How do I teach a dog to crawl under a bar?

Rest a broom low across two books, or use your legs as a bridge: that 'ceiling' helps him understand the flat posture far better than instructions, then it comes away as soon as he has got it. If the obstacle worries him, swap the object or do without it: you never force it.

My dog has arthritis or dysplasia, can he learn the crawl?

Better not: the crawl loads the elbows and hips very directly. With a known dysplasia or arthritis, skip this trick or ask your vet's opinion first. Go for a fine, gentle trick instead, like crossing the paws or touching a target.

From what age can a puppy learn to crawl?

A slow crawl on a soft surface stays gentle, but in very short sequences and without excitement during growth. Before maturity, favour simple floor tricks, and at the slightest doubt about the joints, talk it over with your vet.

Do I need a clicker to teach the crawl?

No. A short marker word ('yes!') said right after the correct movement, then followed by a treat, does the job perfectly. Mark the first flat step, pay right down low, and keep the distances short.

Crawl

Teaching your dog tricksPart of · Teaching your dog tricks

Crawl

Q: My dog stands up instead of crawling, what should I do?

Your hand is almost always too high or too fast. Bring the lure down flat to the floor , slow the movement and shorten the distance: mark a single flat step. Rear in the air, no reward, and you go back to shorter.

Q: Is crawling good for building up my dog's shoulders?

It is gentle conditioning for the front end, as long as you keep it measured: the whole front drags the body along, so a few steps are enough. Two or three short sequences, on a soft surface, not sets and not hard ground.

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For the crawl, start from a down: hold the treat against your dog's nose and sweep your hand along the floor, drawing it slowly towards you, elbows and belly on the ground. If they stand up, your hand has drifted too high: bring it back down. On the first flat step, say “yes!”, the little word that announces the treat, then reward right down on the floor.

A trick that comes down to a few centimetres

Crawling takes real muscular effort: the whole front end pulls the body along, elbows bent, with no push from the back end. A few steps are plenty, no need to string them together. And a single centimetre between your hand and the floor is enough to make your dog stand up: that is never their fault, it is information about your hand, to be fixed straight away.

Before you start, get the basics together:

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The crawl in five stages

One difficulty at a time, and you reward down on the floor at every success. One complete crawl is a sequence; a few sequences make a session. When your dog gets it right three or four times in a row, move up to the next stage; if they tire or fail several times running, stop the session for today.

Teach the flat posture with a low bridge (optional)

To help them feel that they have to stay flat, you can set up a small low bridge: a broom handle resting on two piles of books, barely higher than their back when they are lying down. Put them in a down just in front of it, kneel or sit on the floor facing them, and slide a treat right along the ground under the bridge, towards the other side: to follow it without bumping into anything, they stay flat. Mark with a “yes”, your marker word, the moment they pass completely under the bridge while flat, then reward on the floor on the other side. That marker word is a short word, always the same one, said at exactly the right moment and immediately followed by the treat. The bridge is only a helper: take it away as soon as they crawl flat without it.

Get a single crawled step

Put your dog in a down, and kneel or sit on the floor facing them so you can keep your hand right down low. Hold the treat against their nose, then sweep the floor as you draw it slowly towards you, hand always skimming the ground. Move back only the tiniest amount: just enough to make one front paw come forward. Mark that first step with a “yes” as soon as an elbow moves forward and the body stays flat, and reward on the floor, right against their nose. If they do not move at all, or if they get up to leave, it is too hard all at once: bring the treat back right against their nose, go back to the low bridge, and make the sequences shorter still.

Add distance, in tiny stages

Move on to two steps, then four, then a full body length, adding only a little at each stage you get right. If their bottom comes up, do not reward: go back to the previous distance. If they stand right up, your hand has gone too high or too fast again: bring it back down to the floor, slow down, and shorten the distance.

Empty your hand, then add the word

As soon as they crawl two or three times in a row without hesitating with the treat, make the same low sweeping movement but with an empty hand: the treat moves to your other hand, which rewards on the floor at the right moment. Just before you move the empty hand, say the word “crawl” once. Take the treat out of your guiding hand at that point: keeping it in that hand permanently is a common mistake, whatever the trick.

A little more distance, with an empty hand

Still on a soft surface, carry on in small stages of distance. Nothing obliges you to aim far: a few clean body lengths are worth far more than a rushed trip across the living room.

The low, almost lying position looks like the one an uneasy dog adopts all on their own to make themselves small. A dog who lacks confidence may experience a long crawl as a retreat rather than a game: with them, keep the sequences very short and well rewarded, or move on to another trick.

Where the crawl goes wrong

Rewarding a “wheelbarrow” crawl, bottom in the air: it locks the posture in. As soon as the bottom comes up, shorten the distance.
Aiming for too much distance at once: one perfect step is worth more than three sloppy metres.
Forcing the dog under the bridge, or under anything that worries them: the bridge is a helper, never a test. At the slightest sign of fear, change the object or do without it.
Working on tiles, concrete or gravel: elbows and chest rub with every step, and it quickly becomes painful.
Stringing repetitions together: pulling with the front legs is tiring, two or three short sequences are enough.
Pressing down on the back or the hindquarters to keep them on the ground: this trick is built with the treat and with your “yes!” said at the right moment, never with hands forcing the posture.

AVSAB — Position Statement on Humane Dog Training (2021)

To go further

guideTeaching "stand" and position transitionsStand, sit and down transitions: the solid base to have before you start on the crawl.Read the guide guideTeaching "down"A reliable, relaxed down, the essential starting point for the crawl.Read the guide guideRoll over (the full roll)The other great floor trick, to be broken into small steps just like the crawl.Read the guide guideThe bowAn active stretch, ideal for warming your dog up before a floor trick like the crawl.Read the guide guideThe foundations: teaching a trick with rewardsThe foundations of the reward-based method, with no equipment at all, for teaching the crawl (and every other trick) without ever forcing anything.Read the guide guidePaws up on a prop: up and offAnother trick using a prop, to vary the surfaces once the crawl is well established.Read the guide

Common questions

My dog stands up instead of crawling, what should I do?

Your hand is almost certainly too high or too fast. Bring the treat back down to the floor, slow the movement and shorten the distance: mark just one step, nice and flat. As soon as the bottom comes up, do not reward, and start again shorter.

How do you teach a dog to crawl under a bar?

Build a small low bridge: a broom handle resting on two piles of books, barely higher than their back when they are lying down. That low passage teaches them to stay flat far better than words do, and you take it away as soon as they crawl flat without it. If the obstacle worries them, change the object or do without it: you never force them to go underneath.

Is crawling good for building up my dog's shoulders?

Crawling works the front end above all, but it is first and foremost pulling work: a few steps are plenty, no need to run through set after set. Two or three short sequences, on a soft surface, never on a hard one.

My dog has osteoarthritis or dysplasia, can they learn the crawl?

Probably not: the crawl loads the elbows and hips in particular. With known dysplasia or osteoarthritis, avoid this trick, or ask your vet first. A gentler trick, like crossing the paws or a “touch” (putting their nose on your hand), is still a good option.

From what age can a puppy learn the crawl?

Better to wait until they have finished growing, which happens later in large breeds: only your vet can confirm it, with an X-ray if needed. Before that, pulling on elbows that are still forming is not the gentlest thing there is. In the meantime, favour simpler floor tricks.

Do you need a clicker to teach the crawl?

No. A short marker word like “yes!”, said just after the right movement and then followed by a treat, does exactly the same job. Mark the first flat step, reward right down on the floor, and keep the distances short.

Updated on July 11, 2026Sources

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