I have a Shepard Lab Collie cross She is one of the smartest dogs I have ever had. She learns tricks what seems to me so easily. She is very attentive, and proud to please me.

Some of the tricks we have worked on are some of the simpler ones, Stay, down, she poses, sit pretty, speak and clean your face. She loves ball, when there is one around, that's all she can thing about. It drives her crazy!

I have been trying latley to teach her play dead. I want the trick so I can eventually cay "bang" and she will lay on her side like she's "dead"..

What I have started with is I will say down followed with "Bang" point down and give her a treat..
I slowly relax her to her side, say "bang" again and give her another..

So How do I go from here? Im at a stop. I want her to do it on her own.. Without me having to push her on her side...

Those types of tricks are actually pretty tricky to teach.

You need to basically re-train the down command. Make the command clear that "Bang" means on the side.

These types of tricks take consistancy and lots of practice. But don't confuse your dog and don't allow yourself to get frustrated. The min. you feel frustrated, or the dog is starting to get frustrated, leave on a good note.

The way you're teaching this command is pretty much how you do it. I would first say the "down" command to have the dog drop to the ground... then follow with the "bang" command to teach the dog to roll to its side. That way you're not teaching your dog that "bang" means to lay down AND to do a trick. Keep the two commands separate and try your hardest to go some "down" command lessons between teaching the pup to do the "bang" trick.

Hope that made sense... But keep it up! She'll get it! Those tricks, like I said, are a bit more complicated.

Thanks so much! Yeah I try not to get frustrated, If she try's with me.. I'm a happy girl.. If she doesn't get it.. Oh well. We made an effort!

Thanks again!