Dog Trick Thursday!

As the official greeters of Coffey Insurance, Winnie and Phinn would like to share with you their second favorite way of saying hello, shaking! (second to licks!)

To teach your dog how to shake, start by getting your dog to sit down. You can then bend down or kneel in front of him and touch the leg you want him to lift. An easy trick is to touch the shoulder muscle, and the paw will lift slightly.

As soon as the paw lifts, place your hand under the paw and lift the leg up and down gently in a shaking motion, while using the command “shake” or “shake a paw”. As this comes naturally to dogs, it won’t take much motivation (treats!) to get your dog to start shaking.

A fun twist to throw on is having your dog “wave”. When the dog can shake confidently on his own, you can step back and he will paw at the air waiting for your hand. You can add the “wave” command, and reward him. Lots of times during dinner, Phinn will wave at us, hoping we’ll drop some, but we just wave right back!

We hope you have fun bonding with your four legged friend while teaching them this trick and come visit Winnie and Phinn at Coffey Insurance they love to "shake" after lots of hello licks of course!

Until next time...