Dog won't roll over

Indricotherium

Is there a way to train your dog to roll over.

Mine will not roll over no matter what. He's no slouch, he has a fairly decent repetoire of tricks; sit, lie down, into bed, paw, other paw, dance, inside/outside, etc etc, but I just can't get him to roll over.

He won't do it at all, if I try to roll him over from the lie down position he won't do it. Even if I sneak up on him when he's a sleep and try to roll him over, he wakes up and goes bananas!?

Has anyone ever encountered this, and is there a way around it.

SillyMangoX

Showing the belly in a dog is a sign of submissiveness, as in 'look im harmless, ill show you my weak spot to.prove im not in for anything bad". Your dog just may not like the idea of exposing such a vunrable area. Thats just one theory! How old is he? He may have some pain in his back.or hips and thus doesnt want to lie on them. Or he may just be stubborn!

Indricotherium

SillyMangoX wrote: »

Showing the belly in a dog is a sign of submissiveness, as in 'look im harmless, ill show you my weak spot to.prove im not in for anything bad". Your dog just may not like the idea of exposing such a vunrable area. Thats just one theory! How old is he? He may have some pain in his back.or hips and thus doesnt want to lie on them. Or he may just be stubborn!

He's only 2 1/2 so I hope it's nothing to do with his hips.

He is fairly submissive toward me, so I wouldn't think it's that, he'll go over on his side no bother and expose his belly, he just won't go on his back

The Sweeper

If you treat train him, you can train him gradually by bringing the treat to his nose and then, clasped in your hand, continue around to the side of his body so his head comes around. With his head around he's off balance - offer him the treat as you gently push him down flat. It needs to be very gentle - just a nudge so he's lying on his side. Praise him hugely when he is.

Continue until you can get him on his back, and then all the way over. Don't use the command 'roll over' until he's done it, and treat at the right time.

Some dogs hate rolling over - I know mine does, even though he's trained to do it.

Sneaking up on your dog when asleep and trying to roll him over is a sure-fire way to get bitten - and it's also just rude (how do you think you'd feel if someone did that to you?) Focus on leading the dog naturally through the movements using treats and go from there.

ABajaninCork

Depends on the dog. Some are more trainable than others.

I 'trained' my Shih Tzu. This breed is notoriously stubborn, and with my fella, he quickly decided that unless he got a treat he wasn't doing anything!

I've got him to give the paw, beg (although he did that himself. All we did was to add the command), and lie down. He'll only lie down for a treat. He also goes to bed on command when he's been naughty.

Anything else - Forget it!!

seamus

Indricotherium wrote: »

He won't do it at all, if I try to roll him over from the lie down position he won't do it. Even if I sneak up on him when he's a sleep and try to roll him over, he wakes up and goes bananas!?

Eh, of course he does. So would you. "Let sleeping dogs lie". It's an old phrase, but still a goodie.

First step is to have the dog voluntarily roll over. While he's lying on the ground being cuddled, put your hand behind one of his legs to start scratching him on the chest. Most dogs if they're in a relaxed and happy place will lean over and lift the leg to let you do this more, and may even roll over.
If he doesn't roll over when you do this, then keep scratching his chest for a minute and then gently try to roll him by placing that one hand on his chest and using the other to tuck the opposite leg under while you roll him (makes him easier to roll and makes it more comfortable). If he resists, don't force it as he'll instantly become tense and hate the experience.

Location is important. The dog needs to be comfortable. My dog won't roll over on any raised surface because she knows she might fall off. In the dog's bed, or any place the dog usually sleeps (like in front of a fire) is probably best because that's where they are most relaxed.

Once you get him rolled over, continue scratching him so that he enjoys the experience. Once you've gotten used to getting him to roll easily, you can start to introduce audio cues to get it on demand.

tk123

My guy has been doing it since he was a baba - he won the 'show' at puppy class with his roll over lol!

I trained him similar to how The Sweeper describes but without pushing/touching him - get him into a down then with a treat held in your hand at his nose slowly move the treat around to his shoulder/back..he should roll over on his side a bit/reach his head back for the treat.. when he does give the treat - repeat over the next few days gradually bringing the treat further around until he's on his back - once he goes that far he should naturally 'finish' the roll and end up in lying down again. I'll try and get a vid of my guy doing it later (he's zonked out from hydro atm).

nala2012

Have you tried getting him from both sides? For some reason my dog finds it very hard to roll from left to right!

Indricotherium

nala2012 wrote: »

Have you tried getting him from both sides? For some reason my dog finds it very hard to roll from left to right!

He goes about 3/4 of the way over on both sides and then twists his way back level.

Even if the other dog is on her back beside him he won't do it.

ShaShaBear

Indricotherium wrote: »

He goes about 3/4 of the way over on both sides and then twists his way back level.

Even if the other dog is on her back beside him he won't do it.

My fella has a similar problem, when I say roll over, he lies down and rolls so he's almost flat on his back, and throws his paws back to expose his belly. He absolutely can't roll over onto the other side.

Hooked

Indricotherium wrote: »

Is there a way to train your dog to roll over.

