Tricks Archives - Dog Trick Academy

How to Teach a Dog to Fetch

Do you ever watch dog owners and their pets playing with a ball or toy in the park and wish that your own dog would fetch his toy as nicely? Perhaps your own unwilling canine simply looks towards you and his thrown ball before wandering off to sniff around a nearby bush. His lack of interest in bringing anything back, leaving you with no option but to retrieve the toy yourself?

The good news is that almost any dog will enjoy a game of fetch and learn to play with enthusiasm if you make the activity enjoyable. By reading on, you can learn, in easy steps, how to make your dog focus on his toy and teach him that a retrieve game is rewarding.

There are great benefits to owning a dog that enjoys fetch games. Advantages include the ability to provide beneficial exercise in a small place and short time. A dog that runs regularly and with enthusiasm to fetch a ball a few times will reap physical benefits from short bursts of high energy and good muscle tone. This type of game is perfect for using up energy when time is short, before dog training sessions and during time limited exercise periods.

How to teach a dog to fetch in three easy stages

The Valuable Toy

Find a toy that your dog loves. Work out which toy your dog likes most, you can do this by playing with a number of toys and seeing which he gets most excited about. You can improvise with toys by putting a ball in an old sock initially and encouraging tug games or if your dog likes food as a reward you can place something that smells and tastes nice inside a toy and give him the chance to try and get it out.
By encouraging your dog to play with a particular toy you will be showing him how much fun this toy can be. This will increase his motivation to chase it when the toy is thrown. You will also be increasing the value of the toy because anything that promotes fun activity with you as his owner will become a high value resource to your dog.

Increase Motivation

When your dog sees his toy as something special and likes to play with or carry it around you can begin to limit access to the toy. Take it away at the end of a game and put it out of sight. Limit sessions where you play with the toy together to a few minutes at a time. Always swap the toy for something with your dog though as this will encourage him to let go of it nicely and take away the risk of guarding it.
By making the toy more of a valuable item you will be increasing your dog’s motivation to chase it when it’s thrown. This increase of interest will firstly encourage the initial chase to retrieve his toy and secondly ensure that he is confident and interested enough to hold the toy for long enough to carry it back to you after he picks it up.

Building frustration and swapping his toy

When your dog gets the idea that he goes to fetch a toy when thrown you can build his frustration. Do this by holding his collar and throwing the toy, hold him for a few seconds then running with him to the toy, this is great as a race. He will really enjoy this game. When he does bring the toy you can swap it with him for something interesting, sometimes it is useful to have two toys exactly the same.
By building your dogs frustration you will be making this game extremely fun for him. Holding him back from running to fetch a thrown toy will certainly make him want to perform an enthusiastic chase routine. By swapping his fetched toy for food or something equally rewarding you will be encouraging your dog to bring his toy back to you rather than run gleefully around the park with it.

Training your dog to fetch a toy will be one of the most useful and rewarding things you teach him. For more information and many other things that you can do with your dog, visit our dog forum where you can also chat and share experiences with many other dog owners.

Play with your dog … It’s important!

By Sally Gutteridge | Behavior , Posts , Training , Tricks

Playing with your dog will build the relationship between you. It will use his mind in order to enable him to settle when you need him to, and an enthusiastic game will certainly be fun for both of you. The home that hosts multi dogs automatically provides stimulation for the animals by allowing interaction with each other. Single dogs benefit greatly from the interaction and stimulation they get when you play with your dog.

Play is beneficial to you as an owner too. Tug of war with a delighted and enthusiastic Staffordshire bull terrier on the other end of a tatty rope toy really is a great way to let off some steam after a hard day. The enthusiasm of an excited dog is infectious. They are in their element whilst being given individual attention and their happiness spreads. Any owner that walks through the door after a bad day to be met by a loyal and overjoyed canine companion cannot fail to appreciate the shift in mood that their dog provides.

