The shaking paw is a classical and fun trick, and easy to teach. In this article, we will learn about how to teach a dog to shake paws. You think that you force your dog to shake, not they will easily shake by simple training.
In simple words, in training, you need commands, treats, and rewards. Introduce the paw, then practice on it. So let’s start to explore the steps for teaching.
10 Steps How to Teach a Dog to Shake Paws
Teaching your dog to shake at play or exercise time, when he is sharp, focused, and alert. Here is step by step guide to teach a dog to shake easy:
1- Sit Your Dog:
If your dog doesn’t know the sit command then first teach him a basic command. Sitting is very necessary for shaking hands. Firstly, have a sit your dog. Sitting shows discipline in dogs.
2- Introduce shake
When the dog sits, hold your hand in front of the dog and do not give any commands. The dog experience and explores your hand, such as digging, sniffing, or licking your hand. When he put a paw on your hand, then open your hand and give treat him. In this way, he introduces a shake.
3- Set Your Hand
Set your hand in front parallel to the dog’s chest when they sitting. This can make easy your training.
4- Put the treat in Close hand
Take a treat and put it into your closed fist. Hold this fist in front of the dog’s chest, they can smell the treat but they can’t see it. Motivate your dog to get the treat with the cue. He will try to open your hand with his paw.
If you hold your treat fist in front of the dog’s nose he smells it and doesn’t use his paw. He uses his mouth to explore it, which is wrong you teach him to shake his paw, not his mouth. So remember step 2.
5- Open your hand
When your dog touches his paw to your hand then suddenly open the hand. If he touches it from his mouth or other body parts then don’t open your hand. So when putting your paw on your fist, open your treat fist, give him the treat enclosed in your fist, and praise him.
6- Use the Command
When your dog successfully first time did this, then in the next iteration add the command. During the put, a paw on your hand, say to him “Shake Hand”.
7- Repeat All
Practice these above steps for 10 mint repeatedly. So when he would understand this process, then you go to the next step.
8- Use another hand
When the dog learns the above steps, then use another hand. Put a treat in a closed fist and hold another hand in the open position in front of your dog practicing hand. Give him the command “Shake Hands”. When he put his paw on your open hand, give him a treat and appreciate your dog. Repeat this step 15 times.
9- Eliminate the Treat
If your dog learns step 7, then slowly remove the treat or give the treat in low quantity. I give you a simple estimate of the treat. Repeat the recent above step for seven-time then give one treat, then again repeat this and give a treat after seven iterations.
Slowly, increase the iteration and decrease the treat. At one time will occur when you would remove the treat permanently.
10- Switch Hand
Not only use one hand, you need to use both hands to shake the paw. Firstly teach your dog to shake one hand when they learn this effectively then switch on other hand. These all steps are applied on one hand and then apply on other hand and practiced with your dog on these steps. If your dog master on the right hand, it could easily master on the left hand.
Some Problems and Tips
- Most of the time, the dog does not shake his hand after you are hardworking to teach. This problem can occur when he is not hungry. Teach your dog when he is hungry and needs food. So he learns quickly because of the lure of treats.
- If your dog feels bored then leave him free for some time, don’t force him for training. When his mind will fresh then teaching him. No need to physically manipulate your dog to shake his paw.
- Start training slowly, this trick did not take much time if you properly follow the above steps. Give only 20 mint daily sessions. It will take one week for them to learn how to shake paws.
Summary
In the end, summarize all content about how to teach a dog to shake paws. Firstly stay your dog in one place where no distractions. Introduce shake, then set your hand in front of a dog, put a treat in a fist, and start training with one hand. Every new thing takes time, but this is a fantastic skill and your dog will learn this in 1 week.
My personal recommendation is to start slowly. When your dog should not learn then don’t force them for training. If you train him easily and effectively, they will use this skill in his full life. So train carefully.
Hope you enjoy and learn from this article. If this article adds value to your pup’s life then comment below. So we should try to educate more effective ways of learning.
