How to Teach Your Dog High Five

How to teach your dog high five may seem hard. It’s in practically every movie featuring a dog. Only the most skilled dog owners and highly trained dogs are in movies. That means only the most skilled dog owners and highly trained dogs know how to high five, right?

Wrong.

Young dogs everyday learn this skill, including young puppies! If your dog knows sit, he can definitely learn high five. Ezra learned it over dinner time, and we have been showing it off to anyone who will watch since then!

If you want to teach your dog how to give a high five, keep reading.

Why should you teach your dog high five?

You might want to teach your dog high five if:

• You want to obtain the AKC Novice Trick Dog Title. There are no prerequisites to taking the test and receiving the title.
• You enjoy training your dog and need new skills to practice.
• You want to learn cool tricks to delight a crowd.

Basic Principles of How to Teach Your Dog High Five

We are going to teach your dog high five the same way we teach anything else – food luring. We want to lure your dog into small steps of the behavior and reward him with treats or kibble when he hits the next milestone. Then we will keep repeating that same milestone 3-5 times until he keeps doing it without any mistakes or just minor mistakes. And then we will challenge him to hit the next milestone, with more food luring.

If he makes a mistake, do your best not to let him repeat it more than twice. To help him get back on track, make it easier for him to understand by more exaggerated motions or going back a half step to something you know he can do before progressing again.

When he no longer requires food luring, be patient and give your dog space to think. Do not keep repeating the same command over and over – say it once and watch his gears turn. The minute he does the right behavior, praise and reward him with food.

How to teach your dog high five

The milestones we are going to hit today will be 1) Getting your dog to tap your fist with his paw, 2) Getting your dog to tap an open hand with food in between your fingers, and 3) Getting your dog to finally high five and begin learning the verbal cue.

Let’s get started!

Milestone #1: Tapping Your Fist with His Paw.

Once you have your dog in a sitting position, take a treat and put it in your first. I used three pieces of kibble from Ezra’s dinner. Then I held my fist up in front of him so that my knuckles pointed upwards and my palm was facing Ezra.

At this point, Ezra was nosing, licking, and nuzzling my fist. He was trying to get me to open so he could eat the kibble I was holding. Your dog will do this too, and let him keep doing it.

When he eventually paws at your fist, immediately open your hand and give the treats. Let him know he’s a good boy too. Then repeat. Keep repeating until your dog no longer requires any sniffing, licking, nuzzling and just goes straight to pawing at your first.

You’ve completed the first milestone! Congratulations!

Milestone #2: Tapping Your Open Hand with Treats Between Your Fingers.

Depending on your treat, this one is a little tricky to maneuver. Since I was using Ezra’s kibble, I stuck three pieces of kibble in between my fingers by my palm. My hand also cupped a little bit, but that’s OK. Ezra understood the assignment. Your dog will too.

In this milestone, you are going to do the exact same thing – hold your cupped hands in front of the dog to mimic a real high five. Wait until he paws at your hand. Remember: be patient and wait for that paw. Once he paws, give the treat and tell him he’s a good boy.

Repeat this the same way you repeated the first milestone – until he goes straight to pawing without any other behaviors.

You’ve completed the second milestone! Great job! You are nearly there!

Milestone #3: High Fiving Your Hand without Holding any Treats

This is when we stop food luring. This milestone is tough because it requires patience. Give your dog space to think. If he makes a mistake twice in a row, take a deep breath and go backwards to the previous milestone and get back in a groove. You’ll be just fine.

First, put the treats out of sight. Then put your hand up for a high five. Wait for your dog to think about it and eventually paw your hand. The moment he does, praise and reward with a treat. When he exhibits this behavior 3-5 times in a row, introduce the verbal cue.

Introduce the verbal cue of “high five” by saying it right before you give him your hand. Continue praising and treating the dog for the rest of the training session.

Practice this milestone everyday for 5-7 days. By that point, your dog should be familiar enough with the trick that he will understand the verbal cue! And who knows – he may not even need a treat anymore to do it!

Now you’ve got a dog that can give a high five – congratulations!!

Conclusion

This is a very simple and fun trick to teach your dog at any point in his life. It’s three basic steps using kibble during meal time to lure your dog to eventually paw at your open hand as a high five. Once he learns this, you can also easily teach him to shake too.