Dog trick training: "Shake"
Improve Your Dog training skills with this fun and easy skill
Explains in detail how to train a dog to perform the command, "shake." Step-by-step instructions, troubleshooting, and advice.
Trick training is a fantastic way to bond with your dog. Many dog owners are intimidated by advanced obedience; they think that it is too difficult or that their dog “just won’t do it.” Trick training a good starting point for people with this mindset, because it is a fun, easy, and low stress way to teach your dog to listen better and become a more engaged thinker. All of these qualities will help your dog to become a well mannered member of the household. Once you and your dog have mastered a few simple tricks, formal obedience training perhaps will not seem so daunting. The “shake” command is a great first trick to teach most dogs. It is a fantastic confidence builder for both dog and handler because it is easy and fun to teach.
The Basics
In order to train your dog to do tricks, he must first know—at bare minimum—the “sit” command.
Before you begin the training session, make sure you have plenty of treats in small, bite sized pieces. The best treats for training are soft, like cheese or hot dogs. Crunchy “biscuit” type rewards aren’t the best because it takes the dog a long time to chew them. If you use a clicker for training, you can use it to mark the paw lift behavior, but it is not necessary to use a clicker to train this exercise. Remember to keep training sessions short—no more than 10-15 minutes each, especially if you are teaching your dog something new. You don’t want to overload him, remember, this is fun!
Training the Command
To begin teaching “shake,” sit on the floor (or in a chair/on the couch) with the dog sitting in front of you. Reach down and tickle the back of your dog’s pastern (the part of his leg right above the foot). He will probably look at you like you’re crazy! Keep doing it until your dog lifts up his paw. As soon as he does this, say “yes” (or another short, one-syllable marker word like “good”) and give him a treat. Keep doing this until he lifts his paw immediately when you touch it. This might take several sessions. Keep rewarding him with your marker word and treats. If he stubbornly refuses to lift his foot with the tickle, try lifting his paw manually a few times, using lots of treats and praise.
Once your dog is reliably lifting his paw by touch, it is time to start introducing the command “shake.” Other common words used for this trick include “paw,” “give it here,” “etc. Reach down for his paw, and when he lifts it, say “shake” and give him a treat. Praise him profusely! Repeat this exercise, fading your hand motion until you don’t have to tickle his pastern anymore. The end result will be a dog that happily offers his paw to you when asked.
Success is a Confidence Builder
After learning the paw movement behavior, commands like “wave,” “say your prayers,” and “give me five” are all easily taught. I hope that success with this trick will give you more confidence and inspire you to become a more active dog trainer!
