# Give me her paw!



## firenurseireland (Mar 4, 2007)

I was wondering if anyone knew a method of how to teach a 1 and a half year old girl how to give me her paw! All methods accepted! Thanks!


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## firenurseireland (Mar 4, 2007)

*GIVE HER PAW*

.


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## maxsmom1229 (Apr 12, 2007)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

i taught my max when he was about 1. i used bacon pieces. his fave treat. some dogs will instinctively paw at your hand if you hold a special treat in front of them, in which you reward him with the treat immediately. repeat, but put the cue word in front (paw shake etc)

max had to be difficult, and wouldnt paw at me, so i would say shake, and immediately pick up his paw for him, and then reward. he soon put together that when he put his paw in my hand, he would get some bacon. this was a trick that max picked up with one session. its a fun and easy trick!! sorry if my explaination is hard to understand, im not the best with words, if you dont get something, lemme know and i will try and rephrase =]


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## firenurseireland (Mar 4, 2007)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

thanks!!!


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## LUV_GSDs (Oct 22, 2006)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

If you can sit still long enough with something really good closed in your fist and the dog paws at your fist you have the beginnings of the trick. Then reward greatly and put a verbal command to the behavior. It just might take a little time till the dog figures out what you want.


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## tracyc (Feb 23, 2005)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

have the dog sitting and facing you. (you'll need lots of good treats for this, so make them small pieces.) 

pick up one of the dogs paws and say "shake" (or whatever word you want to use) and then immediately say "good shake!" and give the treat. 

After just a few times, she'll get it, and start offering the paw without you picking it up for her. When she does, continue saying the word and rewarding with a treat. 

As with any new trick, keep up the treats for every offering of the behavior at first...then you can reduce the payoff to every other time, then less--but always reward with verbal praise. 

But remember not to let her take over the game. If she's a smarty pants she may start offering the paw (pawing at you) to get a reward, even if you haven't asked her to "shake." If she does that, ignore those.


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## DHau (Feb 24, 2007)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

It took about 10-15 minutes for my dog to learn that trick using the above method.


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## Sean Rescue Mom (Jan 24, 2004)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

My daughter actually was the one who taught Sean to give paw and she used a very similar method as the one Tracy described. Now when we ask him to give paw we can do it with his right or left one. Good luck!


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## amackinpitt (Jun 19, 2003)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*



> Quote: If she's a smarty pants she may start offering the paw (pawing at you) to get a reward, even if you haven't asked her to "shake." If she does that, ignore those.


^LOL! Bear often goes through her whole repertoire when there's something that smells good near by! (Here's my paw! Look, I'm lying down! Speak? Should I speak?!...)









I've used the same method as above with treats, but also have relied more so on verbal praise & excitement at a task well accomplished.

Giving a paw can be handy when paired with other behaviors... After I taught Bear, I started asking her for her paw just before letting her out for "potty". It didn't take long for her to come and tell me when she really had to go--she'd come over, whine, give me her paw, and then head toward the door.


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## tracyc (Feb 23, 2005)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

The other side benefit of learning "shake" is that offering a paw is a submissive gesture. A dog that will offer a paw on request is acknowledging your leadership--so it's a good trick to reinforce.


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

I did it EXACTLY the way Tracy explains (including ignoring unwanted pawing at me). 

I taught "shake," for the right paw and "left paw," for the other. It's kind of fun because we can entertain people (especially kids) by making it look like he knows his right from his left. 

"Camper, *Shake.*"
He offers his right paw. 
"Oh, Camper, I wanted your *left paw.*" 
He offers the left paw. 


Ah, my dog, the genius...


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## mjbgsd (Jun 29, 2004)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

I use this for Cody when I trim his nails and blow air from his paws. People get a kick out of this when I'm grooming him cause they've never see a dog do this before.
Here's a short video


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## kelso (Jan 22, 2007)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

that is such a good video! great way to show the benefits of the "shake" Cody is such a good boy


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

Shake was one of the first tricks I tried to teach Abby and it proved to be pretty difficult to teach. 

Some of you may remember my posts from back then - when I first got Abby, she was not at all interested in treats or toys or anything of that matter as a reward. So just holding out a treat and hoping for her to offer the behavior was a moot point, she'd just look at me like she was saying, "Yeah. It's a treat. And?"

