How to Teach a Dog to Play Dead on Command

Do you enjoy teaching your dog new tricks? Some games like fake death can take longer to teach than others, but luckily aside from the dog, all you need for this is your fingers, a clicker, and a button. some small rewards.

Table of Contents

Teach the dog to lie down on command

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Teach the command “to lie down” before teaching to fake death. The fake death game involves lying down. Before learning this trick, your dog needs to get used to the lie down command. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Choose a comfortable place to train your dog. Ideally, the place should be quiet so your dog won’t be easily distracted. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Command the dog to sit. If your dog doesn’t know this command yet, teach him by holding the treat and holding it up. When the dog looks up at the treat, push the dog’s bottom with your hand until it sits down, while saying “sit” in a firm voice. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Once the dog is seated, bring the treat down to the dog instead of letting him jump up to get it. Strictly say “no” if it jumps. ^{[4] X Research Sources}
Practice this command several times a day until your dog learns to sit without you pushing his bottom down. Each workout session should last about 10-15 minutes. ^{[5] X Research Sources}
Continue to give your dog a reward as an incentive each time he listens to the command to sit.

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Stand in front of the dog when telling him to sit. Hold the treat in front of the dog’s nose but do not feed it. Slowly lower the treat to the ground while still holding it in front of the dog’s nose. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Shout “lying” when moving the treat to the ground so your dog associates the word “lying” with the act of lying down. ^{[7] X Research Sources}
The dog must lie down when you lower the treat to the ground. ^{[8] X Research Sources}
If the dog gets up, you need to continue training until it lies down each time you put the treat on the ground. ^{[9] X Research Source}
Reward the dog when it lies down without getting up right away. ^{[10] X Research Source}

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Instruct the dog to lie down without a reward. Hold your hand in front of the dog’s nose and pretend you’re holding the treat. ^{[11] X Research Source}

Move your hand as if you were holding a reward to lure it down. ^{[12] X Research Source}
As above, reward your dog when he lies down completely without getting up right away. ^{[13] X Research Source}

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Continue training until your dog learns to lie down on command. You need to train your dog to do this command several times a day, at least for a few days. ^{[14] X Research Source}

Each training session should last about 10-15 minutes.
If you want to challenge the dog, you can gradually reduce the visual cues until it responds to the command “lay”. ^{[15] X Research Source}

Teach your dog to stay still

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Teach your dog to stay still before teaching to fake death. If your dog doesn’t know how to stay still, it will be difficult for you to teach him to fake his death. Make sure your dog is comfortable holding in a certain position before you teach him this trick. ^{[16] X Research Source}

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Choose a comfortable place to train your dog. Places like a dog bed or a comfortable rug are good options. You can also choose an outdoor lawn for dog training. ^{[17] X Trusted Source American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Go to source}

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Command the dog to do the pose you want. Teaching your dog to stay still in a “sitting” or “standing” position will help prepare it for death. ^{[18] X Research Sources}

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Stand in front of the dog for 1-2 seconds. If it starts reaching you before this time expires, you must start over. When your dog can hold still for 1-2 seconds, reward him. ^{[19] X Research Source}

After receiving the reward, the dog is allowed to come towards you because it has successfully executed the hold command.

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Increase the amount of time in front of the dog. Stand a little longer each time until it can stay in place for at least 10 seconds. ^{[20] X Research Source}

Each increment of 1-2 seconds will help your dog stay still longer.
Reward your dog every time he stays still for a few more seconds.

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Use voice commands and visual cues. Once your dog is in the position you want him to stay in, say “still” and raise your hand as a stop signal. ^{[21] X Research Source}

It may take your dog a few days to associate these commands with holding still, so you should be patient with him.
Reward the dog every time it successfully performs and obeys commands.

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Increase the distance between you and the dog. While you can train your dog to stay still when it can’t see you, ^{[22] X Research Source} it does however need to see you when you teach it to fake death.

You can stand further away but still let the dog see you, such as to the left or right of him.

Teach dogs to fake death

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Command the dog to lie down while sitting or standing. Your dog may prefer lying on one side over the other, so you need to be aware of which side he prefers to lie on. ^{[23] X Research Sources}

Command the dog to sit or stand still, then command him to lie down.
When practicing this game, remember to always have the dog lie on its side on the floor; perhaps it prefers to do so.