Play is a great way to instill general control and training into your dog. Dog training games involving commands such as wait, sit and leave can all be taught when playing with a toy. Your dog is likely to learn well when the lesson is based in play. Happiness and positivity encourage thorough learning. This happy and eager state of mind is what clicker training and other positive reinforcement techniques are based upon.

There are many ways that you can play with your dog. Certain breeds enjoy games that are catered to their instinct. An example of instinct based play is a Labrador that retrieves the ball, endlessly asking for just one more throw. The springer spaniel bred for sniffing out game birds in bushy areas will really enjoy interaction based around searching for her toy.

Playing with your dog is great. Whether you are throwing a ball, pulling on a toy, teaching him to jump into your arms or simply playing chase you will both thoroughly enjoy yourselves. There is no room to be self-conscious when you play with your dog. Canine games are great for stress relief.

Play with your dog … some ideas :

Play ball. This is great for dogs that sniff around and use their noses a lot. Enhance a normal game of fetch by introducing some techniques often used when training search dogs. Hide the ball somewhere where the dog has to work by sniffing to find it. Then guide him into the area watching him follow his excellent sense of smell until he finds the toy.

You can play this inside or out. By shutting your dog outside a room you can go in with the ball and hide it. When you let him into the room he will search until he finds his toy. Vary things by placing the toy at different heights and touching a lot of the room on the way around. You will be creating disturbance for him to sniff at.

Scatter feeding is great for a hungry dog. Throw treats or his dried food around and he will become very excited wondering where the next sweetie will land. You can ask things of him when doing this, practice control like sit or down before throwing the treat.

Tug of war is another good game to play, a couple of rope toys and some treats and you can have a grand old time. Practice control by regularly offering either a treat or the other toy as a bartering tool. Your dog should easily let go when you are offering a swap. If he doesn’t just stop playing and this will let him know that he must swap or the game ends. Let him win the toy sometimes too, it will increase his confidence and keep him interested.

Activity toys are great to encourage a dog to play alone when you are busy. A ball or similar that can be stuffed with treats is a wonderful occupier for a food loving dog. An activity ball will be bashed around merrily until empty so probably best used outside or when the dog is alone.

If you are feeling stressed or just a little sad, play with your dog for a few minutes and it will put an entire new slant on the day.

Bang! How to Teach a Dog to Play Dead

By Sally Gutteridge | Posts , Tricks

The bang trick is great fun to watch and perform. A dog that is taught properly to respond to “Bang” as a command word will drop to the ground, when shot with a gun created from his handlers fingers, and stay perfectly still until a release cue is given.

This trick is very impressive when your dog can do it well. The skill used in how to teach a dog to play dead is mainly timing and reinforcement. It is a brilliant trick to teach with a clicker for this reason alone. We are however going to utilize a cue word rather than the clicker to teach this trick. By reinforcing with a word you will learn a lot about your own timing when giving commands to your dog.

Whilst showing you how to teach a dog to play dead we will use the cue word “good” and offer a treat as a follow up action. Your dog will quickly associate the word with his reward. The cue should be given at exactly the time your dog is carrying out the behavior that you would like to encourage.

Positive dog training

Modern, kind and motivational is a fantastic description of positive dog training.

During the process of how to teach a dog to play dead, you too can learn. There are certain personal rules that professional dog trainers follow in every training session. Whilst teaching your dog this trick, we will be following two of these rules.

The importance of timing during positive reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is the act of reinforcement with reward, of a behavior offered by your dog. Because a dog can offer more than one behavior at once, it can be easy to reinforce the wrong one. An example is a dog that sits and barks can easily associate a reward for either the sit or the bark. As the one teaching your dog, it is your responsibility to time the reinforcement to pinpoint exactly the behavior you want. Admittedly this timing is not as easy as it sounds.

