A spin built from quarter turns, in both directions

How to teach a dog to spin starts with a treat held at nose height and moved in a slow, flat circle beside your dog. Pay a quarter turn first, then a half, then the whole circle. Once the full turn follows your hand, shrink the motion into a small finger circle and add the word.

Which way should your dog spin first?

Watch which way your dog already turns its head when you hold a piece off to one side, and start in that direction. The first side is the easy side, and starting there gives you quick payments while you learn the hand path.

The second direction is a separate trick with a separate word. Many handlers choose "spin" for one and "twist" for the other. Teach the second one only after the first is smooth, and expect it to start from quarter turns again, since the new side gets the same patient start.

Spin belongs with the follow-the-hand tricks, so begin once your dog's nose follows a lure readily.

How do you break a spin into quarter turns?

Slice the circle into pieces and pay each one on the way. Hold the piece at nose height, close to the body, and move it slowly around.

1. A quarter turn: the nose follows until your dog faces the side. Pay.
2. A half turn: the nose follows until your dog faces away from where it started. Pay.
3. Three quarters: the nose follows until the rear has swung around. Pay.
4. The full circle: the nose finishes where it began. Pay, and let your dog reset.

Pay at each stopping point at nose height, close to the body. A lure that climbs can turn the spin into a sit or a hop: the nose goes up after the piece, and the rear tends to drop. Keep the hand flat and low.

Do not skip a stage because the last one went well. If a stage wobbles, drop back to the one before and pay it once or twice. Then go forward again.

How do you fade the treat out of your hand?

A lure hand holds food, and a signal hand does not. The change from one to the other happens in a few small steps.

First, the lure hand makes the full circle with a piece in it. Next, the same motion with an empty hand, while the pay comes out of a belt pouch. Then the circle gets smaller, a hand circle at chest height instead of the sweep at nose height. Last, a single finger draws a small loop in the air, and the circle is a signal instead of a lure.

Add the word before the hand starts, so the word predicts the motion. Once the spin is easy, pay less often, and the guide to phasing out training treats covers how to space the payments out.

This is also the right moment to stop letting the hand lead. If your dog watches the finger and then turns, the lure has become a signal. If your dog waits for the food, go back one step.

Why does a spin turn into a sit or a hop?

Three causes cover most of it, and each has its own fix.

The hand rose. The nose followed it up, and a rising nose can fold into a sit. Keep the hand at nose height all the way around.

The hand moved too fast. Your dog hopped to catch up. Slow the circle until each foot has time to step.

The hand swung too wide. The nose reached, and the dog stepped sideways. Keep the circle tight to the body and let your dog walk it.

A crumb of the cheddar bites is all the lure hand needs. They are a treat, as our listing puts it, and not a complete diet.