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  1. #1
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    Has anyone successfully taught "shake" (body shake, not "give paw")?

    I've tried unsuccessfully for almost 10 years to get Dan to shake off dampness before coming into the house. Obviously, that's something he associates with being on the inside of the door.

    He and Sunnie both shake after being brushed...not in the immediate vicinity (beach towel on kitchen floor), but in the next room. I praise them "good shake". They both shake after getting a bath. "Good shake" "Good shake" "Good shake" (as they walk to where I'm waiting with towels on the deck). Dan shakes when he comes in downstairs from his potty trips to the backyard. "Good shake" They both will sometimes shake in the garage after a walk. "Good shake" I've even tried doing a full body shake as an example....maybe if my ears flapped, they'd get the message.

    Nothing. No recognition of what the word "shake" means. (I don't use that word for "give paw"...I use "touch". Dan decided early on to switch his reaction to "touch" to mean use his paw, not his nose.)

    I never had success with previous dogs, either, but none of them were as smart as Dan.

    By now, it really doesn't matter...but I'm curious about what any of you might have done to get this point across. Something that doesn't involve getting the dog deliberately wet first...Dan's not into getting wet. He doesn't have the option with a bath...but he doesn't get bathed often enough to be a worthy training session.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog IRISHWISTLER's Avatar
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    SunDance,
    I train my dogs on the command "SHAKE", but always in conjunction with them coming out of the water. I think it would be tough to teach otherwise because it is not something they do regularly otherwise. Timing is critical and I watch for them to execute the behavior after exiting the water and keep my self in front of them so that they can see me. Initially I execute a gestural cue along with the verbal command "SHAKE" as they do the behavior and mark the behavior with a "GOOD DOG" as they do it. As they become more proficient, I time my gestural cue and verbal command to precede their shake as I watch for their physical cues to me that they are about to do so. Again the behavior desired is verbally marked with a "GOOD DOG" and additionally a high value reward can be delivered as timed with successful demonstration of the desired behavior by the dog to reinforce that behavior. Many repetitions are required to entrench the desired behavior and I believe that a dog that gets wet frequently lends itself to learning this behavior with a much higher degree of success. My dogs are working Labs and they are worked in the water at a very high level of frequency both whilst training, hunt testing, and hunting, that giving us lots of opportunity to shape the desired behavior. For myself, I do not want my dogs stopping to shake at the water's edge to shake as they exit from a pond. Too often, dogs will drop a bird to shake off water while making a retrieve from a body of water if not trained to do otherwise. I use specific training methods to teach a dog to shake only after they have made delivery of the bird or training bumper to hand, and only after commanded to do so. My dogs will sit to make delivery and I will keep them at sit and move just out of immediate range from their (spray zone) before giving them the gesture and command to "SHAKE", THIS ALLOWING THE DOG TO SHED EXCESS WATER WITHOUT GETTING ME DRENCHED.😁

    Cheers,
    Mike 🍀🇮🇪🇺🇸
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  4. #3
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    I've tried to teach Lark the Shake command but she isn't in the water often enough to get a consistent response. I haven't tried it recently but I could get her to shake all over by telling her to shake then blowing in one ear after I'd brushed her or finished rinsing her off. I'd tell her good shake, good shake and act like she'd done something fabulous. She got so she'd shake if I told her to shake and touched one of her ears but we haven't done it for a while. Mostly she's wet when coming in from being outside in the rain and at that time I don't want her to shake until I've tried to dry her off with a towel. I'll have to try to teach both my pups to shake when we're back on beach time this year and they're doing more shaking to reward them for. In the meantime, I'll have to stop telling Henry to Shake when he gives me his paw, which he excels at since day 1. It would be a handy command to be able to use.

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  6. #4
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    Ahhhh, Mike...pre-empting it. Perfect. That's what I do to squelch crate whimpering but it never dawned on me to do it for something positive.

    Gonna give it a whirl.

    Thanks!

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    IRISHWISTLER (02-04-2019)

  8. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by IRISHWISTLER View Post
    SunDance,
    I train my dogs on the command "SHAKE", but always in conjunction with them coming out of the water. I think it would be tough to teach otherwise because it is not something they do regularly otherwise. Timing is critical and I watch for them to execute the behavior after exiting the water and keep my self in front of them so that they can see me. Initially I execute a gestural cue along with the verbal command "SHAKE" as they do the behavior and mark the behavior with a "GOOD DOG" as they do it. As they become more proficient, I time my gestural cue and verbal command to precede their shake as I watch for their physical cues to me that they are about to do so. Again the behavior desired is verbally marked with a "GOOD DOG" and additionally a high value reward can be delivered as timed with successful demonstration of the desired behavior by the dog to reinforce that behavior. Many repetitions are required to entrench the desired behavior and I believe that a dog that gets wet frequently lends itself to learning this behavior with a much higher degree of success. My dogs are working Labs and they are worked in the water at a very high level of frequency both whilst training, hunt testing, and hunting, that giving us lots of opportunity to shape the desired behavior. For myself, I do not want my dogs stopping to shake at the water's edge to shake as they exit from a pond. Too often, dogs will drop a bird to shake off water while making a retrieve from a body of water if not trained to do otherwise. I use specific training methods to teach a dog to shake only after they have made delivery of the bird or training bumper to hand, and only after commanded to do so. My dogs will sit to make delivery and I will keep them at sit and move just out of immediate range from their (spray zone) before giving them the gesture and command to "SHAKE", THIS ALLOWING THE DOG TO SHED EXCESS WATER WITHOUT GETTING ME DRENCHED.

    Cheers,
    Mike 
    Chloe knows "shake" and learned it pretty much the same way (pairing the behavior that was about to happen anyway with a cue and praise). The other two aren't as solid with it because they haven't had as much experience ... I usually only do it when they've come home wet from the park (we walk to/from) before they are allowed in the house.
    Annette

    Cookie (HIT HC Jamrah's Legally Blonde, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015
    Sassy (HIT Jamrah's Blonde Ambition, UDX, OM2, BN) 6/4/2015

    Chloe (HIT HC OTCH Windsong's Femme Fatale, UDX4, OM6, RE) 6/7/2009

    And remembering:

    Scully (HC Coventry's Truth Is Out There, UD, TD, RN) 4/14/1996 - 6/30/2011
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  10. #6
    Senior Dog MightyThor's Avatar
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    We call it "wiggle" since shake was already used for the right paw (left paw is "pound it") but trained it in the same way - capturing and rewarding the natural behavior and just pairing it with a word.
    Mighty Thor, "So Much Dog", born 1/6/2014
    And baby Barley, born 3/9/2018

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  12. #7
    Best Friend Retriever SoapySophie's Avatar
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    I call it "shakey-shake" but the command doesn't always work.
    Sophie: Born July 28, 2014
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  14. #8
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Capture the behavior with a clicker and then a reward and pair it with a verbal or signal. I use a hand gesture, like someone might do when they are indicating "kinda". Clickers are are much better at capturing a behavior than praise or just food, faster, too.

    If you want to keep your dog from shaking, I found a chin rest behavior is helpful. A dog cannot shake while pressing their chin into your hand. Well, maybe they could, but it would be awfully difficult! And, I love the chin rest behavior for everyday things, especially at the vet.

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  16. #9
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    I taught shake out of necessity when we had a Dalmatian and gave her a bath. I would pull the shower curtain almost closed and blew gently into her nose while using the command shake. Praise, praise. It worked so good with her we continued it with all our labs. Works great after one of the stinkers decided a mud puddle was fun.
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