Introduction
Teaching your dog how to shake is a great way to reinforce good behavior and build trust. It's also adorable! Follow these steps to teach your dog how to shake hands with you in ten steps or less.
Have your dog sit in front of you.
First, you'll want to get your dog into a sitting position. This can be accomplished by holding a treat in front of his nose and pushing him down on the floor until he sits. Once he's seated, move the treat right up to his nose to keep his attention focused on it—and make sure there are no distractions around!
Once your dog is focused on the treat, lift it up slightly so that it's just out of reach of his mouth—this will encourage him to move forward and follow you with his head as well as his body in order to get closer to getting the food in its mouth
Take one treat in each hand and extend one of your hands out to the side of your dog's head.
One will be in your right hand, and one will be in your left. You’ll extend both hands outwards from your body, palm down, so that they're each on either side of the dog's head. Make sure that you are holding the treats with all four fingers (not just two) so that they don't fall out when you move them around.
Now that we have these crucial details straightened out, let's look at how to actually teach this trick!
When your dog lifts its paw to sniff or grab the treat, use a word or phrase like 'shake', 'paw' or 'high five'.
Now that you've selected a word, you can start teaching your dog to shake.
First, give the command and reward them for lifting their paw. Do this for one to two weeks until it becomes second-nature to them. This will help ensure that they associate the action with your cue phrase and not some other random word or noise.
Reward your dog by saying "yes" and giving it the other treat.
The final step is to reward your dog with a treat. After you've taught your dog how to shake, give it one last treat for doing so. If your dog does not know what a treat is yet, this might be confusing for them at first, but as long as you keep rewarding them in some way (even if it's just by saying "good boy" or something similar), they should become familiar with what rewards are soon enough!
Practice this step 10-20 times until your dog is lifting its paw reliably when you show it a treat.
Practice this step 10-20 times until your dog is lifting its paw reliably when you show it a treat.
Your dog should learn to lift its paw very quickly after being shown the treat, but don't expect it to get it on the first try. Be patient and take breaks if needed to reconnect with your pup; if all else fails, start working up from having the treat visible in one hand again.
When your dog has learned to lift a paw when you show it a treat, take away the treat so that only your hand extends out to the side of your dog's head.
The goal here is for your dog to learn that lifting its paw will produce a reward (i.e., you will give it the treat.) When this happens, be sure to say something like “shake” or “high five” as you show him the treat in his hand and then offer it as he lifts his paw.
Say "shake"
Say “shake” again and reward with a treat when it lifts its paw.
Repeat until your dog is lifting its paw every time you say “shake.”
If your dog is having trouble understanding what you want, be patient and keep the training sessions short—no more than five minutes per session. If you are consistent, your pooch will learn to obey this command in no time!
Keep practicing this step until the dog lifts its paw without needing to see the treat.
When your dog's big toe is up, you can begin depositing a treat onto their paw. If your dog doesn't respond with the correct behavior, take away the visible treat and go back to having it in one hand. The key here is patience! We've all been there: you think you're doing everything right, but then the dog does something else entirely. Don't get frustrated; just try again and keep practicing!
Now try just spelling out S-H-A-K-E without putting out your hand first.
If the dog doesn't respond, go back to having it visible in one hand and working up from there again. This can be frustrating for both you and your dog, so be patient! And don’t give up—even if these steps seem impossible at first.
Practice!
Give commands randomly over time so that your dog doesn't pick up on a specific pattern and come to expect treats only at certain times. Be sure to reinforce good behavior with lots of praise!
The biggest challenge in teaching your dog to shake is patience. It’s important that you practice with your dog in a variety of locations and times of day, so he doesn’t get bored or associate the command with one routine. Don’t give him the treat right away—wait until he has done what you asked him to do, even if that means waiting for an hour!
Once he has mastered this trick reliably (and only then), start rewarding him with food treats every few minutes or so as a reward for being a good boy.
Conclusion
It's okay if your dog doesn't pick up on this command right away. It can be frustrating for both of you! Be patient, practice often and make sure to reward good behavior with lots of praise. Don't forget to reinforce random commands in order to keep your dog from picking up on a pattern. And lastly: have fun!
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