Teaching shake or high five

[snoopymom]

I don't have any idea how to teach this. We've tried having Snoopy sit, and saying 'high five!' and taking his paw, and give a treat; but that's not working. I guess he thinks 'high five' means he better scoot back because Mommy's gonna get your foot!

He responds to treats, if that helps!

[QuickSilver]

I'm having the same trouble.

I have a book that says that you hold a treat in your hand and put your hand on the floor to encourage your dog to "paw" at your hand. When he does, praise and treat. Gradually you raise your hand to until it is shake or high-five level.

If your dog noses the treat, gently bop him on the nose to discourage him.
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Has this actually worked for me? No. I've been working up to where he doesn't freak out when I take his front paw by holding them occasionally when I rub his belly. I've trained him to "touch", but that's only with his bright orange treat ball. He backs up every time he sees my hand coming in at that level. I wonder if he's extra sensitive about his front paws because of nail clipping??

[Ashley V]

When I taught Chip to shake I just picked up his paw and said "shake" then gave him a treat and said "good boy". After about 20 million times of doing that and thinking he'd never get it, the next day I went to pull out the treats, and the lil stinker put up his paw without me saying anything. It may work!

[lemonlauren]

At first, "shake" seemed to mean "stand up and scoot back cause mommy's gonna grab your paw," just like you. But we just kept at it. I don't know what actually made him quit standing up when I went for his paw, but there's two things I can think of that might have played a part (other than just repetition). First, he was getting better and better at just plain sit, and gradually getting to do it easily without a treat around that time. Second, I'd started working with him letting me touch his paws and play with the pads of his feet - I know this is important for nail-clipping, grooming, and if he ever needs me to look at a foot because it hurts.

When he started not standing up as often, we took it in steps... first, we rewarded when we grabbed his paw and he didn't stand. Then we gave him the option of putting his paw up when we said shake, and if he did we grabbed it and gave him a treat. If he didn't, we grabbed his paw for him, and just verbally praised him, then gave him a second chance to raise his paw for a second shake immediately after the first. If the second try didn't work, we grabbed it for him and treated him for it. Very quickly, he learned to raise his paw for the shake.

I don't know if that's the right way to do it at all, but it worked for us. I hope that might help a little! Good luck :-)

Lauren & Nikko

[snoopymom]

Thanks for all the suggestions--I'm going to try them all!

[Ashley V]

Originally Posted by snoopymom

Thanks for all the suggestions--I'm going to try them all!

A lot of training just is trying different methods and seeing what works best for you and your dog. Not every dog responds to the exact same method as the last dog.