Difficulty: Moderate Prerequisite: Down, Touch Items Needed: Clicker, Treats
Teaching your dog this trick is a must. Along with sit and down, this is one of the most well-known dog tricks. In fact, if a visitor comes over and asks you, "Does your dog know any tricks?" then proceeds to find out for herself, chances are high that she'll ask, "Come on boy, roll-over." Have you ever wondered how to get your dog to roll over? It's more difficult than many other tricks, but with patience and a lot of encouragement, your dog will be rolling over on command.
Step 1: Have your dog lay down. Step 2: Lure him with the training stick or with your treat to have him move over to one hip and on his side. Click and treat. Step 3: Use the lure to get him to go over on his back. (This may take time for some dogs). Click and treat. Step 4: Continue using the lure to get him to roll all the way over. Jackpot when he does this. (Some people have used gently sloping ground to make it easier for the dog to roll all the way over). Step 5: When your dog is rolling over more readily, stop using the lure. Expect more before you click and treat, but praise and jackpot when he performs well. Step 6: After he is rolling over smoothly, start giving him the verbal command "Roll over." A circular hand signal is also helpful. Always praise and intermittently click and treat when he performs well.
OUR EXPERIENCE
Caspian learned this trick surprisingly quickly (though after some frustration). I started out having him lay down. I guided the touch stick gently from one side of his head to the other, pushing it back. I told him in a gentle voice to touch it. He moved his head around and as he did so he moved onto his back, his paws coming upwards. I clicked and treated. The second time I did this I waited for him to come up some more before I clicked and treated. Soon, he rolled all the way over. "Good boy!" I said, and gave him a jackpot. After doing this several times, Caspian got the hang of rolling over. When he started doing it more smoothly I used my command "Roll Over" as I clicked and treated. Soon, I stopped using the touch stick and Caspian was able to roll over at my command.
TEACHING TROUBLE
He stands up to touch the stick rather than roll over to do it! This part of the training process depends on you. Be very gentle in your movements and commands. Move the touch stick around slowly as you say in a low voice, "T..o...u...c..h..." If you are slow and steady in your voice and actions, your dog's actions will be less reckless, too!
Tip: "Try having your dog roll over on the same side each time to keep things consistent."
