A crowd-pleasing trick that builds on a solid down, best taught with patience since it asks your dog to be briefly vulnerable on their back.
Roll over builds directly on down, so it's worth waiting until your dog lies down easily and calmly before starting this one. Trying to teach it before down is solid usually leads to frustration for both of you.
From a down, hold a treat at your dog's nose and move it slowly toward their shoulder blade, encouraging their head to turn and their weight to shift onto one hip. Many dogs will flop onto their side on their own at this point — mark and treat that as real progress, even before a full roll.
From lying on their side, continue the lure up and over their head toward the opposite shoulder, encouraging them to roll onto their back and continue to the other side. Go slowly and stop if your dog seems uncomfortable rather than pushing through.
Being on their back is a vulnerable position for a lot of dogs, more so than sit or down. A dog who resists, freezes, or seems tense partway through is telling you something — it's fine to end the session there and try again another day with smaller steps.
Once the full roll happens reliably with the lure, add "roll over" just before you start the motion. As with other tricks, the word needs to be paired consistently before it means anything on its own.
This is usually the slowest trick to fade the lure on, since the motion is more complex than a sit or spin. Reward generously through the whole process, and don't rush moving to an empty hand — a dog who's confident with the lure will get there faster than one pushed ahead of schedule.
Roll over often takes noticeably longer than other tricks, and that's normal — it's physically and emotionally more involved than most. A dog who's slow to pick this one up isn't behind, they're just working through something genuinely harder.