What is shaping and how would you use shaping to teach a dog to roll over?

"Roll over" is a cute and fun trick to teach your dog. Before you start, your dog should already be able to sit and lie down on command. It is a bit more difficult to teach your dog to roll over than it is to teach him some other commands because this trick has a couple of parts to it. But with a little patience, your dog will be rolling over before you know it.

How to Teach Your Dog to Roll Over

Before starting, make sure you have some treats and your clicker if you are clicker training your dog. Practice the trick in a soft, comfortable area that will keep your dog relaxed, and where you can return to continue training.

1. Start training your dog to roll over by giving it the "down" command. Once it is lying down, the next step is to get it to begin to roll.
2. Hold a treat by its nose, and then pull the treat from the tip of its nose toward its shoulder. Your dog should turn its head to follow the treat.
3. If it does, you can continue to pull the treat around the dog's shoulder so it will have to lie down on its side to follow it.
4. Continue holding the treat close to your dog's nose, and pull it all the way around, so it has to roll all the way over to follow it. If it completes the full roll, praise the dog, or click your clicker and provide a treat.

Break It Down Into Smaller Parts

While it would be great if your dog rolled over all at once, most dogs don't turn all the way around to follow the treat on the first try. Your dog may jump up, wiggle, or move its head around to the other side to try to get the treat. If this is the case with your dog, you can break the training into smaller parts.

1. With your dog lying down, hold a treat at its nose and move it toward the dog's shoulder. The moment the dog turns its head, click or praise it and give it a treat. Practice this several times until the dog is consistently turning its head.
2. Next, stop giving your dog a treat for every head turn. Give treats only for the head turns that bring it closest to lying on his side.
3. Finally, only give your dog praise and a treat when it's lying on its side completely. This is how you can slowly select the behaviors that come closest to rolling over, with each new behavior bringing the dog closer to completely rolling over.
4. Once you're able to get your dog onto its back, it's fairly simple to lure it over to its other side and into a sitting or standing position by holding the treat in front of its nose.

Add the Roll Over Command

Regardless of whether you teach this trick in pieces or not, it's often easiest to add the command once your dog is consistently rolling all the way over. Once it's smoothly following the treat and rolling over each time, it's time to add the command. Hold the treat in front of him, give the command "roll over," and lure him over with the treat. Practice this over several training sessions.

Stop Using the Treat

The final step in teaching your dog to roll over is to stop using treats to lure him into the roll. Once your dog has rolled over after hearing the command a number of times, start off by giving the command and waiting a few seconds.

Some dogs catch on quickly and will roll over immediately. Once the dog has rolled over completely, click or praise and give a treat.

If your dog doesn't immediately respond to the command, you can phase out the treat more slowly. Start by giving your dog the command "roll over," and use the treat to lure it part of the way over. Move the treat away once the dog is in motion. Slowly decrease how far you lure it with each training session. Most dogs catch on quickly, and will soon be dropping into a roll on your command.

Problems and Proofing Behavior

If your dog is making a lot of mistakes, such as jumping up or turning its head in the opposite direction, you may be moving ahead too quickly. Go back a step or two to when your dog was performing well, and start to build back up to a full roll over slowly.

Some dogs can be resistant to lying on their backs and showing their bellies. In this case, make sure your dog knows that training is just fun and games. If it enjoys belly rubs, scratch its belly, click or praise, and give a treat every time it offers you its belly.

Be sure to keep your voice light and positive. Take a deep breath and relax. This can take time, but there's nothing to be stressed about.

It's also important to keep training sessions short and upbeat. Training sessions that are too long tend to become frustrating for both you and your dog. Keep training to about 10 minutes each time, and try to end each session on a positive note.

“Roll over” might seem like a complex behavior for you to teach, but if you break it down into baby steps, your dog will be showing off their adorable new skill in no time. Note that this training technique, provided by certified dog trainer Irith Bloom, CPDT-KSA, of The Sophisticated Dog in Los Angeles, California, assumes your dog already knows the “lie down” cue.

Step 1: Start in a quiet space.

When learning how to teach a dog or puppy to roll over, it’s best to do so in a quiet area where there are minimal distractions. This will help your pup focus on the task at hand so they can more quickly learn and perform the trick.

Step 2: Ask your dog to lie down.

Once your dog is in the lying position, determine which way their body is leaning. For example, if the dog is lying with their left leg out, they’re primed to roll over to the right. If you try to roll the dog the other way, it will be very difficult since the left leg will be in the way.

Pro Tip: Getting your dog into the lying position is key when learning how to teach a dog to roll over. If your pet hasn’t learned this cue yet, you can refer to this helpful guide.

Step 3: Holding a treat close to your dog’s nose, “draw a circle.”

Hold a treat your dog loves in front of your dog’s nose, making sure it’s pressed firmly between your thumb and forefinger so they can’t get it away from you. (Zuke's Mini Naturals Chicken Recipe Training Dog Treats are a great option thanks to its small size and tastiness.) Very slowly, and keeping the treat very close to your dog’s nose the entire time, “draw a circle” in the direction the dog should be rolling. If your dog straightens up or stands up, get them back into the down position and then try again.

Step 4: Reward your dog with a treat for rolling over.

Wait until your dog rolls all the way over, and then praise and feed the treat you were using as a lure. If your pup is having trouble rolling all the way over, praise and feed the treat a couple of times as soon as they wind up on their side, then go back to trying to get the whole roll-over movement.If your dog won’t even roll onto their side (and is physically OK to do so), tip the dog as far as you can to the side, praise them, and then feed the treat. Do this only a couple of times before holding out for more movement, otherwise you dog can get stuck at that level.

Pro Tip: It may take some trial and error to figure out what size and position of circle works best for your dog. When in doubt, slow down your hand movement. You want your dog’s nose glued to that treat!

Step 5: Repeat without treats.

Once your dog is rolling over reliably as you guide them with the treat lure, do a repetition with an empty hand. Pretend you’re holding a treat and move your hand the same way as before. As soon as your dog rolls over, praise, and then grab a treat from nearby—a closed container of treats at your side works—and reward your dog with the treat. Do this until your dog is reliably following your hand movement even when you are not holding a treat.

Pro Tip: In addition to using treats, you can also do clicker training. This is a form of positive reinforcement training where a repeated action (a clicking sound) is paired with the behavior and a treat. Try the Frisco Pet Training Clicker with Wrist Band.

Step 6: Begin using the “roll over” cue.

Now you can introduce the “roll over” command. To seamlessly transition, say “roll over,” count to three, and use the hand movement to guide your dog through the rollover. When your pup successfully completes the roll, praise them, then give them a treat. Repeat this three times. On the fourth go, count to four before moving your hand and repeat. Then count to five before moving your hand.

Continue in this pattern, saying the roll over cue, pausing for a count of whatever number you’re up to, then doing your hand movement. Do this until you notice your dog starts to roll over almost before you give the hand signal. Keep practicing with longer and longer counts until your dog is rolling over when they hear the verbal cue and no longer waits for your hand movement at all.

Step 7: Practice, practice, practice.

After your dog has mastered the “roll over” command, continue to practice several times a week, at least, to keep the behavior fresh. Sometimes dogs can “forget” what they learned even after doing well for a while. If this does happen, go back to using the hand signal after you say the word for a few repetitions, to give your dog a refresher.

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