In this article, we\u2019ll be explaining what the play dead trick is, how to teach a dog to play dead, as well as troubleshooting reasons your dog may struggle to learn the play dead trick, and solutions to help them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Have you downloaded a trial of the Zigzag puppy training app<\/a>? If you haven’t, what are you waiting for? Not only will the app help you teach your puppy tricks like playing dead, but it\u2019s actually a full training program based around your puppy’s breed and age. It will help you learn all the really important stuff. We even have a team of puppy trainers<\/a> on hand to help you every step of the way, we are the gift that keeps on giving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what is playing dead? The play dead trick is pretty much what it says on the tin: a party trick where the dog has to pretend to die! There are a few variations on the play dead trick, from a drop and roll on your back, to a gun shooting with the cue \u2018bang bang\u2019 and the dog falling to the floor and laying apartment lifeless. There\u2019s also the more dramatic looking – being shot with a pretend gun, the dog staggering about, dropping to the floor, lying on their back, twitching or their leg moving slightly before they finally expire. Proper Oscar winning stuff!<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your pup\u2019s a budding actor, we\u2019ll help you work out how to teach a dog to play dead from start to finish in the easiest way possible. This is going to show you how to teach an adult dog to play dead, but if you have a puppy this can also be used to teach a puppy to play dead too. What are you waiting for? Let’s get cracking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly though just a reminder\u2026 all of the training that we do at Zigzag <\/a>is with positive reinforcement<\/a> and uses rewards.<\/a> It really is how dogs learn best. Tricks<\/a> are not things that dogs would normally do, so there\u2019s got to be something in it for them, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n You won\u2019t need a whole heap of fancy equipment to teach the play dead trick, but we suggest the following:-<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use a tasty treat and lure your puppy into the down position, mark with a \u2018yes\u2019 or a click, etc then give them the treat. Clever dog! Repeat this a couple of times so your dog is following the lure down nice and smoothly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t know how to teach them to lie down, head on over to our article on teaching a puppy to lie down. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dogs learn through repetition. Practice steps 2 and 3 over the next couple of days until they\u2019ve really got the hang of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once your dog is following the treat and nicely tucking their hip under you\u2019ll find they start rolling onto their side, at this point you can bring the treat down to the floor stretching their head out, so that they\u2019re lying with their head down. Say your marker and release the treat. What a pup-genius!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, you\u2019ll need to practice this quite a few times with the treat, then try doing it without the treat to lure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Make the same movement with your hand coming down to the floor, then get them to roll and lie on their side. Use your marker word and reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Repeat this several times, so that your dog truly understands that this hand signal means I want you to lie down and roll on your side, head on the floor i.e pretend to be dead! <\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to say \u2018Bang\u2019 or \u2018pretend to die\u2019 and your dog performs the trick on verbal cue alone, you\u2019ll need to add it before you use your hand signal so that your dog starts to associate the word before the action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It looks like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Verbal cue (bang) \u2014–> Wait 3 seconds\u2014—> do the hand signal\u2014—->dog plays dead\u2014–>mark and treat<\/p>\n\n\n\n Repeat this 10 times then let\u2019s make it a bit trickier<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verbal cue (bang) \u2014–> Wait 5 seconds\u2014—> do the hand signal only if your dog doesn\u2019t play dead on the verbal\u2014—->dog plays dead\u2014–>mark and treat<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your dog played dead on verbal cue before the 5 seconds then work just on verbal cue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There can be reasons why you might struggle in teaching a dog to play dead, let\u2019s troubleshoot and find out why that might be, and how to help them, so you can wow all of your friends\u2026….<\/p>\n\n\n\n It will be much more comfortable to teach your dog to play dead on a non-slip soft surface, yoga mats and vet bed material are great for training on if you have hard floors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the steps above to teach your dog to play dead will move you through the training systematically, so you and your dog don\u2019t get frustrated and make learning slow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s worth looking at your dog when they lie down, they will often naturally relax and shift with their weight to one side. Work with this, not against! <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re head on to your dog and you see the left hip (as you\u2019re looking at them – their right hip!) tuck under a little use the treat on their nose to go over their right shoulder (as you\u2019re looking, again, to the dog it\u2019s their left shoulder), or vice versa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep your treat hand quite low so your dog doesn\u2019t go up into a sit, or a swivel to get at it. We want them following our hand, so we need to make sure we\u2019re luring where we want them to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a saying, \u2018The dog decides what\u2019s reinforcing\u2019 and it\u2019s true. Use treats your dog really likes to teach this trick.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look at where you\u2019re training, is it somewhere calm for them that they know, or is it a busy place? Dogs learn best without stress and in low-distraction environments, generally without other dogs around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have we ever thought about how our dog is feeling that day? Check their mood out before you train, do they seem a bit quiet? There will also be sensitive periods <\/a>in your pup\u2019s life where they\u2019ll be less inclined to train. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have a dog who is reluctant to play dead\/roll on their hip in a certain direction, or just not keen to be on the floor, check for other signs they might be in pain through their body language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you find your answer to why your dog might not want to learn the play dead trick? We hope so! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Teaching your dog to play dead is obviously a great, fun party trick, and can be taught quite quickly if you follow our step- by- step guide above. Removing the food lure from the play dead trick and turning it into a hand signal, then adding a verbal cue can take a little while longer, but if you do it methodically, your dog is smart enough to get it, we promise! <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re up for learning some more tricks, how about teaching a dog to roll over<\/a>? It\u2019s similar to how to teach a dog to play dead, but instead, they\u2019ll do a roly poly! If recall is more of a pressing concern, then how to teach a puppy to come<\/a> will be more up your street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have a full program of puppy life skills inside the Zigzag app<\/a>. Not only do we have some fun tricks, but we also lay out a great foundation of essential behaviors you will want your puppy to learn, like how to teach your puppy to cope being alone, where to go to the toilet, and how to sleep through the night, as well as socialization lessons. We understand that puppy raising is rarely ever plain sailing. That\u2019s why we have our team of dedicated puppy coaches<\/a> ready to answer all of your questions along the way. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"puppy](\"https:\/\/zigzag.dog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/jesse-schoff-i2DefZ6PCN0-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
What is the \u2018playing dead\u2019 dog trick?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to teach a dog to play dead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Step 1 – Gather your gear<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Step 2 – Lure your dog into a down<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 3 – Lure them to weight shift <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Step 4 – Practice over a few days<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 5 – Bring your hand to the floor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 6 – Practice again and remove the treat<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Step 7 – Add a verbal cue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"pug](\"https:\/\/zigzag.dog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mink-mingle-UAsFSsMDpa0-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
Why my dog doesn\u2019t want to play dead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re trying to teach play dead on a hard surface<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re making it too hard too quickly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re trying to weight shift the wrong way <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Treat placement is going too high and your dog stands or gets up<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re using the wrong treats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019re training in the wrong environment.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your dog is having an off day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your dog is in pain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/zigzag.dog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/ana-martin-ajByNgzbklo-unsplash-1024x667.jpg\")