How to use your voice to get the best results from your dog

We will be using only two words when teaching your dog this trick. These words are “good” and “bang”. One of the biggest dog training mistakes is to talk too much. If you are talking throughout the training session your voice will begin to have no effect. It will simply sound to your dog, like a radio in the background. So challenge yourself to only say these two words whilst teaching your dog this trick.

How to teach a dog to play dead in easy stages

Prepare with small tasty treats and show your dog that you have them
When he sees the treats your dog may offer the behaviors that he has already learned, if one of them is to lie down then pinpoint this behavior with the word “good” and give him a treat
If this behavior is not pre learned simply wait. Your dog will lie down eventually then use the word “good” and give him a treat.
You dog will soon associate the down position with “good” and a treat
Now he knows that the down position is beneficial begin to withhold the word “good” and allow him to work out what to do next. He will quickly attempt to get nearer to the floor.
Every time he offers a behavior that seems to lead to him lying on his side reinforce with “good” and give him a reward.
Keep this up and he will soon learn that lying on his side provokes the word and reward.
Now gradually introduce the word “bang” and the “finger gun” Use it as a prelude to “good” and his reward, you are associating the word to his lying down position.
Progress by withholding the two words and reward ever so slightly until your dog lies completely still on his side. Then further the progression by bringing the word “bang” and the “finger gun” forward so that you offer it as your dog begins to lie down. Keep the word “good” and reward for prolonging the position.

Depending on your individual dog this could take two to ten short sessions, every canine learns to a different timescale. If you pay attention to your timing, you will be able to see whether your dog has interpreted your reinforcement command, whilst you learn how to teach a dog to play dead, like a professional.

Focus Your Dog with Dog Training Games

By Sally Gutteridge | Posts , Training , Tricks

Dog training games provide so much more than mental stimulation to your dog. They enable handler control and encourage the dog to focus. They build the relationship between you and your dog and bring the same relationship onto another level.

A Dog’s Eye View

Imagine a dull lesson where you become confused and learn very little. No motivation is offered to encourage you to learn and the whole scenario leaves you feeling a little dull and dispirited. The person teaching you may look disappointed and frustrated throughout. You would certainly not look forward to the next lesson. In fact you could easily begin the dread these sessions and want to avoid them or withdraw into yourself.

Now imagine the same lesson taught in an upbeat and interesting manner. Fun is involved in the learning process. You are given a reward when you get things right and motivated by the promise of this reward. During this session you are encouraged to learn in stages that you can understand easily. You will leave this type of lesson with a sense of achievement and look forward to the next one.

Dog training games

Using dog training games to teach your dog anything will work. In my humble opinion the word games should be used far more frequently at the end of the phrase “dog training”. Even the word gives a good feeling and certainly accentuates the level at which a dog should be taught. By making any learning experience a game for your dog you will be employing positive dog training.

Control and Focus

Old fashioned dog training has claimed that a dog must have respect and be shown dominance. This is neither modern nor proven dog training. Many problems that people encounter with pet dogs can be controlled simply by teaching the dog control and focus. We have all witnessed the frustrated dog walker repeatedly and almost desperately issuing a sit command to an over excited dog. A dog that is that is neither looking at nor paying attention to him. At some point we have probably all been that poor dog walker, I certainly have.

There is no point in asking a dog to do anything if you do not have his attention. There is little point asking for his attention when highly distracted if you have not trained him to focus on you. By using dog training games you can bring your dog to a point where he looks directly to you for a reward when he sees a distraction.

Dog Training Game to Encourage Focus

A brilliant game to encourage control and steady focus is based on reward. It is a simple game that can be carried out over a few minutes, a few times a day and will provide quick and effective results. You will need a reward that the dog likes and a quick hand.

