How to teach a dog to shake

This article shows you how to get your dog to shake hands with you. Getting your dog to shake hands is a great trick and one that can be taught with ease. If you are on the lookout for an easy step by step method to train your dog to shake hands, then this is it. Do read the article to know more about the methodology used and you should be able to shake hands with your dog sooner than later!

Getting your dog to shake hands with you or with any of your friends is a neat trick to teach your pet. The best part is that this
trick is not a difficult one to train your dog in, as long as you are able to do it the 'right way'. Sure, I understand that with many websites offering their unique take on 'how to teach a dog to shake', you are bound to be a little confused. So take a moment to go through the pointers listed below and I am sure that you would be able to shake hands with your dog with ease. As these pointers have been compiled from the secrets of a professional dog trainer, they are bound to be invaluable to you. So do review the lot and you should be able to 'high five' your dog in no time at all.

Sit for the lesson – The best way to train your dog to shake hands is to get him to sit still for the lesson, as it works best that way. A dog in the 'sit' position would pay more attention to you than one that remains standing up and furthermore, a dog standing up is not going to be all that keen to balance itself on three paws with the remaining one being offered to you. So get your dog to sit down first and start the lesson.

Grab the paw – The best way to proceed here is to scoop up the paw, hold it gently and shake it. At the end, offer a treat to your dog as a reward. You can do this or better yet, hide a treat in your hand and with your hand closed hold it in front of his nose. He will lift his paw and start pawing your hand, at which, grasp his paw and shake it with the treat being offered at the end of the shake.

Repeat the process – There are any numbers of ways through which you can get your dog to shake hands. But whichever method you use, remember to repeat the step again and again, so that your dog is able to get the trick. Do use positive reinforcement as an additional training tool as it will help your dog to comprehend the session better.

Verbalize the step – Now that you have got your dog to paw/shake hands with you, the only thing left for you to do is to verbalize the step with the command 'shake'. Resume training your dog but with the verbal command 'shake' and repeat the earlier steps. He should be able to shake hands with you or with anybody else at the sound of the command 'name shake' [replace name with your dog's name].

This trick is a great trick to teach your dog and the best part is that it is not as time consuming as the other tricks tend to be. With the help of the list compiled from the secrets of a professional dog trainer, you should be able to 'high five' your dog in little time as possible. Once you have managed to train your dog to shake hands, you can try out a few additional tricks, such as shaking hands with an alternative paw and even lifting the paw to cover the eyes. Either way , this trick should allow you to have tons of fun with your dog!

About the author

If you would like to get a complete step-by-step guide on the Secrets of a professional dog trainer, make sure you check out the Adam G. Katz dog training. With the Adam G. Katz dog problems, you should get the low down on all the dog related problems and ways to deal with them.