How to Clicker Train a High Five

Teaching your dog to do tricks reinforces obedience and strengthens your bond with your dog. Clicker training a high five is fun and easy. This behavior can also be varied to become a "shake" and a "wave".

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Clicker savvy dog
• Clicker
• Treats

1. Begin clicker training a high five by selecting which paw you would like him to lift and click and treat the movement of that paw only. Do this for a few minutes and take a break.
2. Click and treat only paw lifting. Once he seems to understand that lifting his paw is the correct behavior, you may now place your hand near his paw, and wait for him to touch it.
3. Click and treat your dog for lifting his paw while you have your hand near him.
4. High five Cooper! Click and treat only when your dog's paw touches your hand. Once he does this consistently, you may add the verbal cue "high five". Say the cue as you click the behavior.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep training sessions short 3-5 minutes is plenty
• Do not say the verbal cue until your dog is doing the behavior.
• Do many short training sessions per day
• Begin fading the use of the clicker as your dog responds to verbal cues reliably
• Train old behaviors like new behaviors in new places, around new people, or in the presence of other animals. Act as if your dog has not learned the behavior, and start at the beginning, until he has generalized the cue.
• Smile at your dog while training. Speak in cheerful tones. Clicker training is fun!
• Do not chat with your dog while training him, it confuses him as to what word he should be listening to.
• Do not repeat cues, if your dog is not responding to a verbal cue change something you are doing or make adjustments to the training environment.