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Instruct the dog to lie down on his side. Do not use voice commands for this movement; you need to use hands, rewards, and clickers. Remember that you may have to calm your dog when teaching him to do this step, so you need to be patient when teaching him how to follow your instructions.

You can get your dog to lie on his side by gently pushing him down with both hands. Once the dog is lying down, reward him with incentives (eg, compliments, belly rubs, rewards). ^{[24] X Research Source}
You can also use food to get your dog to lie down. Hold the treat in front of the dog’s nose. Then, move the reward to its shoulder (left shoulder if it’s on its right side, and right shoulder if it’s on its left side). When the dog turns its head to get the treat, it will slowly have to lie down on its side. Use clickers and other incentives every time your dog lies down to let him know he did the right thing. ^{[25] X Research Sources}

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Train your dog to lie down from a sitting or standing position. The smoother the transition from one position to another, the closer your dog is to learning the game of playing dead.

Use a clicker and reward your dog every time he moves from a standing or sitting position to a lying position, as well as when he moves from a normal lying position to a side position. ^{[26] X Research Sources}

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Voice commands to teach the dog to fake death. You’ll know your dog is ready to follow commands if it automatically turns on its side when it sees a reward or when you use food to lure it in. ^{[27] X Research Source}

You can use any voice command you like. The most commonly used voice command in this game is “Pang!”.
Be consistent in the use of voice commands. You probably don’t want to confuse your dog by using different voice commands for the same request. ^{[28] X Research Sources}

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Use voice commands more often than using food to lure. At this stage, your goal should be to teach your dog to fake death as a response to verbal commands rather than to lure him with food. ^{[29] X Research Sources}

It may take your dog a while to learn to respond without food lures, so be patient with him.

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Use visual signal (signal by hand). The common visual cue in this game is the shape of a gun. Your dog will not immediately understand this visual cue, so you should include the voice command you chose for this game. ^{[30] X Research Source}

There are several ways to make a gun sign: thumb with index finger of one hand, thumb with index and middle fingers of one hand, or thumb with index fingers of two hands pressed together. With the final choice, the remaining fingers must be intertwined.
Output visual cues at the same time shouting voice commands. ^{[31] X Research Source}
Or alternatively, you can use visual cues after shouting commands. If you want to try this, give a visual cue before the dog follows your commands. If your dog responds to voice commands before you can use visual cues and continues to do so after several attempts, you can stop using visual cues or give cues at the same time as voice commands. ^{[32] X Research Source}
Voice commands and visual cues at the same time until your dog shows he can fake death on both commands at the same time.

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Use only video signals. Finally, you may want to teach your dog to fake death with just visual cues. Regardless of what the signal means, your dog may still need more time to respond without verbal commands or food lures. ^{[33] X Research Sources}

Gradually use only visual cues while reducing voice commands and other commands.
Reward your dog every time he plays a game that requires only visual cues.

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Practice this in many different locations. Just because your dog knows how to fake death in one location doesn’t mean it can automatically do it in other locations or situations. Practicing this in different places or in front of different people will help your dog become more proficient. ^{[34] X Research Source}

Different locations might include different rooms in the house, a dog park, or in front of a crowd. ^{[35] X Research Source}

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Be patient with the dog until he masters the game. Your dog can learn in a few days or it can take up to several weeks. No matter how fast or slow you learn, reward it generously for its progress. ^{[36] X Research Source}

Advice

Set aside 5-15 minutes a day to exercise. The fake death game is a more difficult task than the others, so you need to practice with your dog at least a few minutes a day until he learns the steps. ^{[37] X Research Source}
This game requires the dog to switch positions and respond to commands, so you should only teach one new step at a time. ^{[38] X Research Source}
Do not scold the dog. This action not only makes the dog angry and mad at you, but also discourages him from wanting to study anymore.
Make sure your dog enjoys this game. If you find it distracting, frustrating, or depressing, give it a break or postpone it to the next day.
The best way to let your dog know that he did something wrong is to withhold the reward. You should remember to help and teach him how to do it right if he makes a mistake.

Warning

Avoid rewarding your dog with treats that are toxic to him, such as black chocpate. If you’re not sure about a dog reward, you can go to a pet store and ask about a dog safe treat.
Do not teach your dog to play dead if your dog has arthritis or other joint problems. It will be very difficult and painful to move from one position to another if the joints are painful. ^{[39] X Research Sources}

Steps

Teach the dog to lie down on command

Teach your dog to stay still

Teach dogs to fake death

Advice

Warning

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