Teach Dog to Shake Hand Trick

This is one of the simplest dog tricks to teach your dog. It does not require a leash or a collar. The only things needed are you and your dog.

Teaching your dog how to shake hands will only takes a little time and it can be taught anywhere, making it very convenient for you.

As a dog owner, you might have seen a dog offer his hand for shaking to his owner or a stranger and you thought... how cool is that? Well, the answer to that is, very cool. Even cooler is the fact that you can be the one that people think of when they see you with your dog.

All you have to do is spend some few minutes reading below and in no time, you can go floss your new trick in the dog park.

Steps to get your dog to shake hands

- Ask your dog to sit, when he is seated stand in front of him and lift up his paw and place it in your hand as you say “shake” then give the dog a treat and praise him. Do this for several times in order for the dog to understand what you are trying to communicate to him.

- Next step is to say “shake” and see if the dog gives you his paw. If he doesn’t, don’t worry, you are still on track, you can prod him by lightly tapping his paw. Reward your pet even if the dog just lifts his paw without giving it to you. This is progress and shouldn’t be ignored.

- Show the dog again what you want him to do by lifting his paw to your hand and saying “shake” then rewarding the dog.

- With time, the dog should learn to present his paw and place it on your hand when told “shake.” Reward every time the dog does this, the treats should be coupled with verbal praise. This will motivate the dog more.

- When the dog is able to perform this tick well, you can start withdrawing the treats. This should be done over a gradual period of time. If the dog shows a relapse e.g. doesn’t respond to the command, you can introduce the treats again and give the dog some time before withdrawing them.

When teaching your dog new tricks, the important point to note is to do it in a place with minimal distraction. However, since this trick might be performed in places where there is bound to be lots of distractions. After your dog has learnt the tricks, you should practice it in different scenarios and see how the dog responds. You can start with the family by asking the dog to shake the hands of other family members. Next, you can try to this with a friend and lastly a stranger.

Dogs are different, even dogs from the same breed may not learn at the same pace. You have to be patient with your dog even if he does not correspond with what you are trying to convey. Do not lose your temper with the dog if he doesn’t learn this “simple” trick as fast as you want and just stay consistent with your training.

* http://gooddogtrainingadvice.com/OnlineDogTrainer.html