My family fell victim to the "Dalmatian Syndrome” epidemic after watching the popular Disney movie, 101 Dalmatians, in the form of a dalmatian puppy that my two sisters and I named Domino. He was surrounded by love but raised in a home lacking both structure and discipline. We defined “letting a puppy be a puppy,” a phrase I still hear often, and one that came at a real cost.

Domino was a ball of black and white energy with unchanneled instinct. Two working parents with three young kids, the chaos became unmanageable. One Saturday morning, we watched from the porch as Domino rode in the back seat of a hatchback, “off to live in the country.” I was five years old and still remember seeing it all through my tears.

Thankfully, years later, our parents gave us another chance with our first of many golden retrievers. We were a little older and arguably more responsible. There were a few simple rules, but far from what I would call formal training.

The dogs slept in a crate, stayed off of carpeted floors, and spent most the time on a big, soft pillow bed in the dining room. The pillow took a weekly gutting of its fluffy stuffing, and Mom got lots of practice stitching. Those few simple rules created a starting point for foundation and structure. They gave the dog, and us, a chance to succeed.

I tell you that story because it’s the origin of something I now do with every single pup I raise or train. It’s functional, effective, and it’s something every dog owner can use regardless of experience. It’s also one of the simplest things I do, yet it never fails to impress people who see it for the first time. It’s what I have always known to be called “place training.”

What Place Training is Not

But before I explain how I use place training, I want to touch on what it seems to have become, and why the shift worries me.

In the past several years, I’ve seen “place training” evolve from a simple obedience concept into somewhat of a sub-culture within dog training. I see platforms and place boards now used to teach everything from recall and steadiness to deliveryand duration. My concern is that some trainers go so far, they turn the place command into a crutch when it comes to what I think could be accomplished without a lot of complications. A way to control behavior and ensure that the dog cannot make a mistake. The idea sounds good, but I find that oftentimes the most learning actually takes place around those mistakes.

It’s not that I’m against evolving tools or techniques. But I think it’s dangerous when trainers begin to rely so heavily on one concept that it becomes the only way they can communicate with their dog. Over-reliance on anything, tools, methods, platforms, etc., leads to confusion, inconsistency, and a lack of true understanding.

That’s not “place training” to me.

What Place Training is

For me, place is very simple: It means stay in that spot. That’s it.

No treats, complications, or layered behaviors. It’s one of the first things I teach and something I use daily. The reason it works is because when done this way, we can’t help but be consistent and clear, making it easy for both the dog and the human to understand.

At its core, it’s about giving the dog a safe place to be comfortable and at ease—a lot like a kennel or crate, but without complete confinement. It teaches them to stay put in a defined space until they are allowed or asked to do otherwise. It’sanother option for them, without the worry of getting into trouble. Not because they’re afraid or exhausted, baited or bribed, but because they understand it’s what we expect, and they know they will be held to it. In a relatively short amount of time, it becomes the only option they know in that context.

I don’t use place to create movement, shape delivery, build recall, or as a precursor to other commands. It’s not a building block, it stands alone. I don’t pump them full of treats until they “get it.” I use it as a way to shape patience, introduce structure, and build a level of responsibility into the dog's daily routine. An establishment of boundary, clear and unmistakable.

Early Place Training

Like most things in training, starting early is easier. It’s less work to build good behavior from scratch than it is to untrain undesirable habits formed early on by confusion or inconsistency. I’ve done place training with older dogs, it’s just harder, and more work. They come with the baggage they’ve already learned, and think is acceptable. Often times, I’ll have puppies as young as 8 to 10 weeks reliably staying on their place for the better part of the day so long as I can properly supervise.

The Type of Dog Bed You Use

When it comes to making place work, the bed, board, or platform you use matters more than people often think. Its design is almost as important as how you use it. I prefer an elevated place bed made of durable materials with no chewable edges or corners and no stuffing inside. The raised design will give the dog a clear perimeter. They’re either on it, or they’re off it, no gray area. That’s the kind of clarity that will help the dog understand my expectations, and it helps me know exactly when toeither reward or correct the behavior.

Contrast that with a pillow-style bed, where a dog might lay half on and half off, a paw touching the floor here, a shoulder slipping off there. Eventually, the dog is off the bed as much as they’re on it, and the trainer is left deciding when did “off” actually happen? That inconsistency leads to mistimed corrections, which leads to confusion for the dog.

With an elevated bed, there’s no question. The moment the dog steps off, it's clear. That makes it easier to reinforce the rules consistently, and in turn, the dog understands those rules more quickly and with less stress. Most pups will make a quick dash for it the first few times, and the timing of the correction is crucial, just as much as the level in which you deliver it. Firm and fair, scooping the pup up and putting them back on with a low growly, “no,” is usually all it takes. Some pups with a little more of a testing spirit might take a few well-timed corrections, but when done consistently, you can actually see the change take place in the first session or two.

I’ll see the pup after a few attempts at escape think about, maybe even make a slight lean towards the edge, but follow up with a sigh and either sit or lay down. That’s what I’m looking for, and at that moment, I tell them “good” in a soothing voice. A smart pup will quickly distinguish the difference in attention and start to understand the expectations.

Simple and Effective

Place training doesn’t need to be complicated. And yet, like a lot of things in dog training today, I think it can easily become that way. We overthink it. We like to invent new methods, tools, and ways to use them. We assign extra meaning to simplebehaviors. But dogs don’t live in the abstract. They live in the moment and learn best from clarity and consistency.

I think a lot about that old phrase from earlier, “Letting a puppy be a puppy.” I get it, but I think that advice should apply more for those who’ve had a few dogs and understand what structure looks like and why it’s so important. For first-time dogowners, or for those still learning how to communicate clearly with their dogs, structure isn’t a burden, it’s a gift. And the earlier a dog understands the rules, the happier and more capable they become.

More than One Way to Place Train

When I started thinking about how I wanted to write this column, I hesitated. I’ve come to the point where I don’t want to be the guy telling others how to raise, train, hunt, or live with their dogs. I don’t like being told what and how to do it, so who am I to tell someone else?

So, here’s what I will say, the idea of place training has changed. It’s grown, maybe even evolved. But in that evolution, I see that some things are being lost. In my opinion, what was once so simple and effective has, in some cases, become overengineered.

If one of your goals is having a calm, reliable puppy that will grow into a dog and eventually work in the field, then place training can be one of the most useful tools. Just be sure you recognize its purpose and fill your toolbox with more than just one tool.

There are dozens of methods, philosophies, and schools of thought. They all work sometimes, with some dogs. None of them work all the time, with all dogs. That’s the beauty and the challenge of it. Take what you can use. Leave what doesn’t make sense for you or your dog.