Teaching to play dead

[Molly_Moppet]

When i was a kid, i saw a tv show where a dog had been trained to drop and play dead when you pointed at it and said 'bang.' Ever since then i've wanted a dog who could do this. The dog i have now is extremely smart. It only took ten minutes to teach her to sit consistantly. Everything i've taught her has only taken hours to sink in, not days or weeks. I'm looking for ideas on how to teach the play dead thing. I have no idea how to go about it. SHe already knows the commands 'lie down' and 'roll over.' but i don't know how to connect these with the finger and the word 'bang' without confusing her. Help would be appreciated.

 

[Richard D.]

You need to learn about "Clicker Training" which will help you teach that trick and many other more useful behaviors. One way is a book called "The Power of Positive Training" by Pat Miller.

Also online a great site is :
http://www.clickertrainusa.com

especially the videos.

(The website has no ads and is for informational purposes only and I have no connection with it.)

 

[Mordy]

clicker training is a great way to teach many, many different behaviors (i'm deliberately not saying "tricks", since you teach pieces of behavior that you then put together as a trick or command later on).

in many cases the behaviors required for the final trick or command are taught in the reverse order they are going to happen later on when all linked together. this is called "backchaining".

first of all you'll need to teach your dog to lie down and stay motionless. the next step is teaching the "falling down" from the "down" position to the "lying on one side" position, which you can encourage by gentle, playful pushing on one side. observe your dog when he's doing this on his own, most dogs favor one side over the otehr and you will have an easier time going with the dog's preference.

then finally you just teach the "bang" as a cue for him to lie down and "keel over".

when all these parts are solid, put it all together.