I want to teach Kodee some good, old-fashioned "tricks" so he can entertain kids, if he makes it to be a therapy dog. Plus, the more I train him, the more fun we have. So, I was thinking I would teach him "bang" (the words "play dead" just seem a little too morbid if I'm visiting sick people in a hospital setting, but it's the same trick). He has the basic commands down, and as far as "tricks", he's only learned "shake", and "roll over", and he can play the game "find it."

For those of you who've taught "play dead" to your dog, how did you teach it?

TIA!

I've only ever taught this to one dog, and that was a dog I had as a kid, so my memory is a tad fuzzy as to how exactly I taught her... as I recall, she loved belly rubs, so that was a major factor.

I was a wiseass kid... every time my dog would roll over for a belly rub, I told her "roadkill". She eventually began to associate the word with the action- although it took awhile, mainly because I was waiting for offered behavior and then marking it, not guiding her into the behavior and marking it.

I also used the thumb and finger "pistol" as a hand signal for the trick, once she learned the voice command... just ideas to make it cute. (Then again, these days, that might be too controversial)

If he knows roll-over, you shouldn't have too hard a time teaching him to stop midway and lay there.

For something like this, I'd use a mid-level value treat to lure the dog into the correct position, and then reward once there.

Just have Kodee lie down, and either lure him or push him onto his side. Make sure that when you say the word and give the reward, you give him the treat when his head head is down in the "dead dog" position. He'll be much more willing to keep his head down in the true dead dog position if he knows that is the position he gets his treat.

I made the mistake of hiving Brad a cookie when her head was up, and she would only stay "dead" for a second, then her head would pop up waiting for the cookie. Treating her with her head down has solved the problem.

Also, once he's playing dead from lying down, start giving the command from a stand. Good luck! Play dead is such a crowd pleaser.

My GSD "Yahtzee" has such an AWESOME "BANG" I thought I would share what worked best for me....

Targeting and Marker Training...

Your dog is usually inclined to roll over one way more than the other when relaxing, watch to see what your dog offers naturally and train the "Bang" rolled in the same direction.

1. First, the dog must have a positive behavior marker and know to target/follow your hand for food.
2. Guide your dog into the down position with food.
3. Guide your dogs head in a half circle to the side of his body.
4. Guide your dogs head in a half circle OVER his body.

**Your dog may roll over on his side on either #3 or #4, or not. Sometimes you may also have to tickle their belly or back leg, but, do not force.

5. When both his shoulders and hips roll to their side, immediately guide his head back down to ground.
6. Cheek touches the ground, instant "Yes" or Click, then a one second delay, and deliver both the food reward in your targeting hand and the command association "BANG". Offer Release command "Free" or "OK" as your dog moves out of "BANG" position and be very happy about it.
7. Repeat #1 thru #6 30x-40x with instant reward to commit to long term memory. Get away from targeting as quick as possible and begin using the command first when you begin to see success.

**Your dog should know the behavior of going into "BANG" on command now, but, not the "stay" part...

7. Command "BANG" to have your dog roll over and place his head on the ground.
8. Instantly present food at GROUND LEVEL in front of your dogs face to create focus on the food and HOLD him there for just a few seconds. The focus on the food is what will create that frozen, motionless effect while staying in the "BANG" position.
9. "Yes" or Click, then a one second delay, and deliver both the food reward in your targeting hand and the command association "BANG". Offer Release command "Free" or "OK" as your dog moves out of "BANG" position and be very happy about it.
10. Repeat #7 thru #9 30x-40x with food reward to commit the "stay" part of the "BANG" command to long term memory. Add more time and slowly move the food out of sight as you see success.

**The dog knows the command now. Practice to add more time to the "stay" and proof under distraction. Go to random rewards. Only use "yes" or a "click" if needed to shape up something the dog gets sloppy on. You can partner the "shooting gun" hand signal with the command any time now.

**I will also release the dog with "Free" or "OK" to come to me for reward after #10. I make it a real party to have the dog explode from the Release command with a lot of energy.

**The finished product is a fast enthusiastic BANG with a frozen focused stay that erupts in a burst of energy when released. It looks very impressive.

I taught stop, drop, and roll to my last S&R dog who spent a lot of time with me at the firestation/ambulance bay. It was a huge kick on fire prevention week as well.
The commmand was actually "fire" and was usually said in a sentance, with the last word being accented. "What do you do if you're on fire?"
It was taught by teaching each part individually: the stop or freeze, (taught by holding a treat in front of the dog's nose so it would stand in place, marking and releasing to eat the treat) the drop or down, then the roll over by having the dog follow the treat, then mark and treat. Once each part was taught completely, they were brought together. Each command was taught using a hand signal as well as verbal, so when it was time to put them together, they were given one after another. eventually, the dog started to put them together on its' own, but since we always demostrated with kids present (or at least most of the time) we kept each separate with a separate hand signal, so that as the kids said each word, the dog did that particular action.