Golden Retriever Puppy’s Enthusiastic Efforts to Learn 'Place' Command Are Adorable

Training a puppy takes *a lot* of patience and a good sense of humor. Even when they get a command down, some pups make it their own by letting their personality shine through, and that can be downright entertaining. Tucker, the Golden Retriever, recently learned the “place” command and he’s taking it to another level.

Tucker is an eager learner and what comes of it is impressive. Watch as he shows Mom just how well he can nail the command.

Okay, @kimbsosawyer knew what she was doing when she shared this adorable video. It’s the most dramatic jump I’ve ever seen. Clearly Tucker is eager to please and has no problem performing for the yummy treat. It makes me wonder what he does with other commands. Like if she says “sit,” does he plop down in an exaggerated way? 

Regardless, this full-on pounce to the dog bed is making everyone’s day brighter. With more than 150k likes and hundreds of comments, people are living for Tucker.

“I think I speak for all of, we need to see the jump,” one person wrote.

“Tucker said, ‘Say less,'” another added.

“That was the placiest ‘place’ I ever did see!!!” another said, to which Tucker’s mom replied, “He’s an overachiever!”

From the very beginning, this little Golden has had the hopping trait in him and this cute video is proof. Keep on hopping, bud!

Teaching Your Dog the ‘Place’ Command

Obedience training doesn’t have to be difficult or time consuming. The American Kennel Club has a few tips for teaching your dog the “place” command so they can be awesome like Tucker in no time. The site adds that your dog should already know “lie down” as well as a word that tells them they can leave their place, like “free,” and they should remain in their place until the release word is said.

To start, show your pup the bed or mat you want to be their place and use a treat or clicker and give them a treat once they put a paw on their place. Every time they’re interacting with the mat, reward them so they connect good things with being in this place. Keep doing this until they get all four paws in their place and reward them. 

After perfecting this, add the release word while luring your dog away from their place with a treat, but don’t offer it yet. You’ll want to wait and see if they go back to their place first. If they do, reward them. If they don’t, keep practicing the first step until they do. Now’s the time to add the “lie down” command and reward for that, building the “release” command onto the sequence.

With practice, add more time while the dog is in their place before you release them. If they master this, add distance to the command by gradually walking farther away while they’re lying in their place and again, reward them. 

This may take some time to get down, but once they do, add in distractions to show them that no matter what’s going on, if you say “go to your place,” or “place,” they should do exactly that. Include lots of praise, lots of high-value treats, and lots of pets. Before you know it, they’ll be hopping off the bed to go to their place just like Tucker!