How to Teach Your Dog to Shake Your Hand Using The ‘Shake Command’.

Spending time playing with your beloved fur baby is a thoroughly rewarding experience for you both. Apart from games like ‘Fetch’, there are a number of fun activities you can involve your dog in a playful manner, that will help to build a strong and positive bond between you.
Most of the basic commands and advanced dog training commands we’ve covered so far, are primarily used for control and used in public places.

This fun dog obedience training article will teach you how to train your dog to shake your hand, using the ‘Shake Command‘ by utilising positive reinforcement training techniques.
After that, we’ll mix it up a little by adding a ‘High Five’ to his/her repertoire of dog tricks, just for the fun of it.

The following list is what we recommend you have handy for this dog training command session:

• Small sized, soft treats that are very tempting
• Clicker
• Quite place, lounge or floor

If you don’t have, or prefer not to use a ‘clicker’, you can substitute it by using the word ‘Yes’.

Steps to Teaching the ‘Shake Command’

Before we get started, it’s worth clarifying what we’d like from our dog after using this instruction.
Essentially, we want to get to the stage of presenting our hand with palm up to our dog so that he/she drops his/her paw on it, allowing us to then hold the paw and shake it up and down.
After successfully completing that, we’ll present our hand, palm facing the dog, so he/she does the same back, in a ‘high-five’ gesture.

When teaching this dog training command, I’m going to assume you’ve already taught your dog to ‘Sit’ up straight successfully. If not, you’ll find a link to this and all the commands in the article ‘List of Dog Commands‘.

1/ Start with you and your dog on the same level, so either both on a lounge or on the floor. Let your pooch see you place a treat into your right hand. Hold the treat with your hand closed facing upwards.

2/ Your fury friend will definitely investigate by sniffing, and eventually will ‘paw’ at your hand. As soon as he/she does, ‘mark’ the event by saying ‘Yes’ and reward with praise (‘Good Boy/Girl’) then open your hand to let him/her have the treat, before showering your clever pooch with rubs and hugs.

This dog trick is all about the fun, so when talking to your dog you should be using your happy voice, amped up bordering on excitement.
Every time my owner does this with me, he laughs, which I love, making me want to keep doing it until I get giddy with excitement, rolling over onto my back begging for a belly rub.

3/ Repeat this say 5 times, then hold out your hand without a tasty treat in it. Again, as soon as your fur baby places his/her paw onto your hand, say ‘Yes’, reward with a treat from the other hand and doll out the praise, and ear scratches.

4/ Now it’s time to introduce the ‘Shake Command’. This time, hold out your empty hand again and say ‘Shake’. Again, as soon as your clever pooch places his/her paw onto your hand, say ‘Yes’, reward with a treat from the other hand and praise, along with chest rubs.
Practice this a few times, then stop rewarding with the treat, but continue with excitable praise and physical rubs.

5/ Lastly, when your friendly and polite canine places his/her paw onto your hand, gently grip it and shake it up and down.

As a variation to shaking paws with your pooch, repeat the above steps but instead of holding your hand out flat, hold your palm open facing your dog, and instead of saying ‘Shake’, use the words ‘High Five’ instead. You’ll actually find this a little easier for your dog to do, they’ll tap your hand with their paw.

Summary of How To Teach Your Dog The ‘Shake Command’

Remember consistency, practice and patience are the keys with all dog training. Some dogs, such as Beagles are more difficult to teach than others, because they love to sniff and follow their nose.

Some dogs that aren’t overly motivated by food treats (rare) will almost certainly take to cooked chicken pieces. However, I would strongly suggest finding a commercial option from pet shops that will entice because apart from the expense, chicken is messy and doesn’t last very long out of a sealed container in the fridge. There are many brands and flavours to choose from these days, and many are made with healthy natural ingredients. I would also suggest using and rotating several different types, so your dog doesn’t become used to just one.