Mine will not roll over no matter what. He's no slouch, he has a fairly decent repetoire of tricks; sit, lie down, into bed, paw, other paw, dance, inside/outside, etc etc, but I just can't get him to roll over.

He won't do it at all, if I try to roll him over from the lie down position he won't do it. Even if I sneak up on him when he's a sleep and try to roll him over, he wakes up and goes bananas!?

Has anyone ever encountered this, and is there a way around it.

You could easily have been describing me and Hugo, my Siberian Husky. I have taught him pretty much everything but just couldn't get him to roll over.

If I attempted to touch him, he'd sit bolt upright. Perhaps as others have posted, he didn't want to appear submissive.

Long story short, I broke it up into 2 tricks. As he would sit, then down... I already had him on the floor.

So I taught him... 'On your side'... simply by holding the treat and having him follow it from the down position to him having to roll to one side. Did this over and over for a few days... As I was telling him 'good boy' etc I'd get rub his belly and he'd stay on his side or roll to his back

Again with his treat in hand one and belly rub with hand two, I started to train him to 'roll over' while having him follow the treat with his eyes and gently turn him with my other hand.

HE ABSOLUTELY HATED DOING IT. It must be because he's so big that the act of shoulder to back to shoulder is awkward or maybe he's just stubborn. He'd protest, literally give out (talking snd woo-ing) and I just had to persist and stick with it.

Mo matter what I taught him previous or what I'll teach him in the future, I'll never be happier than the day I got him to 'roll over'.

It's the little things I guess...

Magenta

Hooked wrote: »

You could easily have been describing me and Hugo, my Siberian Husky. I have taught him pretty much everything but just couldn't get him to roll over.

If I attempted to touch him, he'd sit bolt upright. Perhaps as others have posted, he didn't want to appear submissive.

Long story short, I broke it up into 2 tricks. As he would sit, then down... I already had him on the floor.

So I taught him... 'On your side'... simply by holding the treat and having him follow it from the down position to him having to roll to one side. Did this over and over for a few days... As I was telling him 'good boy' etc I'd get rub his belly and he'd stay on his side or roll to his back

Again with his treat in hand one and belly rub with hand two, I started to train him to 'roll over' while having him follow the treat with his eyes and gently turn him with my other hand.

HE ABSOLUTELY HATED DOING IT. It must be because he's so big that the act of shoulder to back to shoulder is awkward or maybe he's just stubborn. He'd protest, literally give out (talking snd woo-ing) and I just had to persist and stick with it.

Mo matter what I taught him previous or what I'll teach him in the future, I'll never be happier than the day I got him to 'roll over'.

It's the little things I guess...

If he hated doing it so much, why did you make him do it? To amuse you or make you feel like you'd achieved something? It sounds like he already knew lots of commands. There is no reason whatsoever why he would need to be taught to roll over. If you needed to see his stomach for any genuine reason there's other ways to do it.

Ziegfeldgirl27

I wouldn't want my dog to do anything he didn't want to do. Sit and stay yes, but roll over is not neccesary apart from amusement and it may be very uncomfortable for your dog to do.

ShaShaBear

Ziegfeldgirl27 wrote: »

I wouldn't want my dog to do anything he didn't want to do. Sit and stay yes, but roll over is not neccesary apart from amusement and it may be very uncomfortable for your dog to do.

Agreed, my fella developed a comfortable variation to the trick which allows me to add to his tricks for mental stimulation but I assume it hurts to roll onto his spine, I certainly don't like lying flat on a hardwood floor :rolleyes:

The Sweeper

I taught it to my dog as part of a usual repertoire of 'tricks' for mental stimulation. A 15 minute training session with your dog is tiring for him and helps the bond between you. It also helps you communicate with your dog if you do it properly.

My dog will roll over on carpet or grass but yes, tiles or a wood floor is uncomfortable. I would probably give him the 'roll over' command once in three months, but when we're playing ball, if I stop to talk to someone he does various things to get my attention, including barking, sitting, lying and then he'll execute a neat rollover, voluntarily, without being asked..

Measured, controlled training is valuable between an owner and their dog, and that includes potentially injurious activities. Agility is extremely good for dogs, but they can injure themselves if they don't do it in a measured, controlled manner - they have to know how to listen to all of your cues when running a course. The rollover command is exactly the same.

The training process of 'lie down' and then 'lie flat' as part of rollover is useful at the vet for examinations.

Cherry Blossom

Ziegfeldgirl27 wrote: »

I wouldn't want my dog to do anything he didn't want to do. Sit and stay yes, but roll over is not neccesary apart from amusement and it may be very uncomfortable for your dog to do.

This!

One of mine is perfectly happy to roll over so I taught him a hand signal for it. My terrier has never, ever willingly displayed her underside to anyone. She'll walk about on her back legs voluntarily (the trademark 'Westie dance'), crawl, and do all sorts of high-energy 'tricks'. Focus on what comes naturally to the dog and how you can use that to your advantage. For example, recall training my terrier wasn't working at all for as long as I was trying to teach her to come and sit because she had no interest in coming to sit (pointless & boring and continuing to run around like a nutter was of more value than a treat), come & beg and let her run off again straight away was a totally different story.

xtinataguba

i have the same problem and i find this forum very useful. thanks for this post!