A food reward is probably best for this game, tiny pieces of something that the dog likes will be easy to work with and encourage the dog to want more. Smaller frequent treats are very motivating.
Get your dog in a sit position (I assume that you have taught your dog to sit), and then drop a treat on the floor. What you will want to do at this point, is reward a good choice on your dog’s part. If your dog lunges or tries to get to the treat, then immediately put your foot over the treat.
But on the other hand, if your dog is able to ignore the treat and looks at you, then give him another (and different) treat to reinforce this behavior.
When the game is over, you can tell him to “Get It!” so that he can get the treat on the floor, or pick it up and give it to him.
By proofing the command and lengthening the amount of time before rewarding, you are establishing focus and control and at the same time playing fun dog training games that allows your dog to think and gives your dog the opportunity to make a choice.
Try this with many different distractions, including toys, other people and even other dogs. As long as you have your dog on a leash and that he can’t leave you for the distraction, you should be able to reward the right choice.

When your dog knows to look to you before reacting to something, in this case his treat, he will eventually learn to do the same with other distractions. By employing this focus technique to all your dog training games you will obtain the best results.

Training An Older Dog New Tricks

By Sally Gutteridge | Posts , Tricks

A saying used daily in many circles is “you can’t teach old dog’s new tricks”. This is simply not true. A dog of any age will learn when motivation and circumstance permits. A human being can obtain a higher degree whilst simultaneously drawing a pension. A middle aged or elderly dog can learn equally well.

It is undoubtedly true that a puppy is usually very trainable. Alongside the training of a puppy an owner must also tend to the socialization needs of their dog.

Many adult dogs are re-homed or rescued every day. Each of these dogs will learn to cope and interact within their new home. Many settle with few problems. Even if no tricks are taught or formal obedience learned, the new owner is training an older dog.

Military and some assistance dogs are all trained as adult donated or rescued dogs. The learning process often begins late in life for them.

If a hearing dog moves from one deaf recipient to a different one in latter canine years he will learn new things. Each hearing dog is catered to a particular recipient therefore new sounds have to be learned. Using the motivational technique of reward based training the older dog usually learns quickly and easily.

Training an older dog – The benefits

There are great benefits to training an older dog. Learning can help focus your dog’s thoughts, mentally stimulate him and help to slow any onset of confusion or dementia. Training will make your dog mentally happy and healthy regardless of his age.

Training an older dog can be a culture shock for both of you. It can be harder if you have lived with the dog for a long time. Asking your dog to do something out of the ordinary can come as a surprise. The dog will usually enjoy the change of routine and individual attention very much.

Motivation

As with all dog training regardless of the age of dog, positive and reward based methods will get the best result. Motivation is sometimes more effective for an under stimulated older dog than a young keen puppy.

Work out what best motivates your dog. If he has received no training for some time or is a new dog to you then this can take a while.

You will see when your dog is motivated by something by his behavior when the thing is produced. His eyes will light up, tail will wag and he may become physically excited and attempt to take the rewarding item from you.

Treats are a regularly used motivator. If you are considering treats for motivation it is worth starting by experimenting with the less tasty end of the scale. By doing this you will leave yourself with the option of a further and more motivational reward later on.

Toys are another good option. If your dog likes toys then find a great one that he prefers. Only get the special toy out during training times. Put the toy away at the end of each training session whilst your dog is still excited by it.

Physical praise and handling is all some dogs need for motivation.

Training an older dog that has not learned anything new for a while means that you must put some effort into motivation. A dog that is in the habit of settling down and staying in routine for many years may not be keen to change this.

Clicker Training

Clicker training is a fabulous activity for dogs of any age. It is also great fun for a handler. Watching a dog that you have known for a long time display new facial expressions, whilst they learn, is wonderful. Clicker training provides an “I am working this out” look. It builds confidence and makes dog training fascinating and fun.

Bad Habits

Training an older dog that has established bad habits can be difficult. Removing unhelpful habitual behavior and replacing it with something more useful usually calls for an approach of ignore the bad and reward the good. The dog needs to learn to offer a different behavior to the unhelpful one.

