Training your dog to spot is truly one of the most valuable things you can learn your dog. In its simplest definition, place means to place four feet on something different from ground and stay there. It not only helps them mentally calm down and helps them to relax, but it also keeps them in an arrangement for an extended period of time.
The skill of place has to be fully taught and proved before it becomes a functional skill. During the teaching phase, it is most likely that your dog will split off from their place board for three main reasons. For this to be effective, it is important to recognize the cause of your dog breaking early so you can work around it.
Distance – Most dogs can easily remain on their boards while their owners stand right next to them. Many dogs will then break into pieces when the handler begins to increase the distance from their dog. When adding distance to the skill of a dog you should start with just a few steps and slow down to raise the distance to a level where your dog will still be successful.
Duration – Similar to distance, having your dog stay for a few seconds on a place is easy but as soon as you begin to extend the length of time on a place, many dogs will break down As with many aspects of training it is important to go slowly and train your dog for success by always breaking them before they decide to break themselves. What I mean by this is I would rather have a dog successfully stay on a place for one minute 100% of the time then have the dog break themselves 75% of the time at the time it occurs 5 minutes. Duration will come, but this will start slowly.
There are so many elements that fall into the distraction category, from approaching dogs, bouncing balls, smells, arriving and leaving human beings, doorbells, etc.
In spite of the reason for your dog breaking off their place board, watch for the first sign of movement and use it as your place of distraction in efforts to keep your dog from fully breaking their place.
