place on a store fixture and a bench, which are not cots. No session tests texture against height. September adds two more 'anything raised' statements (Pepper: a cot or a park bench, but nothing on the ground; Reaper: a bed can work). Kali and Kane's trainer prefers mesh cots for comfort and air, not for a shared texture. Still no test of texture against height. Coverage pass 1 Oct 2026: Connor re-teaches place on the GSD puppy Shadow's home bed because its texture differs from the training cots - a new surface treated as something to re-teach; still not a test of texture against height. Rocky's and Kalypso's trainers add more 'anything raised' statements.

Does it have to be a cot? Can I use a mat or his dog bed?

The trainers use raised cots and say why: the dog has to be able to feel the edge. With a mat, a paw on the floor at the edge 'doesn't feel really any different', so the dog can't tell when he has broken the rule. A low bed also lets a small dog creep off, which is why Fiona's trainer brought her own cot to the house. Cots are also light, portable and cooler than a pillow for a big dog. Anything raised can be place, including a bench or a rock outside, but at home the trainers recommend a cot. A towel or blanket on the floor has the same problem; a blanket on top of the cot is fine.

Does my dog have to lie down on place?

Not by the rule as two trainers state it. Place means all four paws on the cot, or no paws on the floor. He can stand, sit, lie down or turn around, and two paws hanging over the edge is fine. Some handlers do ask for a sit or a down on the cot as well. Zeus's trainer says that's up to you: you don't need to 'unless you want him to do that for some reason'. Ask your trainer which version your dog learned so you enforce the same rule. Two more trainers say the same in September owner lessons: no sit and no down are required, and the dog can stand, spin round or lie a different way.

Can I use place as a time-out?

The trainers disagree on film, so this page doesn't pick a side. In a crate-aggression case the trainer is emphatic that the dog's crate must never be a punishment and that time-outs are 'a very very very very bad idea' in such cases. Callie's family were told to stop using her gated area as a time-out and to treat it as her sanctuary instead. But at Sputnik's go-home, after correcting him for spoiling another dog's play, the trainer put him on the place cot for a short spell, called it a time-out, and let him back out to play. If you use the cot this way, keep it short and separate from the correction, and don't do it with a dog whose problem is his own space. Check with your trainer first.

How long should my dog be able to stay on place?

Figures given on film: about ten minutes is one trainer's usual goal for a puppy. About fifteen to twenty minutes is the standard another trainer aims for before a dog goes home, and twenty to forty is a realistic target for the family to build up to. Near the end of a program, long holds are practised with the trainer out of the room. Expect whining as he reaches his current limit. That limit rises with practice. Because place asks for nothing but four paws up, it is the command that can be stretched furthest: one trainer would not hold a sit beyond about five minutes but says place extends to almost any duration, and another that it can scale to hours without being hard on the dog.

What is place actually for?

On film it's for the parts of the day when you need the dog settled and out of the way without shutting him in: the front door, cooking, guests, meals, TV, cleaning. Trainers also describe it as teaching patience, because nothing physically keeps the dog there, and as a secure, relaxing spot for a nervous dog. One trainer treats calm on the cot as practice for calm in the house generally. That last point is his reasoning, not something the film shows.

Will it work away from home?

The trainers take place off the cot and onto whatever is raised: rocks, park benches, store fixtures, a picnic table. One says the cots all feel the same, so the dog learns to find that texture. Another says any elevated object works, whatever it is. Expect the first try on a new object to take some coaxing. Bullet needed several cues to get onto a store fixture and a bench, and his handler thought about using 'up up' to get him on and 'place' to keep him there. Pepper's trainer: a cot or a park bench, anything a little off the ground - but not something on the ground, which is just a down.