When teaching your dog to do a difficult trick like roll over, it's great to have two methods ready: The whole trick and the "roll over" broken down into smaller, easier tricks. Some dogs for physical and behavioral reasons can't or won't learn a trick the standard way. (For example, a dog who physically can't hold himself up to beg, or a dog who is scared by the loss of control in the "roll over" command).
The conventional method to teach roll over is to teach your dog "down" and then to physically roll them over or lure them over with a treat. This does not work with most dogs.
A more effective method of teaching "roll over" is to break it into small steps your dog can learn while still feeling in control of his or her body. This method will take about a week to learn each step (practicing 5 minutes twice a day)- but you will train several useful and sassy dog tricks in the process.
Step 1 - "Down"
Teach your dog "down" from a sitting position. This is simple. Say "down", hold a treat out in front of the dog and, if needed, physically move the dog by pushing down on the shoulders or tugging on the collar. When the dog lays down, give the treat as soon as possible and praise with an enthusiastic "good down!".
Step 2. "Over"
Teach your dog "over". (you can also use the command "bang, bang" or "play dead") To teach "play dead", say "play dead", hold the treat to the left or right of the dog, and gently shove on the opposite shoulder and urge the dog to roll onto his or her side and relax. Treat immediately and scratch the shoulder. When your dog "plays dead" well, move on to step 3.
Step 3. "Back"
From the roll over position, give your dog a command that means to roll over onto their back. This could be "on your back", "show me your belly" or "really play dead". This is a fun trick to sass up. My airedale always added flair to this step of the trick by completely splaying her legs out, so I used the command word "skank" and the command, not just the trick, always gets a laugh.
Position your dog in the "play dead" position and say "on your back" while at the same time beginning a rather intense belly rub. As the leg lifts to allow access to the belly roll the dog *barely* onto her back and immediately give a treat and praise her saying "Good back, good back". As this trick progresses, he should immediately roll onto his back expecting a belly rub. Slowly, slowly, slowly phase out the belly rub and substitute a small treat.
Step 4. "Roll Over"
Step four happens naturally for many dogs, but you can help if not. The idea is to get the dog to roll upright again on the opposite side he rolled from. This is easily done by holding a treat in front of his face while he is upside down, and moving it to the side you'd like him to roll up on. The command for this movement is the actual "Roll Over"
If you follow all these steps you have a dog who can, slow though it may be, roll over. The trick then is to string the behaviors together. Always train these commands in this order: down, play dead, belly up, roll over. Once this routine is set in the dog's mind it's easy to jump one command and get the desired results. (For example, saying "down", "skank", "roll over") eventually you should be able to say simply "down", "roll over" and with diligent work, you can train the dog to "roll over" from any position at all.
Another Helpful Page to Help Teach your Dog to roll over:
