Training A Dog to 'Roll Over'

'Over' – Once your dog is lying on his front get his attention with a tasty titbit just in front of his nose. Move this slowly down towards his front legs then over his back, hopefully in order to stay with the food he will roll onto his side. Encourage him to lie completely flat on the floor and relax. As he does this say 'over'. When he does so and stays still praise him lavishly. If you are having trouble with this stage you can gently push him over onto his side and say 'Over' when he is completely flat on the floor. This requires practice before your dog will do this on command, patience is definitely the key, along with consistency.

Now with him lying on his side place a treat in front of his nose. When it has his attention move the food towards his chest then over his shoulder to the other side. As he follows it round and lies on his other side say 'Roll over' and once he is on his other side give him the treat and praise lavishly. A soon as you start to praise him he will probably get up and complete the trick himself. Eventually you will be able to just give the commands and he will do the trick without the need for food incentive.

As you can see this is quite a lot for a dog to learn all in one go. It is best with all dog training to work in short bursts of 5 – 10 mins with lots of playing and praising afterwards. Don't expect your dog to learn all of this in one day. Dog obedience and puppy training takes time and practice, if you expect too much in one go, all that will happen is you will both get frustrated.

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