How to instruct Your canine to Shake

So far, my new rescue pup Wally & I have focused on practicing basic obedience commands like “sit,” “down,” “stay,” and “come,” but we hadn’t started working on any tricks yet.

I figured one of the simpler tricks to instruct would be something involving his paws because he already likes lifting and crossing them. So we spent the last 4 weeks focusing on the “shake” trick.

Note that when I say “the last 4 weeks” I imply that we practiced 4-5 times per day for about 2-3 minutes per session, so we took it very easy and did not have a deadline by which Wally needed to have the “shake” trick down pat.

We’ve made a good amount of progress with this trick and are at the point where he will shake my hand reliably in exchange for a treat. My hope is that he will be able to carry out the behavior with or without treats within another 4 weeks.

How to Train Your canine to Shake A Paw

Here’s the training method I took:

4 easy steps to instruct your canine the shake trick

1. Ask your canine to sit while you hold a treat in your closed hand.

2. show the hand with the treat to your dog.

3. encourage your canine to paw at your treat hand.

If your canine paws at your hand with the treat, say “yes” or use a clicker to mark the behavior. then open that hand and let him have the treat. Shake your dog’s paw with your other hand. say “shake” or “paw” or whatever word you want your canine to associate with that behavior.

4. If your canine doesn’t paw at your hand best away, you’ll have to find a different way of getting him to lift his paw.

You could tickle him behind his paw and then reward him with a treat as soon as he lifts his paw up just a little.

Wally & I demonstrate this in the video I posted on Instagram.

This training method of gratifying small steps on the way of performing a certain behavior is called shaping.

Don’t forget to praise your canine for a job well done!

Another way to instruct your canine to shake hands

You can also take a slightly different training method by using a behavior your canine already performs in your favor.

Some dogs like to use their paws and will lift them up without being asked. As discussed above, Wally does this sometimes.

When your canine lifts a paw, simply take their paw with one hand while saying “yes” or clicking, then add “shake” while giving him a high value treat. This training method is called behavior capture.

It’s optimal to have several short training sessions throughout the day and to repeat the exercise about 5 times per session.

What you don’t want to repeat though is the command itself because you’ll want your canine to listen the first time you say it. I learned that important lesson when reading Patricia McConnell’s book The other end of The Leash several years ago.

Why teaching your canine the shake command is helpful

There are several benefits to teaching your canine the “shake” trick. Besides being fun and relatively quick to teach, it’s good for:

Stimolazione mentale
Bonding with your dog
Behavior to carry out in exchange for food, treats, or playtime
Cute party trick to show off in front of pals and guests, particularly at the front door when greeting them
A way to get your canine used to having his paws handled

Wally practicing the “shake” trick outside in the yard

It’s typically a terrific idea to shake training sessions up a bit, pun intended! Practicing the very same obedience command or trick over and over again can get boring for both you and your canine quickly, so think about incorporating another fun trick to keep things interesting!

You could even create a little routine consisting of a variety of obedience commands and tricks, like a “sit-stay” followed by a “come,” “shake,” and “spin”! It’s guaranteed to stimulate your canine on a mental basis and strengthen the bond between you and him while practicing the routine together.

If you’re in need of some inspiration, I recommend browsing the books:

canine tricks for Dummies by Sarah Hodgson and
101 fun things to finish with Your canine by Alison Smith

They’re where I found inspiration for trick training and games to play with my former pups Missy & Buzz, “shake” and “hide & seek” being two of them.

Where to practice the “shake” trick with your dog

I started teaching Wally the “shake” trick inside my house because it’s a fairly neutral environment without too numerous distractions.

After about a week, I began practicing outside with him as well. first in the backyard, then on walks and while out and about running errands together as well.

Wally practicing theTrucco “Shake” dopo una passeggiata a tarda notte (l’ho camminato su un collare della testa in pelle)

La posizione comune che un canino esegue il trucco “shake” è probabilmente la posizione “sit”, ma puoi anche praticare “shake” mentre il tuo canino è in una posizione “giù” o addirittura.

Bailey (a sinistra) tremando in una posizione “sit”, Wrigley (a destra) tremando in una posizione “giù”

Pensieri finali sull’insegnare al tuo cane il trucco “shake”

Il trucco “Shake” è un trucco divertente e relativamente facile per istruire che praticamente ogni canino dovrebbe essere in grado di imparare.

Può essere usato come un modo educato per salutare chiunque venga in casa ed è una buona base per un allenamento molto più trucco che coinvolge le zampe, come “High 5”, “High 10” o “Wave”.

Una volta che Wally avrà imparato il trucco di “Shake”, mi piacerebbe lavorare con lui su “High-Fiving”!

Il tuo canino conosce il trucco “shake”? Come l’hai istruito?

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Barbara Rivers scrive di cibo canino crudo, addestramento canino e vita con il suo cane appena adottato, Wally West. Possiede la sua compagnia di camminata canine e animali domestici nella Carolina del Nord. Wally è un mix di fiera attivo e di 1,5 anni. Follower il loro blog K9s Over Coffee.