Spin!

You can teach your dog to spin in a circle! Choose one direction and always go that direction :) (You can teach the other direction later if you want.)

• Have several treats in your hand, and use it to guide them in a circle. Feed for little steps in the right direction.You might use 3-4 treats for one whole spin at first.

• To start, your hand should be level with where you want your dog's nose. (Otherwise they're more likely to sit.) See the photo for a nice illustration of this!

• Once your dog is doing well, wean them down to getting a reward just at the end of the spin! Try to reward in front of your body.

• Now you can add a word and hand signal! (So they don’t need food in your hand to do it.)

• Say, “Spin!” and then do your normal hand movement, but without treats in your hand. (Make sure you say the word before you do the hand signal.)

• Start the spin with your hand as the lure, and gradually pull it away earlier and earlier in the spin.

• Once you can just do the tiniest signal, you can start to lift your hand away from your dog's nose level and just do a little wrist flick in that direction to get them to spin!

Running into challenges? Let your trainer know, we're here to help!