As I discuss in my dog nail Dremeling article, Miles does not by nature enjoy having his paws touched. Teaching “shake a paw” has never been high on either of our to-do lists. But with a little thought, I figured out a way to get him comfortable raising and offering his paw for this supposedly simple trick. Now Miles doesn’t mind having his paws touched (and thanks to our beloved Dremel, the dreaded evil backstabbing nail clippers are long gone).
Teaching “Shake a Paw”
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Nice job Miles!
Thanks Danielle 🙂
We got this wrong with Win our Welsh Terrier of 15 years. We tried teaching her to “shake”, I don’t know why but as new puppy parents we thought that is what you do.
We used positive reinforcement via freeze dried liver. We would ask her to shake, she would offer a paw and receive a treat. It worked well and Win caught on fast. Then Winnie decided to use this new skill to her advantage, for the rest of her life when she wanted something she would now tap on a person’s leg to indicate she wanted something. Win had taken the shake skill and use it as a tap to communicate with us.
This is a case where Win trained us well. We learned things from her for all 15 years.