Teaching your dog to lay on their side

Teaching your dog to lay on their side is useful for home health care like checking their tummy, legs and paws for lumps and bumps. I started with a clicker and a few treats and had to lure him into position with food the first few times before progressing to add distractions.

STEP 1 - lure the dog from a down into laying on their side by slow moving a treat up over their shoulder and marking when they are in the right position by saying 'lay' and clicking your clicker (following every time with a treat)

​STEP 2 - ask for the 'lay' and say good or click as soon as they are in position

STEP 3 - build duration by delaying the click and treat by a second or two once they are in position

STEP 4 - add in distractions such as stroking them or handling their paws, and then increasing the distractions to include equipment such as clippers or a brush