The off switch your dog needs (and how a mat builds it)

Some dogs never seem to stop. Pacing, following you room to room, up at every sound. What they are missing is not exercise. It is an off switch.

Rest is a skill

Dogs do not automatically know how to settle in a busy home. Like recall or loose lead walking, settling is something you teach. The easiest place to teach it is a mat.

Why a mat works

A mat gives your dog one clear answer to the question "what should I be doing right now?" When lying on the mat reliably pays, your dog starts choosing it on their own. That choice is the whole point: a settle your dog offers is worth ten you have asked for.

Where to start

• Put the mat down, and reward any interest in it. A glance, a step towards it, a paw on it.
• Feed calmly on the mat. Slow, quiet delivery, food between the front paws.
• Keep sessions to a few minutes and end while your dog is still winning.

Over days, you will see your dog start drifting to the mat unprompted. That is the off switch installing itself.