trouble with "roll over"

[lcc6507]

Hi,
My dog LOVES treats. This is usually helpful with training, but when I use a treat to lure her head to the side for the roll over she shifts her entire upper body to follow it. I've tried going to fairly low value treats (I'm not sure such a thing exists with her). I've also tried moving it just slightly to the right, but she won't move just her head. Any advice?

 

[szecsuani]

My dog is "food-crazy" too, and I had the same problem.

What I did, was just to leave out the part when she only had to move her head, and immediately had to roll over. This way, it wasn't a problem.

But the other thing you could do, is just to keep your hand with the treat in it really close to her nose, so she won't move her entire body.

This is what I would suggest to do.

 

[sammy1]

Alot of times people go too fast and try to get the roll over quickly. It sounds like you're focusing on "getting" the roll as opposed to having your dog focus or follow the treat. Look for a series of smaller steps or approximations with your dog following the treat and your training should progress. Hope that helps.

 

[Jean Cote]

Good advice sammy!!!

 

[leema]

Mac wouldn't get this with a treat, either - it was too exciting and he just focussed on it. I physically rolled him over several times and rewarded him at the end. Mac is quite a reserved dog and doesn't offer behaviours.

You might also want to teach a cue for following your lure. Clover would often stop when following a lure, so I taught her "follow" to mean "yes, that's what I want you to do" in case she got confused.

Both of these may be useful to you.

 

[lcc6507]

Actually, I was only trying to get her to turn her head slightly to the right, but she shifted her whole upper body. (We are nowhere near a roll!) I tried using an earlier suggestion of putting the treat a lot closer to her nose and this has worked.

 

[marineangel]

Wow i try doing the same with my dog but he doesn't seem to interested in the treat, i guess he's just lazy because he loves them. He lays down and turns slightly but wont roll over he just goes back to laying down like "nah whatever i dont want it" lol oh well i'll keep trying!

 

[gardengirl]

It worked for my dogs to actually roll them over by carefully holding the back and front leg and rolling the body without twisting. Grabbing one leg could cause too much pressure on that joint. Helping your dog go over will show him what your goal is.

One other thing I would say is that some very dominant dogs may not be comfortable with this activity when they're young. One of my collies was like this and it just took him more time to trust and mature. After he was a few years old, he was happy to do a rollover.

 

[drivingtenacity]

For whatever reason, Zena refuses to roll over, too. She'll do 'upside down', but won't follow through with a roll- she always rolls back to the side she started on.

 

[Jean Cote]

You could give her a little push to get her on the other side and give her a treat for doing it.

 

[drivingtenacity]

I've tried the push, sometimes it works, but most of the time she thinks it's an invitation to rowdy play and jumps up all excited. I guess we'll just have to keep working on it. Imagine, a dog as smart as she is, having issues with rolling over.Crazy dog.:dogbiggrin:
I think she still has a lot of puppy in her.

 

[zcoonhound]

Try this: make sure your area is a comortable area emotionally for your dog. Too many distractions can be frightening when you ask pup to bear his/her belly. Another comfort zone often ignored is the floor. Try getting pup to roll over on his or her blanket/bed/or towel. Something as simple as these suggestions can really make a difference for some pups, or at least it did for Z.

 

[achieve1dream]

Rolling Over

I tried to teach this to Storm, but we didn't have any carpets and she didn't seem comfortable rolling over on the hard floors or outside. I tried physically rolling her over, but she got so anxious I just gave up and never went back to it. Now that I am living in a different house that does have some carpet I might use some of the suggestions you guys have given and try again to teach her. If she continues to be anxious about it I probably won't push it. Why make them to trick they don't enjoy right? She is a very submissive dog and I think that has something to do with it. Anyway just sharing my experience.

 

[stormi]

For Storm I found getting her to lie flat and then keeping the treat really close to her nose and right into her chest...to the side I wanted her to roll) helped. Once she was most of the way over I could aid her with my other hand to give her a little more momentum to help her flip over. I think those of us with little dogs are at a huge advantage for this trick :msnohyes:

 

[sharon jean]

What did to teach my dog Bindi to roll over is had her in the down first, then as I held the treat in my one hand right at her nose, I gently pushed her over to her side and then over. At first she couldn't figure out what I was doing, but by the 4th day, she had the trick down, now all I have to do is say roll and make my hand go in a circle and she rolls over. Starting in the down was very helpful. Don't loose heart, keep being consistent and maybe break down the trick into smaller lessons!
Sharon and her pups Bindi and Cody

 

[celticmarine]

I dont know how to get her to roll, my dog will physically fight to keep from laying flat on her back, no matter how short of a time. Even when I had her in a class, the trainer tried quite a few times, and my dog will put ever muscle of her body to keep from laying on her back. I dont know if she is just stubborn or what, do any of yall know how to get her on her back? I've tried cues, luring, helping her, trying to get her kinda used to it by her being in my lap and slowly shifting, and I dont know what else to try. If she wasnt so strong then I could just roll her and show what I want, but she is 50 lbs of solid muscle and refuses.

 

[szecsuani]

In this case, if your dog really hates this trick, and fights against doing even a bit of it, I think it's a trick he doesn't need to know. There are loads of other tricks you can teach, so why get stuck at rolling over?

 

[celticmarine]

Very true, I havent really worked with her on it since our class ended, she is so smart at picking up stuff, I never really had to force her to do anything. It was just something that was brought up to me pretty much every class, why she cant roll over.

 

[blisandt]

for those of you whose dogs have it, you might try changing the words to "stop, drop roll" (this was suggested to me recently)... Then you can do "fire safety demos" at schools...

 

[tanis60617]

My dog would n't roll over because he kept trying to get the treat. So instead I first taught him to lay down on his side. and then after about a week we revisited roll over and he got it right away