By completely ignoring any unhelpful behavior you remove attention away from the dog. If the behavior is to seek attention your dog will not receive his reward until he offers a different behavior. If the better behavior is not automatically offered then it should be quietly prompted. This is an approach that works well when training an older dog.

Human benefits

Local dog training classes are not all full of puppies. Many providers offer specific sessions that include training an older dog. Training classes are fun and social.

Stimulating your dog and working out how to help him learn is great for the human mind too. Research on positive dog training will open up a new world to you. You will certainly wonder why you didn’t teach your old dog new tricks before.

The Dog Crate Training Game

By Jean Cote | Posts , Training , Tricks

Dog crate training doesn’t have to be an overwhelming or even frustrating task. When you use the right methods, you can successfully crate train your dog without using force or punishment.

The first step to crate train your dog is to create a positive association with his crate. This will help your dog to learn that his crate is a place of rest and comfort, not a place intended for punishment.

Conditioning Using Treats & A Clicker

Instead of throwing your dog into a crate to let him get used to his new environment, use a clicker with reward-based training to help your dog acclimate and make a positive association with his crate.

This is a truly smart way to approach dog crate training; you will lure the dog into the crate with delicious treats. Once your dog goes into the crate willingly to receive the treats, you can use the sound of a clicker to reinforce the action and encourage good behavior.

Place a handful of treats in the crate with the door open.
Wait for your dog to notice the treats and enter the crate to eat the treats.
As soon as your dog goes into the crate, click the clicker to mark the behavior and give him another treat. (You can let him eat the treats that are in the crate. Eventually your dog will understand that getting into the crate is the behavior that earns him the treat.)
Leave the crate door open so that your dog can come and go as he pleases. Each time that he enters the crate to get another treat, click the clicker & give him a treat to reinforce the behavior.
Continue this activity for several days until your dog becomes comfortable with the crate.
The next time that your dog goes into the crate, close and open the door. That will get him used to seeing the door behind him. Always give him a treat to keep this a positive association.
After closing the door for a moment, let the dog out immediately.
After several days of this activity, increase the amount of time that the door is closed, starting from 30 seconds up to 2 – 5 minutes. You can give your dog some treats through the door while he is in the crate so that he associates pleasure with the treat.
The next step will be for you to step away from the crate. Place your dog in the crate and walk away, then turn back and give your dog a treat. You can do this a few times in a row, but don’t leave him in there yet.
In the last exercise, you will combine the amount of time he is in the crate with the door closed and also with you walking away (to another room). Gradually increase the time that your dog is in the crate before rewarding. When letting your dog out of the crate, make it fun by going outside or for a walk.

This is by far the most effective method in dog crate training to use to reinforce a positive association with a crate. Instead of feeling like you are locking your dog in a crate for hours at a time as a form of punishment when you leave the house, your dog will start to see dog crate training as a game.

When this method is used properly, your dog will love spending time in his crate – believe it or not. After this method has been used for successful dog crate training, you can leave the door of the crate open all day long so that your dog can enter as he pleases. You may find that your dog will enjoy resting and taking a nap inside of the crate because he feels comfortable, safe, and protected.

Once this happens, you will know that you have used dog crate training successfully! The entire point of a crate is to give your dog a safe, restricted area to spend time in whenever you leave the house. This will set clear boundaries for your dog so that he feels secure and is not anxious about doing something wrong and getting punished.

7 Reasons to Teach Your Dog New Tricks!

By Sally Gutteridge | Posts , Tricks

Teaching your dog new tricks might not be the easiest thing in the world, but it’s highly beneficial to you and your dog. Teaching your dog new tricks can help strengthen your relationship with your beloved pet in many ways. Below are some great reasons why you should start teaching your dog new tricks.

1. Make everyone safe– While learning to teach your dog new tricks, you learn many training techniques which can also be used to gain control over your dog. Teaching him basic tricks like sit and stay can also be used in life situations like crossing the street or entering a store.

