Jack Russell performs a very convincing Play Dead trick and is rewarded handsomely.

6 year old Manny performs one of his best tricks, play dead. The method I used to train him for this trick is as follows. First, use a treat that the dog absolutely loves. In this case I used a bully stick which as far as I can guess, is like doggy crack. He loves loves loves those things. Next, I get him to beg (probably the first trick he learned as a wee pup) and I get him to stay in that pose by saying wait, wait, wait (and he will wait because I am holding the bully stick in my hand). Once that has been established and he sits patiently, it is time to raise your ‘gun’ hand while he is patiently waiting. Have the treat in the “gun” hand. Now comes the part which for us came really easily. I would say ‘bang’ or make a gun shooting sound and then immediately go over to him and push him over on his side and make him stay in that new pose. Do it enough times so that he makes the connection between the gun sound and his laying down. Reward him too and say good boy/girl. Praise in an enthusiastic voice really goes a long way and lets the dog know they are doing the correct action. Once he has that connection established, I stopped going over to him and pushing him over. He started doing it on his own. The last bit was getting him to stay down once he is “dead”. I just used the stay command once he was down and didn’t reward him until a little time had passed. All in all, not too hard to get him to learn this one. Wish I had more time, he is a very smart dog and loves learning.