Welcome back to Trick Tuesday! Every Tuesday, another trick tutorial.
This week's trick is a fun one! We are going to teach the dogs to "Play Dead." In order to teach this trick, we'll be using a method called, "Back Chaining" where we start with the last behaviour and work our way backward to the first. Our goal is that on one command, our dogs stop, lie down, flop onto their sides or back and hold position. So, we'll start by teaching them to hold position on their side. Once they've mastered that, we'll add in the position change.
Method: Back chaining
Skill level: Intermediate
What you'll need: Food, dog and a conditioned reinforcer
This trick requires a good stay or wait command. If your dog still needs to be trained to hold a position, be sure to take some time to teach that behaviour first.
Happy trick training!