How To Teach A Dog To Shake A Paw

How To Teach A Dog To Shake A Paw
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Dogs are animals that need figures of authority in their lives. Therefore, you should train your dog and teach it some basic rules of behavior. The animal should view you as a pack leader and do what you ask it to. In addition to teaching your dog to sit, lie down and where and when to relieve itself, you can train it to do other things, like how to shake a paw. Although these types of tricks aren't quite as essential to the dog's development, they will help you to strengthen your bond with your pet. If you want to know how to teach a dog to shake a paw, this article will explain it all step-by-step.

Steps to follow:
1

To teach your dog to shake a paw, you'll need to have some dog treats in hand. Training a dog is not a quick process, so you need to be patient. Your pet won't learn to shake a paw in a single afternoon, it could take days. You can train a dog no matter how old it is, but keep in mind that it's always easier when it's a puppy.

2

To start training your dog, take the treat and hide it in your hand, so that your dog can't see it but can smell it. Order your dog to sit and move your hand with the treat in it towards its nose. Don't put your hand towards the center of its face, but towards the side, so that it turns its head slightly and uses one paw to support its weight.

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3

Encourage your dog to grab the treat that you're hiding in your hand, so that it automatically lifts up its paw. Most dogs will try to grab the food in your hand with their paw. When your pet touches your hand with its paw, open it, praise your dog and let it eat the treat. Remember that positive conditioning is vital to teaching your dog commands.

4

Whenever your dog lifts up its paw when you move your hand towards it, give the command. Use short words so that the animal can familiarize itself with the tone and sound. So you can say "shake" or "paw". When your dog touches your hand, say the command and give it the treat. It's really important that you say the command before giving it the treat, so that it associates the movement of shaking paws with the word.

5

Once your dog has learned to shake paws with the command and the treat, you need to repeat the command but this time without the treat, and with your hand open. This whole process of teaching your dog to shake paws will take days, so repeat it several times a day and be persistent, but don't tire your dog out.

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6

If your pet doesn't automatically lift up its paw in Step 3, there's another technique you can use to teach your dog to shake a paw. Lift up the dog's paw and give the command "shake" or "paw" at the same time. When the paw is at head height, praise your dog and give it a treat as a reward. You'll need to repeat this process for several days, until the dog associates the movement with the command, and will lift up its paw by itself.

7

Positive reinforcement is really important when training an animal, so you need to praise it every time it does something right. Punishing it, on the other hand, will hinder the process, as the dog will associate the commands with fear, and will see them as something negative. To ensure that your dog is happy and relaxed, you need to reward it and spend your free time with it.

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