2. Give Your Dog Something to Do– It doesn’t take long before your dog gets bored and decides to take on a new hobby of chewing anything in sight, including your brand new sofa. Teaching your dog new tricks will keep him focused on the task at hand, and will entertain him for hours!

3. Help Keep Your Dog’s Mind Sharp– Training your dog will keep his mind active and responsive. As dogs get older they become less physically active, but learning tricks will keep his mind active and alert.

4. Help Create a Better Bond between You and Your Dog– Your dog will look up to you as being the pack leader, and will listen to you instead of trying to get your attention in destructive ways. Best of all, once you teach your dog new tricks, the both of you will become a team.

5. Show Off– You can show off your dog if you teach it some cool tricks, and your dog will get people’s attention. Dogs love attention and they love being in the spotlight so they will like performing in front of your friends and family. Of course, you will also get the recognition of being a star trainer.

6. Make Vet Check Ups Easier– Both the veterinarian and you dislike it when your dog can’t control itself during a checkup. If you teach it to be calm during the check up, it will make both of your lives easier and you won’t be embarrassed that your dog is acting up.

7. Gives Your Dog a Hobby– We all have hobbies we like to do such as watching TV or playing games, but dogs also need things to do. Training your dog new tricks is a great way to pass the time on a rainy day when you can’t take him for walks.

If these reasons have inspired you to teach your dog tricks, then you’ve come to the right place. We have a great dog forum that is full of dog owners training their dog new tricks every day!

Target Training

By Sally Gutteridge | Posts , Training , Tricks

What is Target Training? It is simply training your dog to touch a target with his nose so that you can control his body movements. It is extremely easy to train and everyone with a dog can train this behavior!

What you will need for Target Training:

You will need a clicker, you can find one your local pet store for a $1 or $2. This little device will be used to communicate with your dog (more on that later).
You will need a target stick. You should be able to find one at good pet stores, if it doesn’t carry one then you can buy a high quality one online, or as a last resort you can make your own! I created a quick guide on how to make your own below this article…

Target Training How-To:

This is very easy. All you have to do is get a bunch of treats and put them in your training pouch or your pocket.
Bring your target stick and position it in a way that your dog can easily touch it with his nose.
Pay very close attention! As soon as your dog touches it with his nose, click your clicker!
Then give him a treat.

This is simple right? Target training is very simple to do. Once your dog learns that touching the target earns him one treat, you can literally move the target around the room and he will follow it!

Making your own Target Training Stick:

You have two options to choose from when building a target training stick – you can either make a retractable or a non-retractable target stick. A retractable target stick enables you to adjust the length of the target training stick – which can make it easier for some training exercises, and it also is much easier to store.

When I decided to build my own target training stick – I was fortunate enough to already have both of my items in my basement. The material I used to make my target stick is a retractable telescoping magnet and a Ping-Pong ball. These items are pretty cheap and can be found at your local Wal-Mart, dollar or hardware store.

To get started, make a slight cut in the Ping-Pong ball of approximately one quarter inch. I have found that cutting into the seam of the Ping-Pong ball helps in having a straight cut. You can then slip the tip of the telescoping magnet into the ball – try inserting it using a 45 degree angle. Once the tip is inserted into the ball – you can then push it all the way down and you are done! You now have a hand-made retractable target training stick.

There are multiple other materials that can be used to make a target stick – I have seen small tube pieces of wood for less than 2$ at home depot, and I am sure you could find some cheap balls at the dollar store. A small tennis ball would also work wonders, and are usually really cheap. In the end, this could cost you less than 5$ – and if you are on a tight budget, this might be great for you.

How to Make a Safe Dog Hoop

By Jean Cote | Posts , Tips , Tricks

So you want to train your dog to jump through a dog hoop? In this article, I am going to show you how to make a dog hoop that is SAFE for your dog.

When a dog jumps through a dog hoop, there is always the possibility of the dog injuring himself by accidentally hitting the dog hoop with his legs. So below, I will take you on a step-by-step guide to building your own safe dog hoop.

