The easiest way to train your dog to ‘go to bed’

Sometimes we just need our dogs to stay in one spot. If the postman knocks the door, you don’t need pup dashing to greet them. When it’s time for bed, this command helps pup settle down without fuss.

Training a dog to go to their bed is relatively simple to teach and they usually pick it up quite quickly. In fact, Loki mastered this command after only two 10-minute training sessions. So it doesn’t take long at all!

So with these steps you’ll soon be eating your dinner or watching your favourite programme in peace.

A quick note: I’m not a professional dog trainer or anything of the sort. These are simply training techniques I’ve learnt and perfected with Loki. There are also affiliate links in this post. If you click a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I only give recommendations for items I’d use myself and feel will benefit my audience. Thanks for supporting our blog!

Please bear in mind, your dog should know the lie down command before you teach the bed command.

7 steps to mastering ‘go to your bed’

1. Start with a handful of treats. Get your dog’s attention, pick up their dog bed and drop it next to them.
2. Use the cue word ‘go to your bed’ and lure your dog onto their bed with a treat. As soon as they’re standing on the bed, praise heavily and give them the treat.
3. Repeat this step making sure to say the cue word first and reward when they perform the action. It should only take a few short training sessions before they go to their bed on their own.
4. Next step, as soon as they’ve performed the above action, immediately say lie down. Only give praise and the treat after they’re lying down.
5. Repeat this step until they’re automatically lying down after you say ‘go to your bed’. Praise heavily and reward when they do.
6. When pup is reliably obeying your command, you can start increasing the time before you give the reward. Wait a few seconds at first and slowly increase the time to minutes.
7. If your dog starts to get up before you’ve given the reward, simply say the command again and go back to the time you were previously successful and build from there.

And that’s it, I told you it was easy! With short bursts of training your dog will soon learn that ‘go to your bed’ means they should settle on their bed for a period of time.

If you have multiple beds for your dog around the house like we do and want to use the command in different rooms, teach the command one room at a time. Most dogs who’ve mastered the command in one room will automatically know what to do in the next.

But if your dog’s having difficulty, simply go back to the beginning and use the same steps.

I’m sure your pooch will be more settled in no time at all. Let me know how you’re getting on with the training in the comments below.