How to teach your dog to shake hands

Have a bag of small, tasty dog treats.  In order to motivate your dog, you will need to give lots of rewards, which means each one has to be small.  Large treats like biscuits are not appropriate for training, since the dog will quickly fill up. 

Start with a hungry (but not starved) dog in a distraction-free location.  Students, canine or otherwise, need to focus on their lessons, so try to train your dog in a room that does not have other animals or people in it. 

Looking directly at your dog, hold out your hand and say, "Shake hands!"  Quickly pick up your dog's paw, shake it, and then reward your dog with a treat.  Repeat this step at least two or three times. 

Hold you your hand and say, "Shake!" again, but this time, don't grab your dog's paw.  If the dog moves a paw at all in response to your command, give him a treat and praise him.  Withholding rewards until the dog gets it "right" is a sure path to disappointment.  The key to teaching a new skill is what's known as "shaping by successive approximations".  At this stage in the training, any paw movement is good enough. 

Gradually increase your expectations.  Once you have trained your dog to move a paw on command, begin rewarding only movements that result in the dog raising his paw.  When he consistently raises his paw, start saving your rewards for when he actually puts his paw in your hand. 

Practice often.  Skills only stay sharp when they get used, so have your dog shake hands every day!

Things Needed

1. dog

2. small treats, or treats that can be torn into small pieces