Equipment required:

2 small plastic hoops (approximately 22″ in diameter). You can find some very cheap ones at your local dollar store (my two hoops cost me a total of $2).

4 disc plastic magnets (half an inch in diameter or small enough to fit in the hole of the hoop). You could use any type of magnets really, but for the hoop to work well, you should use magnets that fits perfectly in the hole of the hoop. I purchased my magnets at www.kjmagnetics.com for $4 (+ shipping).

Tools Required:

1 Metal saw to cut the hoops. You could use anything really, since it is only plastic. But I don’t recommend that you use a knife or scissors as you might injure yourself.

1 Hot glue gun with sticks. You could also use crazy glue or silicone, but the adhesive that you use must be strong enough to keep the magnets in place.

Guide:

The first thing that you must do is separate the hoops. There is a union somewhere on the hoops that is hidden by a piece of tape. Remove the tape and take out the small piece of tubing that is holding the hoop together.

As soon as you detach the hoops, you will notice that they will expand. Place the hoops on the ground and pull each side gently until the hoops are completely loose.

Then place them one on top of each other, as to make one big hoop. Position both hoops so that the big hoop is round.

Draw a line where you will need to cut the hoop. In the picture, I have to cut the orange hoop.

Once the hoop has been cut, your next task is to glue the magnet inside each ends of the hoops. One very important thing to do before you glue them, is to check the polarity of each magnet. Each magnet has a north pole and a south pole, and one side can only attract the opposite.

For example, a north pole can only attract a south pole. So before you glue the magnets, I recommend that you mark down with a marker which sides are what.

Pour the glue from the hot glue gun into the hole of the hoop. Push the magnet inside and then put a piece of tape to hold the magnet. Then hang it upside down until the glue is dry.

xxx

Once you’ve done this for all four ends, remove the tape and tada!

Conclusion:

That is pretty much it! Remember that if you’ve never trained your dog to jump through a dog hoop, make sure that you start LOW and to gradually increase the height. Keep it fun and enjoy your training!

How to teach a dog to roll over in 3 easy steps.

By Jean Cote | Posts , Tricks

People often ask me how they can train their dog to do a variety of tricks. Some of the easier ones to start with is shake a paw, high five and roll over. From my experience, I have found that you can learn how to teach a dog to roll over in 3 easy steps.

The first thing you want to have is some delicious dog treats to train your dog. It is best to use a special treat that your dog doesn’t normally get to eat so that he is enthusiastic about the training. I recommend using turkey sausages because they are inexpensive and easy to cut into small pieces for training.
Begin your training by putting your dog in a sit position, and then you want to bring the treat next to his nose and down to the ground, and gradually move your hand towards his neck. Give your dog a treat for following your hand and going onto his back. Next, you want to move you hand further away from him so that he rolls over. Make sure that you praise your dog often throughout the training. The most enthusiastic you are during your training session, the more your dog is going to love training with you.

Click here to get the extended video lesson

Once your dog can roll over, you will want to say the command “Roll Over!” at the same time that you “lure” him with the treat. Remember to always give him a treat after he rolls over so that he learns what is expected of him.
Practice these exercises every day for a week. After that, you will want to phase out the treats so that your dog can roll over without having to use treats. I also recommend that you train in different environments; train in your backyard, your local park or at your friend’s house – that way your dog will be able to perform his new trick everywhere he goes.

Tips:

You can always use toys instead of treats if your dog is not motivated by food. Use a special toy that you can keep especially for training, like a tug-toy or a squeaky toy.
Your training session should only be about 5 to 10 minutes long, and you can train several times a day (up to 3 times a day).
Don’t forget to always praise your dog throughout the training, especially when he completes the roll over trick. You want your dog to have the greatest fun during training, and if you are enthusiastic, he will pick up your energy and will be more willing to work with you.

Click here to get the extended video lesson

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