So what I did was something I used to do when I used to horseback ride way back when. When getting the horse ready for a ride, I would brush the horse and, of course, clean the hooves. Most horses (with exceptions) will offer their hoof if you tap their pasterns with your hand. 

With Abby, I used that method to get her to offer a paw. I would say "shake" and gently tap the "back" side of her pasterns with my hand, just above the dewclaw. That got her to lift a paw and I would reward her with "good shake".

Then I would offer my hand, palm up, and say "shake", while tapping the pastern with my other hand. Once the paw came up, I made contact with it with my open palm, and praise and pet her. (Since that worked as a reward.)

Then I started practicing the behavior before pleasant things - like going outside or getting to eat. I would have her sit, offer my hand, and say "shake". Then the pleasant thing after was the "reward".


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## CherryCola (Apr 24, 2006)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

I found it a really simple trick to teach them. Cherry learnt when she was 6 months old.. I'd just lift her paw up for her, say 'paw' and then give her a treat. 
Soon I didn't have to lift her paw up for her anymore. I'd just say 'paw' and she'd do it herself







If I hold my hand out as well, she'll put her paw in my hand and we'll shake. She can be a bit cheeky now though.. When I have food or something she wants she'll just put her paw in the air automatically









With my last GSD I taught him the difference from left to right.. I'm still working on that with Cherry


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*



> Quote:It's actually a really simple trick to teach them.


I guess it depends on the dog and the method. 

For me and Abby, the shake command was more difficult than teaching her to pick up laundry and put it into the hamper.


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## CherryCola (Apr 24, 2006)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

You're right Chris, I should of originally put that *I* found it easy, but that's not always going to apply to everyone - every dog is different and there are a lot of different teaching methods.

Logan (my last GSD







) learnt the down command when he was a young pup. But with Cherry - she's 14 months old - and still hasn't got it 100%.


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*



> Originally Posted By: Kim_BecileYou're right Chris, I should of originally put that *I* found it easy, but that's not always going to apply to everyone - every dog is different and there are a lot of different teaching methods.


Yes Chris. Keep reminding us that not every dog is a chow hound that will do the Cha-Cha followed by the Tango just for a piece of meat, like my two apparently starving animals. (My beagle will then execute two pirouettes, flip into the air and stick her landing perfectly







just to see be SURE she gets that snack).

We keep forgetting that not everyone has a dog who has a "Will Work for Food" sign in his crate. 

Abby is a reminder that SOME dogs have standards.


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## nitetrane98 (Feb 23, 2008)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

I've never been a treat trainer and I thought I would give it a try. I even baked up some nice beef liver chunks that I've heard are just "da bomb" for dogs. He already knows "sit" and "down" from the repetition, because I said so, praise method. I put him to a sit/stay and said "shake", dumb look and nothing else. I picked up his paw and gently shook it and said, shake, good boy, gave him a treat. He thoroughly enjoyed it and went back to sit. We tried this several times. So now shake means sniff and lick my hand for a treat.


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## tracyc (Feb 23, 2005)

*Re: GIVE HER PAW*

Sounds like you just need to connect the action to the reward a little closer. Treat goes in the mouth the instant the paw comes off the floor. You're using the treat just like you would a clicker--to mark the exact moment of success. Otherwise the dog doesn't have any idea what he's doing to earn the reward--since it could be any of a dozen things--sit? look at you? look away from you? wag? don't wag? open mouth? sniff? lick? 

If you're rewarding after the shake is over, or rewarding the sniff or lick, then the dog's confused. 

Start over. 

Have the treat ready to go in your right hand. 

Pick up the dog's right paw with your left hand while saying "shake"--and simultaneoulsy (or just an instant after) pop the treat in and praise. 

Repeat a dozen times. 

Very quickly, the dog WILL begin to anticipate...and the instant the dog voluntarily pics his paw up even just a teeny bit (he'll still be guessing at what you want, but will tentatively offer this gesture as one of the possibilities that will get the treat)--then give several treats and praise like he just cured cancer. 

Sniffing, licking, barking, whistling Dixie---anything except picking up his paw should be ignored during the exercise. Any response to these behaviors will reinforce them.


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