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Tricks to Teach Your Dog at Home: Crawl

Tricks to Teach Your Dog at Home: Crawl

Adding to your dog’s arsenal of learned behaviors is a way to stretch their mental muscles and continue to establish the bond you have with your pet. Plus, sometimes it’s just fun to watch your dog learn a cool new trick and then show it off!

While training is a lifelong effort, it’s also key that your dog has established foundational cues for their safety. Foundational cues can also be used to build more advanced tricks. In teaching “crawl”, your dog should already have learned to perform “down” to be successful.

How to teach your dog to crawl

Note: This trick can be uncomfortable or difficult for dogs with leg or joint issues. If your dog consistently refuses to do this trick, they may be experiencing discomfort and you should schedule a checkup with their veterinarian.

Method 1: Shape the crawl behavior

  1. Cue your dog to lie down.
  2. Place your hand (without a treat) low to the ground directly in front of your dog.
  3. Create a visual cue by opening your hand so your palm is up and your fingers and thumb are together and pointing at your dog. Close your hand into a fist, then repeat the motion, indicating movement toward you.
  4. Verbally mark and use your free hand to reward any forward stretching of the neck or inching forward of their body.
  5. Move your cueing hand farther and farther away and reward any forward movement that occurs as your dog’s body remains in a down position.
  6. If your dog stands, remove your hand and ignore their action. Reset your dog in down position and start over while rewarding even smaller movements.
  7. As your dog progresses, your hand movement will become the visual cue and should be accompanied with the verbal cue “crawl.”

Method 2: Capture the crawl behavior

  1. With your dog in the down position, hold a high-value treat on the floor in front of your dog.
  2. Mark and reward any forward stretch toward the treat hand.
  3. Once your dog is consistently reaching for the treat hand, slowly move your treat hand along the floor away from your dog.
  4. Mark and reward any forward stretching. Continue to perform this action and reward your dog as they make forward motion with their body while down.
  5. If your dog gets up from the down position, remove your treat hand, ignore their misstep and reset them in down.
  6. Repeat until your dog crawls forward freely without popping up.
  7. Add the verbal cue “crawl.”

Method 3: Luring the crawl behavior

  1. Begin with your dog in the down position.
  2. Place a bridge (your arm or leg) directly in front of your dog, slightly higher than their shoulders.
  3. Hold a treat in the hand opposite your  bridge and your  dog(i.e. if your dog is on your left, hold the treat in your right hand).
  4. Reach under the bridge and let your  dog sniff the treat.
  5. Slowly bring the treat under the bridge, luring your dog to follow.
  6. Mark and reward any forward movement from the down position, including simply stretching their neck out and moving their head under the bridge.
  7. Repeat steps 1-6, marking and rewarding further movement  under the bridge.
  8. Continue repeating steps until your dog crawls completely under the bridge, then reward them with the treat.
  9. Move the bridge farther and farther away from your dog, repeating your lure.
  10. If your dog gets up from the down position, remove the lure, reset them in down and start over at step 1.
  11. Once your dog is crawling a few feet before the bridge, begin removing the bridge during practice.
  12. Include the verbal cue crawl.

Discovering which training method above is right for your dog will require some trial and error.

  1. Shaping is often used to teach complex cues and works well to teach dogs behaviors they do not normally offer spontaneously
  2. Capturing is when you wait for your dog to perform a desired behavior without giving any type of prompt, then use a reward to reinforce and encourage a repeat of the behavior. In this case, we sparked the behavior by offering a lure.
  3. Luring uses a prompt (like a treat or toy) to guide your dog into performing a specific behavior. Your dog’s nose, and subsequently their body, will follow the prompt, and the behavior is performed.

Practicing training cues and tricks like crawl is a great way to keep your dog mentally stimulated and give you both a goal to strive for together. If you’re looking for another cool trick to teach your pet, give push-ups or teaching your dog to shake a try!

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