# I'm having trouble teaching my dog to shake water off



## becksterorange (Nov 13, 2010)

My dog has always been a quick learner. But, right now I am trying to teach him to shake water off on command, even if he is dry. We have a public swimming hole where people (and dogs) gather to swim. All the other dogs run up to people sitting on blankets to shake off and it is obnoxious. I don't want my dog to do that. As of now, he will get out of the water, I will tell him to wait, which he does, then I tell him to shake, which he does, but that is it. He will then run up and shake off again. Every time he shakes when I tell him to I run up an give him a "puppy party" and a treat. I have also tried not giving him anything if he only does it once. No dice. I really need him to shake off twice before he comes back up to socialize. All my friends are teasing me telling me that I might as well force him to scratch on command because it is an instinct, not something that can be trained. Am I wasting my time? Or can he really be trained to do this? I have been working on it daily for over a month and he usually gets things really quickly. :help:


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

This made me smile 
I've also been trying to teach my dog to 'Shake it' ever since we got him (12 weeks). He is now 5 years old.
In my defense, I didn't really try to train him to do it, more than just say praise and/or treat him for it if he does it. ("capturing" the action?)

But he still won't Shake. Or Yawn. Or Smile. 

My friend's dog can SNEEZE on command.

I say keep trying at it! You never know, one day it might just pay off! My dog couldn't Roll Over properly for the longest time. One day I told him to "Roll Over" and he did it perfectly, and has been able to ever since!

Good luck!


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## staffymom (Apr 16, 2010)

Awww the joys and challenges of training throughonly capturing a behavior! First I would suggest that if you are only going to get shaking as a full behavior (waiting to capture the entire thing) then make sure to reinforce EVERY single opportunity. Trying to ask for 2 when you don't have even 1 shake under stimulus control is jumping the gun. Any time I teach these types of behaviors, I always use shaping. I taught sneezing on cue by first clicking and treating for just heavy breathing. Something my dog does often when dinner time comes around. Took about a week to ramp it up to a snort then a sneeze..... Try shaping for a quick head movement left then right ect. and go from there. Or a form of "baiting" in this case tickle his ear, since water near the head is what generally starts the shaking behavior to start with. Then click and R+ for any little wiggle.Soon the hand reaching for his ear will become the shake cue and then you can change it to whatever cue you like.


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

Of course you can capture instinctive behaviours. I know people whose dogs scratch on cue, and I've seen dogs sneeze and yawn on cue. You just need to let her finish, mark, and reward. If you're marking or praising while she's doing it, she might not be able to hear you.


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## Crantastic (Feb 3, 2010)

I taught Crystal to shake by mussing up the fur on her head -- she'd automatically shake her whole body to fix her hair.


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## Canyx (Jul 1, 2011)

lil_fuzzy said:


> Of course you can capture instinctive behaviours. I know people whose dogs scratch on cue, and I've seen dogs sneeze and yawn on cue. You just need to let her finish, mark, and reward. If you're marking or praising while she's doing it, she might not be able to hear you.


Ooo, maybe my problem was I clicked WHILE he was yawning. 

Also, Crantastic, that is the CUTEST THING.


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

Quite possibly. I know my hubby always says he goes deaf when he yawns, so I always pause mid-sentence if he yawns while I'm talking to him

The magic time frame is within 1 second, but up to 3 seconds they can still form the association between the behaviour and the reward. So if you click as soon as the dog has finished yawning, she should get it.


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## RaeganW (Jul 14, 2009)

For shaking, try sprinkling a few drops of water on the dog's head. Sometimes that will induce a full body shake, and it's easier than wetting down the whole dog.


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