How To Teach Your Dog To Roll Over?

Roll over is surely one of the cutest things dogs do. It is entertaining and joyful to watch. The question is how to teach a dog to roll over? It is easier than you may think. In this article, you will learn 8 simple tips on how to teach your dog to roll over and play dead with you.

1. Be Sure to Take The 2 First Steps:

Before starting, your dog should already be able to sit and lie down on command. This is because the Rolling Over trick is linked to these steps. Here are 4 simple steps to make sit and lie down on your command:

• Ask your dog to sit in front of you
• Give it the verbal command “Down” and then bring a treat down past his nose towards the floor.
• Keep the treat in your hand on the floor and slowly move it away from the dog’s nose, towards your feet.
• The dog will fall into the “Down” position as it follows the treat with his nose.
• Immediately reward it with the treat and praise it as soon as it lies down.

2. Always Have Some Treats on Hand:

Treats are the key ingredient to teaching your dog to roll over. Get delicacies that your dog loves but doesn’t normally get. Then, break them into small bites to make them last through the training session. This also enables you to keep your dog hungry for the treat in order to motivate it to roll over.

3. Find a Good Spot:

While teaching your dog to roll over, you should ensure you get its full attention. To do so, it is preferable that you choose a quiet training room away from other pets. Also, it’s certainly better to adopt a soft and comfortable area to keep your canine companion relaxed throughout the training sessions.

4. Actually Start Teaching Your Dog to Roll Over:

There are 2 options to follow:

• Teaching Your Dog to Roll Over All at Once
• Breaking the Process Down into Smaller Parts

Let’s begin with Method A:

In order to teach your dog to roll over all at once, follow these 4 steps:

• Give your dog the “Down” command. Once it’s lying on the ground, start trying to get it to roll over.
• Use the Treat: Hold the delicacy to your dog’s nose. Then, pull the treat toward its shoulder. Normally, your dog should turn its head to follow it.
• Make Your Dog Lie on Its Side: In case your dog does turn its head towards the treat, continue to pull the delicacy around its shoulder until it lies down on its side to follow it.
• Pull the Treat to The Starting Side: Continue holding the treat to your dog’s nose, and pull it all the way around. The dog would have to roll all the way over to follow it. If your doggy completes the full roll, praise it and give it the treat.

While it would be impressive if your dog rolled over immediately, most dogs don’t. They may jump up, wiggle or move their head around to the other side trying to eat the treat you’re holding. If this is the case with your dog, go with method B. Like with method A, only 4 simple steps should be followed:

• With your dog lying down, hold a treat to its nose and move it toward its shoulder. The moment your canine companion turns its head, praise it and give it the treat. Practice this until the dog is consistently turning its head.
• Stop giving your dog a treat for every head turn. Repeat the same previous process but reward it with a treat only for the head turns that bring your dog closest to lying on its side.
• Start praising your dog only when it completes a full roll over. 

5. Add the Roll Over Command: 

Whether you’ve taught your dog this trick at once or not, it’s often easier to add the “Roll Over” command once your dog is consistently rolling all the way over. Just hold the treat in front of it, give the command “Roll over,” and lure it to the other side. Practice this throughout several training sessions.

6. Stop Using the Treat: 

Once your dog has successfully accomplished all the previous steps, stop using treats. Just start off by giving the “Roll Over” command and wait a few seconds. If your dog catches on quickly and rolls over immediately, praise and treat it.

However, usually, dogs don’t respond to the command instantly. If this is the case, phase out the treat more slowly: Start by giving your dog the command “roll over,” and use the treat to lure just a little bit. Once your dog is in motion, move the treat away. Slowly decrease how far you lure your canine with each training session. Most dogs will learn quickly to roll over on your command.

7. Practice Elsewhere:

Now it is time for diversity. First, move on to new locations where there are distractions. This will prevent your dog associating the new trick with the training room only. Second, train your dog to roll over in front of other people. This will let it get used to perform in public. The extra praise it’ll get from other people will also encourage it to roll over even more.

It you want your dog to also respond to others, try letting them give it the “roll over” command.

8. Additional Tips and Advice:

While the previous steps are sufficient to teach your dog how to roll over, you may add some extra tips for better performance:

• If you notice your dog making a lot of errors, go back to when it was performing well, and start to slowly build back up to a full roll over.
• While using the treat, you may gently help your dog roll over using your free hand if it’s not quite getting the move on its own.
• If your dog is resilient to lying on its back, praise and treat it every time it exposes its belly. In case it enjoys abdomen rubs, offer them to it.
• Make your voice light and positive. Always take deep breaths to relax and avoid stress. Plus, remember that once your dog rolls over, you’ll be overwhelmed with its cuteness.
• Keep the training sessions short and cheerful and end each session with positive notes.

To conclude, if you want to teach your dog to roll up, just follow our steps and tips for quicker results.

If you know other techniques on how to teach a dog to roll over, kindly comment and share them with our readers.