Teach a dog to roll over, in addition to sitting or remaining in the desired position, is one of the fantastic tricks. This trick involves three parts, making the training process more challenging than teaching your dog other basic commands. So Canvas Personalized is the right place for you to come and find the best ways and tips to teach your dog this trick.
1. How To Teach A Dog To Roll Over On Command
What You’ll Need
- A comfortable area
- A rug, pet mat, or soft dog bed
- A tasty treats and rewards pouch during training
- A clicker
- Patience
- Enthusiasm
3 Separate Parts Of Training A Dog To Roll Over
Your canine companion should know how to sit and lie down on command before you learn roll over dog command. If you plan to use a clicker to train your dog, you’ll need to have some goodies and the clicker before you start.
Part 1: Begin With Lying Down Position
To assist your dog in gaining confidence, you should begin training sessions on a comfortable surface, such as a dog bed, a pet mat, or grass.
- Step 1: Give your dog a command to sit and then hold a treat between your palm and the ground while your dog is in the “sit” position.
- Step 2: Slowly lower your hand to the ground when your dog recognizes and licks the treat from your palm. This will cause your dog’s nose to drop gradually to the ground or floor.
- Step 3: Once you reach the ground, start pulling your hand toward it until your dog is lying down with its belly on the ground, paws resting in front, and head facing up. Then, mark this moment with your clicker or say “Yes” and give the reward.
- Step 4: Repeat these steps above to make your dog confident with this command before training a dog to roll over.
*Pro Tips
Getting your dog into the lying down posture is key when training a dog to roll over. So make sure you take time, read carefully the dog training tips, or observe the video before moving on to the next part.
Part 2: Breakdown Into Smaller Parts
Pay attention to your dog’s posture if they keep lifting their butt or jumping up and wiggling to get the treat. Maybe your dog gets scared or frightened for the first time while lying down, which will cause bad posture and hurt your dog. So, in this case, you must fix the posture and break down the exercise into smaller parts.
- Step 1: In this part, your hand acts as an elevator, lowering your hand with the palm facing down and holding the treat to the ground or floor.
- Step 2: When your dog moves and bends to follow the treat, mark this movement by saying “Yes” or giving them a treat. Then repeat at least five times.
- Step 3: Continue to throw a treat to the floor away from your dog by lowering your hand with your palm facing down. Then mark and reward your dog when they follow or bend to your hand on the ground or floor. Repeat this act five times on how to teach your dog to roll over.
- Step 4: Now, slowly stretch your dog’s legs when training a puppy to roll over. Lower your hand with a treat and slowly start moving it along the ground or floor toward you. Always mark and reward your dog every time its front legs stretch. Remember to repeat it at least five times.
- Step 5: Hold your dog’s collar softly and gently pull your hand toward yourself until they are fully dressed. Keep marking and rewarding their correct movement.
*Pro tips:
Making mistakes or getting confused to figure out what best laying down posture is when you learn how to teach your dog to roll over is completely common. In that case, you need to slow down your hand signal and not force your dog to do right on the first try.
Part 3: Add Verbal Cue Or Hand Signal For Roll Over Dog
This part can be crucial in training a puppy to roll over, so you must pay special attention. The goal of this section is to teach a dog to roll over by replacing the use of treats as a lure. Instead, this section will guide you through using verbal cue or hand signal for roll over dog command.
- Step 1: This time with NO treat in hand. Maintain the exact position of your hand, palm down and moving down the ground, and pull back toward yourself along the ground.
- Step 2: Mark and praise your dog when they land entirely on the ground. Repeat at least five times.
- Step 3: Once your dog is lying on the ground, take a treat in your hand and slowly slide it from the dog’s mouth to the shoulder. When your dog follows the treat, it causes them to lie on one side. Then mark and reward their movement, and repeat five times.
- Step 4: Once your dog has mastered falling to one side, the next is to teach a dog to roll over. Now get them to lie down on their back by moving the treat past their shoulder and toward the ground. Until your dog rolls over onto their back, reward and mark its attempts.
- Step 5: When your dog gets used to following the treat reliably, repeat this exercise five times with an empty hand. Moving your hand from the dog’s nose, over the shoulder, and down to the floor
- Step 6: It’s time to include the verbal cue, “Roll over”. Use this command and move your empty hand from your nose to the ground to cause your dog to follow this movement. Then mark and reward your dog, and repeat.
- Step 7: At long last, try gradually fading out your hand signal. Then give your dog about five seconds after you say, “Roll over!” to figure out what you want them to do. In case they still don’t get it, reuse the empty hand. Alternatively, if your dog understands your method of rolling over, reward them with a treat and repeat 5 times.
2. Things To Avoid On How To Teach Your Dog To Roll Over
When training a puppy to roll over, pay attention to these things below to make a great training process:
- Ignore checking with your veterinarian before training a dog to roll over. You should not start the training session if your dog has physical problems.
- Never teach a dog to roll over in a distracted zone, space, or environment.
- Never ask your dog to roll over on command on a couch, bed, or small area.
- Never force or intimidate your dog into doing the trick if they are uncomfortable.
>>Further reading:
- How To Teach Dog To Play Dead On Command In 5 Easy Steps
- How To Teach A Dog To Come When Called In 4 Foolproof Steps
- 5 Simple Steps To Teach Your Dog To Lie Down For Beginners
- How To Teach A Dog Its Name In 4 Foolproof Steps-New Tricks
One of the most impressive tricks that you can learn is how to teach a dog to roll over on command. If, after practicing these steps, your dog knows the “down position,” you have made significant progress. So, with our Canvas Personalized post, we hope you’ll be able to teach your dog to roll over without prompting.
