What is a trick you shouldn't teach your dog?
Zoe Green
2025-05-20 13:42:59
Count answers: 4
The issue is that cute can quickly turn ugly, warns Roche. “Shake” is usually a harmless trick, but I have seen it go wrong, she says, recalling stories of dogs knocking tea out of someone’s hands or whacking a child in the face. That risk is inherent in the trick because “we know now that any behaviour we teach a dog through positive reinforcement will almost always occur spontaneously, too,” says Roche. If we teach a dog to shake, we’re teaching them ‘Go ahead and put a paw on a person.’ For most dogs, it’s incredibly hard to know that one is OK but two isn’t, and before you know it, you have an otherwise great dog jumping when that’s not an encouraged behaviour, she explains. Someone could get very hurt. For your dog – particularly if you have a shy one – ‘shake’ could also invite distress, adds Roche. Your pup might be cool with being touched in one context but not another; and bringing strangers into the mix could put them on edge and result in a not-so-welcoming reaction. All that matters is your personal tolerance – do you care if your dog paws when you don’t want them to? asks Hansen.
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