How To Teach Your Dog To Shake : Step by Step Guide 2024

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How To Teach Your Dog To Shake: Having your dog shake your hand with its paw at your command is one of the most impressive tricks you can teach it. Most of you have probably tried it on your dog without any success and have started getting desperate but believe it or not getting your dog to shake your hand with its paw is not as difficult as it seems and can be achieved by anyone without the help of a professional.

In general, all you will have to do is follow our training method, be patient, keep the training sessions short, and as always use positive reinforcement methods. Cruel methods are not as effective and will damage your relationship with your dog, by turning a bonding experience into a traumatic one.

Step-by-Step Training Guide

The training method you should ideally follow can be broken down into 5 simple steps:

Step 1: Get your dog into a sitting position in front of you.

Step 2: Grab hold of a treat and present it to your dog.

Step 3: Repeat the process until the dog associates “shake” with lifting its paw.

Step 4: Withhold the treat until they fully extend their paw in a shaking motion.

Step 5: Wean off treat rewards and use verbal praise instead.

So, let’s take a deeper look into the steps you have to follow to eventually get your dog to shake your hand:

Step 1: Get your dog into a sitting position in front of you.

The setup is an important part of the training process so make sure you take it seriously and do not skip steps. In order for this trick to work your dog will have to be sitting in front of you facing towards you. If you can’t get it to do this, then you will have to focus on how to get your dog to sit on your command or focus on training your dog in general if it has much to learn in which case, we would recommend Brain Training for Dogs which is the best dog training course available in the market right now.

It will teach you everything you need to know about how to effectively train your dog and get it to obey your commands without having to take it to a professional.

Step 2: Grab hold of a treat and present it to your dog.

When grabbing hold of the treat make sure you keep your hand firmly closed around it and you do not let your dog get to it. Normally under these circumstances a dog’s first instinct is to lift up its paw to get you to open up your hand. This is the situation you should take advantage of. The moment your dog lifts up its paw make sure you say the word shake and let it have the treat.

Step 3: Repeat the process until the dog associates “shake” with lifting its paw.

After repeating the original process, a couple of times your dog will eventually start to associate the word “shake” with lifting its paw and will start instinctively lifting its paw up after hearing the word. At this point, you are ready to move on to the next step.

Step 4: Withhold the treat until they fully extend their paw in a shaking motion.

To perfect the handshake your dog’s paw should be fully extended and stretched out. Since your dog will make short movements at first you should try withholding the treat to stretch out their paw and make the movement look more “human” like.

Step 5: Wean off treat rewards and use verbal praise instead.

As your dog gets better and gets used to the movement you should eventually start practicing the same trick without holding a treat in your hand. At the beginning you can still give it a treat after it shakes your hand, but ideally you should slowly transition from treats to verbal praise. Make sure you show your excitement when your dog performs the trick and give it plenty of praise in order for it to understand that it is pleasing you.

Conclusion

The most important thing, however, to teach your dog to shake, is to remain consistent. Your training should ideally consist of short sessions which you repeat on a daily basis. Being patient and repeating the same process day after day is what will eventually get your dog to shake your hand. Also, make sure you give plenty of praise, do not be stingy when it comes to treats and show as much enthusiasm as possible. All dogs have the will to please their owners and will gladly do something as long as they see it excites you.

To conclude, any dog can be trained as long as you are patient, consistent with your training and use positive reinforcement methods.

FAQs: How To Teach Your Dog To Shake

1: How long does it take to teach a dog to shake hands?

The duration varies, but with consistent daily training, most dogs can learn within a few weeks.

2: Can older dogs learn new tricks like shaking hands?

Absolutely! Dogs of all ages can learn new tricks; it just requires patience and persistence.

3: What if my dog is not food-motivated?

Explore alternative rewards like toys, praise, or affection to find what motivates your dog.

4: Should I use a clicker for training?

Clickers can be effective, but a clear verbal cue and positive reinforcement work well too.

5: Can I teach multiple tricks simultaneously?

While it’s possible, focusing on one trick at a time ensures better understanding and success.

Useful Equipment

Fresh Breathies to finally kiss bad doggie breath goodbye.
Brush for dog hair.
Dog Grooming Kit
Pet Hair Lifter
The Best High Quality Dog Food
Pet Merchandise.

Useful Courses

Brain Training for Dogs – the best & most effective dog training course in the market right now.

So, let us know did you find this article helpful? Did this training method work out for you? Are there any other questions you would like us to answer?

Let us know about your experiences with your dogs in the comment section down below.

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