Best Way to Train Your Dog to Turn Around

If you bathe your dog at home, in the bathtub, you’ll want to teach “Turn around.” In the middle of the bath, when you are ready to do his other side, simply pat the far end of the tub, saying “Turn around.” If this doesn’t get your dog to turn and look, or turn around, gently, as you repeat the command, lead him around and praise him as you do.

We also use “Get in” for the even larger problem of getting a big dog into the tub. Dexter doesn’t love a bath, but he will jump into the tub on command. How else would I be able to keep the white white?

We don’t fill the tub to bathe a dog. We tell the dog to “Get in” to a dry tub, wet him with a spray, soap him nicely, and rinse him off. This means the tub looks the same on bath days and all other days. Empty.

Teach “Get in” by saying it as you toss in a favorite toy. Your dog will jump into the tub, grab his toy and immediately jump out. Praise like crazy. This is your foundation work. Practice while you brush your teeth, unless you’re the only person in the United States whose dog doesn’t follow you to the bathroom.

Of course, even with an empty tub, your dog will know when it’s bath day, the little psychic. Here’s where being alpha makes the command work. Get your dog. Close the bathroom door. Tap the tub. Seriously tell your dog “Get in.” Now you’re in business. A lit­tle song wouldn’t hurt, would it? My dog loves his bath song. He’s the only one I know who doesn’t hold his ears when I sing.

You won’t need “Get out.” I never met a dog who stayed in the tub after being told “Okay.”