Kodee is 10 mos old, and I've taught him several commands, all of which he picked up within about two 5 minute training sessions. Except for "roll over", which took a little more work. Since I'm trying to train him to be a therapy dog, we've worked a ton on basic obedience and socializing. I just started teaching him some "tricks", which I thought would be good for breaking the ice with little kids, etc. And for some reason, everyone in the world who meets him with his vest on, assumes he can "shake." So, that's the new command we're working on.

I've only worked with him on it a couple of times, but he doesn't seem to be getting it at all, which is unusual for him. I'm not feeling impatient with him, but I think I may not be teaching it right. Basically, I say "shake", and reach down and lift his paw, and as soon as it's in my hand, I mark "Yes!" and treat, saying "Good shake!"

What am I doing wrong? Or is this the right method and I just need to give him more time? Like I said, he's so easy to teach that the fact that he's not getting it as fast as he usually learns makes me think I'm messing up.

Hi Kori: Iam brand new to Leerburg ( as a Forum user) I've been training Dogs for over 50 years, I see nothing wrong in what You doing occasionally You will meet some setbacks and it will take longer to teach certain commands vs others. Thank You for teaching Your GSD therapy work for it is truly rewarding. Have You tried Your
GSD around wheelchairs and IV poles ? When I do testing for Therapy Certifications I find that most people do not spend enough time training their dogs to avoid and ignore these items. Also, sometimes mother nature will call You forcing You to either leave Your Dog with another person or take Your Dog to the restroom with You which is illegal since the Dog is not a "SERVICE DOG". This is the top reason I ask people to come back and take to test again after teaching their Dog to be with a another person while they take a brief break. If I can help in anyway please let me know. Cordially, Tom Lasko

I trained my little girl this one in a slightly different manner.

Rox like to touch things with her paws, so I held a treat in my fist in a manner that she know the treat was in there. If yours does not, then prepare to be patient and show the treat while keeping it from the dog.

Within a few seconds she started to nose at my hand. I ignored this.

A few second later she pawed at my hand. BINGO! She got the treat! (If I remember correctly, my hand was covered in slobber and was almost pushed my hand all the way down with her nose before she pawed at it. )

Very quickly she was anticipating the hand with a treat in it. I named it. (I call it “Paw&rdquo

After a few (20) reps of this, with the name, I would verbally (Ahh!) correct her for lifting her paw before I placed mine out there and asked for it. Immediately treat for a correct behavior.

Slowly I started to phase out the treat randomly and treat from the other hand for contact.

You can see where I am going with all of this ! If you do marker training, mark for correct contact.

I also taught wave in much the same way, but held my hand higher and at the last second, pulled my hand away. Lots of praise!

Good luck!!

P.S. A great trick for a therapy dog to know is to kiss on command. Not always and not randomly, but on command. A friend has a therapy dog that goes to child welfare calls to keep the kids busy/distracted while the adults sort stuff out. Many scared kids melt when this Golden gives them a kiss on the hand or cheek...

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I've only worked with him on it a couple of times, but he doesn't seem to be getting it at all, which is unusual for him. I'm not feeling impatient with him, but I think I may not be teaching it right. Basically, I say "shake", and reach down and lift his paw, and as soon as it's in my hand, I mark "Yes!" and treat, saying "Good shake!"

Oh I think he is getting it just fine!

He has learned that when you say "shake", he must allow you to pick up his paw. He is pretty sure he has it right because at the end you mark it and give him a treat

No problem, dogs just aren't the generalizers we think they are. Kodee just doesn't get that there is an action required as he has been rewarded for the passive exersice to date. Smart doggy.

Some dogs will learn it just fine this way, some not. Some dogs are the paw offering type and all you have to do is mark a behavior the dog already does. The pawing type of dogs will generaly offer a paw if you put your hand out, palm up, without much training.

I would shape it more like Jessica has suggested. Most dogs get frustrated and eventually paw your hand for the treat. Mark for that action.

Or, a longer way around is to teach the dog to touch a target on the ground with a paw. This too requires shaping/marking. Then you can eventually lift the target, grab the paw and mark.

 Quote: Kori Bigge

What am I doing wrong?

In my humble opinion...teaching him to shake.

Don't get me wrong, been there done that. I've had several dogs over my lifetime that I have taught to shake. What I ended up learning is that once it has been taught the dog inevitably wants to put his paw up on everyone, all the time, whether he's been invited to or not. This doesn't go well with white pants,(especially on rainy or muddy days) or with people that really don't care much for dogs in the first place, or small children who seem to almost instantly get frightened of a dog that is repeatedly trying to paw them.

To each his own, while it is a cute trick it can have a few drawbacks. Just my two cent. I'll shut up now.

 Quote: RobbinMann

 Quote: Kori Bigge

What am I doing wrong?

In my humble opinion...teaching him to shake.

Don't get me wrong, been there done that. I've had several dogs over my lifetime that I have taught to shake. What I ended up learning is that once it has been taught the dog inevitably wants to put his paw up on everyone, all the time, whether he's been invited to or not. This doesn't go well with white pants,(especially on rainy or muddy days) or with people that really don't care much for dogs in the first place, or small children who seem to almost instantly get frightened of a dog that is repeatedly trying to paw them.

And that is why I have never taught my male dog these types of cute tricks…

Also why I started very early to correct for presenting the paw without a command…

Good points Robbin, as always!

You could teach him to shake his head or whole body (like after getting wet) instead of/in addition to teaching shake hands. It would get a big laugh and not be threatening.

To teach shake, push his shoulder til his paw lifts off the ground, mark and reward. Then attach a command to it. Pushing his shoulder causes him to lift his paw on his own so he associates the reward with his own "decision" to lift his paw.

Most dogs will pick it up pretty quick. 2 or 3 repetitions usually gets the ball rolling.