How to Teach a Dog to Play Dead in 10 Easy Steps

‘Playing dead’ is a classic dog trick that you will often see in films and TV. 

While it is a fun thing to teach your pup to amuse your friends and show them what a clever dog you have, it is often helpful to have a dog who will lie on their side without you having to push or wrestle them there. This can be useful for vet’s visits and grooming.

On top of the fun and the practical reasons for teaching your dog to ‘play dead’ - and other cool tricks to teach your dog - everything you teach your dog using reward-based training methods, increases the trust and the communication between you which in turn will strengthen your relationship. 

So, do you want to learn how to teach your dog to play dead? Then, check out our easy step-by-step guide below and have fun! 

What You'll Need to Teach 'Play Dead' 

• A quiet space indoors, with no distractions such as other people or dogs, is always important when training your dog.
• Treats – Choose something your dog loves - ideally smelly - that they will want to work for. Treats should be tiny and healthy - as you’ll be using a lot of them.
• A carpeted floor or if this isn’t possible a thick rug or a mat that won’t wrinkle up or slide. This is important for the ‘play dead’ trick as your dog will be lying down and rolling on their side which can hurt their joints if it is on a hard floor. Also, a hard floor can be slippery which can make changing positions difficult and even scary if they think they might slip or lose their footing.
• Most importantly, a dog who can already lie down on cue when you ask, as this is the starting point for this trick. If they can’t do that yet, go back and master this exercise before moving on to ‘play dead’.

Step-by-Step: Teaching Your Dog to 'Play Dead' 

When it comes to teaching your dog how to play dead, we’ve got you covered. Follow these simple steps and you’ll have it mastered in no time.

2. From the down position, show them the treat, get them interested in it by holding it close to their nose, and then use the treat to lure their nose round towards the hip they are not lying on (the uppermost one) – keeping it close to their body. To follow the treat, they will have to roll over onto one hip. When they do that, use your reward word and give them the treat. That is the first step, as they have already shifted their weight – which will allow them to roll further onto their side.
3. Practise this until your dog will tip onto one hip as soon as you lure their nose round towards the other hip. Now you are ready for the next step. They might learn this in one session, or it might take several. Every dog is different.
4. From here, use the treat to lure their head down to the ground. This can take a bit of time and confidence so have patience – as it is a vulnerable position for a dog (and for more bony dogs, not always comfortable so for them you need a thick mat or carpet to make sure their joints are well protected). As soon as their head is on the ground, say your reward word quietly (‘good’, ‘OK’… whatever you use as a success marker) and give the treat.
5. Practise this until you and your dog can do it all in one seamless move.
6. Once you know your dog can do the movement (so go from lying down to the playing dead position), you can add the cue word you want to use. This could be ‘dead’ ‘bang’ ‘flop’… or whatever you choose). Use the word just as your comes into the ‘dead’ position so you link the action to the word.
7. The next step is to remove the treat from your hand. This needs to be done gradually and your eventual aim is for your dog to lie over on their side when you just use a hand signal (such as pointing to their hip in the way you did when you were using the treat. Always reward them when they do it.
8. Don’t put the cue word in until they can reliably go from lying normally to lying flat on their side. You need to link the cue word with the behaviour – so that in future you can just use that word. Or you might prefer to have a hand signal (such as pretending to shoot them!).
9. Once they really master this trick, you can move on to asking them to ‘play dead’ from a standing position too if you want to (which looks much more dramatic!).
10. All that’s left now is practise. Lots of it. You can also carry on teaching your dog how to play dead in other places where there will be more distractions (as long as there is a soft floor). Don’t do this around other dogs unless they are on lead, your dog knows them and is very confident.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Teaching 'Play Dead' 

1. Avoiding Distractions & Unsuitable Spaces 

Choosing the best spot to train in is as important as the training itself. A quiet carpeted room will offer your dog comfort and the best chance to focus on you without getting distracted.

2. Keeping Training Sessions Short 

Dogs have a fairly short attention span, and some get bored easily. Puppies especially can only concentrate for a few minutes at a time which is why you should always keep sessions short and rewards generous. A few minutes a day should be enough but as always, pay attention to your dog’s behaviour. Train when you are both enthusiastic and focussed. There is no joy in training when they’re tired, stressed, overwhelmed, or just uninterested as they are not going to learn or enjoy working with you – but always finish with a success (even if you have to do something they can do really easily instead that you can reward to finish on a high note). 

3. Choosing the Right Treats

Treats give us the perfect way to communicate to our dog that what they did was right - that is the very basis of reward-based training. Dogs repeat behaviours that have a positive outcome - and for most, that is a yummy, tasty treat. Choose treats carefully as you will be using a lot of these in your training - so they need to be tasty, ideally smelly, tiny (about half the size of your little fingernail), and healthy. You need something that your dog loves and look on as a reward and so will work for.
In contrast, some dogs are so food oriented that the ‘very best treats’ might get them so excited that they can’t concentrate on anything at all, especially for an exercise that needs a degree of calm, so if you want their focus, you might need to use the ‘second best treats’!

4. Timing 

You want your dog to have plenty of energy - and be interested in the treats - so schedule training sessions between meals, walks and naps - not immediately or soon after. 

5. Maintaining Patience 

All dogs are different and learn at different speeds. Some learn fast and will pick up a new trick in a couple of sessions whereas others might take a few weeks. Others will find certain behaviours or tricks easy but struggle with others. Don’t have any expectation on how long each trick will take to learn. Stay patient, enjoy the process and celebrate every small success - and with time, you and your dog will have got it mastered and had fun along the way. 

FAQs

Now that you know how to teach your dog to play dead, you can move on to other tricks. Learn how to teach your dog to give a paw next!