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Dog Training! Sort Of.

…And this is how we spent the bulk of Sunday afternoon:

Dog Training! Sort Of. from Jordan Reid on Vimeo.

So I have a question for the dog-owners among you: We’ve pretty much got a handle on “Come,” “Sit” and “Down” (for Virgil, that is; Lucy has her own ideas about how things should be done, and those ideas don’t include obedience)…but “Shake” is proving more challenging. Any tips?



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August 1st, 2011 | Posted by Jordan | Love | 12 Comments »
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  • Anonymous

    He looks like he’s doing well! To teach shake/give me your paw, I would suggest practicing only that, repeatedly, without doing any other commands for a while. Associate a touching cue (a tap near the paw or whatever works) with the command, and give a treat while the paw is up. If he’s food-motivated, and you help him associate the paw up with the command+treat through lots of repetition, he’ll get it.

    Then, you can try to get him to do the other paw!

  • Allison Beauchesne

    I am in the process of teaching my dog “put ya hands up!” where he stands on his hind legs, but he only does it because I am clearly holding a treat over his head. So I have no guidance here, just wanted to say that your “training style” is somewhat similar to mine (Sit! No? Ok. Walk away. Good boy.) 

    But when he looks like this, who needs tricks?
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/alliebeau/5813501058/

  • Sara

    Try this, it worked for us. Put a treat in your hand, let the pups see it, then close your fist and hold it in front of his face, saying “Shake!”  As soon as he paws your hand for the treat, give him the treat and reward him. Keep doing that, until you don’t need a treat, you just put out your fist and say “Shake!” We do “knuckles” or “pound it” because it’s pretty funny, but same concept. Now every time we make a fist, our dog does “pound it”

  • Heathermaher11

    For  both my lab and my pit bull/dalmation mix, I always first had them “sit.” Then I worked repeatedly with them by saying “shake” while simultaneously grabbing their paw and “shaking” it then I would give them a treat and say “good girl!” while giving lots of pats.  I just repeated this throughout the day for a couple of days- and they both picked up on it. Don’t know if this helps.

  • Anonymous

    ooh – i’ll try that! also: hilarious.

  • Anonymous

    lol – yeah, our training style is probably a little lacking.
    and aww! what a cutie!

  • Anonymous

    Shake was always easiest for us.  We just got the dogs to sit, grabbed a paw, and said, “shake.”  Eventually they’ll catch on.  =)

    And embrace each dog’s individuality and quirks.  We once had a Jack Russell terrier that we discovered would howl anytime someone sang badly.  So we “taught” her to “sing” on command.  We also had a Boston terrier who loved to spin around on her hind legs, so we taught her to “dance” on command.  I have a Lhasa Apso who does a “psychic” trick.  I place a treat in one hand, behind my back, and present her with both hands (closed in fists).  She can tell which hand is holding the treat and will scratch at that hand.  Of course, it’s just her sense of smell, but not all of our dogs have the ability/patience for that one. 

    Every dog can do something cool and unique.  Even if it’s just doing the opposite of what you say.  =)

  • Lindz

    Have you tried clicker training? It’s super-simple for (humans) to learn to train with, it speeds up the learning process, and it really stimulates their doggy minds! Here’s a great general training resource http://positively.com/. And here is a quick tutorial on clicker training, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK8koTJcJKU&feature=related

    Have fun!

  • http://barnardbabyblog.tumblr.com Adrienne

    Your style is just like ours!  We mastered sit and lay down with Khadijah but gave up on shake too, but I was doing it the same way you were.  Some good tips down there though!  My Brother is a master dog trainer, he once trained a dog to lay on the floor and cover her eyes when he said George Bush!  I think he just uses repetition and reward :)  

  • Anonymous

    AMAZING.

  • Anonymous

    i tried using a clicker way back in the day with lucy – totally forgot about those! good idea, thank you!

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