Training my doggy to ROLL OVER

[jlcookie217]

Okay, so I have this pretty hyper dog thats sorta difficult to train. Her name is Cookie and I managed to train her "sit", and "lie down", and "up!". But now I really want to teach her to "roll over". I told her to lie down and put the treat behind her and near her back or near the back of her neck to try and lure her to roll over. But she thinks she gets the treat already so instead, she jumps up from her "lie-down position" and tries to swallow the treat!!

She's not the best dog to train, so I need help!! Does anyone know how to properly train a hyper dog to roll over?? Thanks!!

 

[Jean Cote]

You have to lure the dog in stages. First you need to reinforce her to lie down, then to roll on her side, then to follow the treat while she is on her side, then bring the treat near her nose and bring it so that she looks towards her tail and then rotate. That should get her to roll over.

It's a little hard to explain with text only, but there is an excellent video in the classroom for training roll over. Maybe you could check it out?

Sincerely,
Jean

 

[fickla]

Like Jean said it's several steps. When I was first teaching this to Vito he had a really hard time since he would pop up with even the slightest turn to the side. So I had to spend several sessions rewarding him for the smallest turn of his head to the side without getting up. Once he was able to do that, I was then able to focus on the steps Jean mentions, of starting to have him follow the treat more and more to his tail and then focusing it more up by his shoulder blades.

The video in the classroom is excellent for teaching this too!

 

[jlcookie217]

Okay Thanks guys!! I'll try my best I guess. It'll take a long time for hyper dogs, especially Cookie. Well anyways, thanks for the advice

 

[Jean Cote]

Its not so much that it will take longer time because you have a hyper dog, but more that you must break down the trick into smaller chunks.

For example, you could spend an entire training session to train your dog to lie on her side. And for the next session, to make it a little harder by bringing the treat next to her shoulder blade (so that she has to reach for it, while staying in the position).

If you do this systematically, your dog will have no choice but to roll over. :dogsmile:

 

[szecsuani]

I don't think that it is harder, or takes longer to train a hyper dog, in fact, I think it's a lot easier than teaching a calm dog.
A hyper dog does a thousand things at the same time, so you can always catch something that you like. With a calm dog, it's sometimes harder to get them to do anything, as they can get confused if they don't understand what you want.
Yes, I have a very calm dog.

 

[lorna]

Many thanks for your tip Jean, I managed to train Zena to do it the way you described in two days. Will need to try and get my other half to video it and post it.

 

[Jean Cote]

You are very welcome! :dogsmile: