Paws Up! A Fun Trick with Useful Applications

Have you ever had a moment where you wished your dog would put his front paws up on a stool or step to get closer to you? Or maybe you are having a dance party in your kitchen and you want your dog to join you in the fun?

You can do all those things with your dog, starting with one single dog trick: Paws Up! With Paws Up, your dog will become comfortable lifting himself onto his hind legs to put his front paws on a surface of your choice. This article will show you how to train your dog to put his paws on a low or high surface.

What is Paws Up?

The Paws Up command is used to communicate to your dog to put his front paw’s up on an elevated surface. This could be a stool, a bed, or even your outstretched arm. It normally results with your dog standing on his hind legs, but it’s not required for lower surfaces.

Why should you train Paws Up?

You may want to train your dog to put his paws up on command because:

• You want to obtain your AKC dog trick Novice, Intermediate, or Advanced titles.
• Your dog is a therapy dog who visits patients who can’t bend over to pet him easily, so you would like him to step up closer to them.
• It can be helpful to have your dog put his paws on a low stool or table for grooming.
• You want to have fun and eventually dance around with your dog on his hind legs.

One Step to Train Paws Up with Food Luring

For this trick, all you need is training treats and a marker conditioned dog. I also started training Ezra this trick from a sitting position, but that’s not necessary. Because I wanted to train Ezra to Paws Up onto my arm while I’m standing, I trained him on my arm from the start. The same basic principles apply if you want to use your hands, a low stool, couch, chair, or bed.

Whatever you choose, make sure you are able to position it so that it’s just out of reach of your dog. You want to force your dog to reach up and put his paws onto the surface.

Training Paws Up on a Low Surface

Select the surface you want your dog to put his paws onto and grab some treats. I selected my forearm and Ezra’s kibble. I put my forearm out horizontally just a few inches above his head while he was sitting. Then I lured him with treats by holding the treats just above my forearm.

At first, your dog may sniff and paw at you. Be patient because he likely won’t put his paws up onto the surface to get closer to eating the treats right away. That’s OK. Eventually he will. Once he does, mark the behavior and give him the treat. Then repeat.

Keep repeating until you can predict that he will put his paws up when you hold your arm out and lure him. Then add the verbal cue. Practice on different surfaces so that your dog doesn’t just learn the pattern. You want him to exhibit Paws Up on any surface.

Train Paws Up on a High Surface

Practicing on different surfaces will definitely help because you will naturally find different heights to practice on. Just remember: don’t change the elevation too much too fast. For example, if you taught your dog to put his paws up onto a stool that is eight inches high, don’t jump to a standing desk that is four feet high. Instead, try a stool that’s one foot high or a foot and a half.

I wanted to train Ezra to Paws Up onto my arm while I’m standing so we can eventually dance. If you also want to dance, here’s my recommendation to increase the elevation:

• Back up a few inches. Don’t stand directly above your dog because they don’t stand straight up on their hind legs. This will make sure your dog has space to Paws Up as you add elevation.
• Increase the elevation slowly. I made the mistake of going too fast and Ezra didn’t get it. Instead, I started adding a couple inches to the elevation for Ezra to reach higher and higher for his treats. Over time, he figured it out and it was a much easier learning curve.

And that’s it! All you have to do now is keep practicing!

Conclusion

Paws Up is a really easy trick to train your dog. All you need to do is grab some treats and select a surface to practice on! Pick a surface that will require your dog to reach a little to put his paws on top. Then food lure him onto it! I used my arm, and it was pretty easy. Over time, your dog will be able to put his paws up on surfaces of any elevation at your command. This is beneficial for:

• AKC Dog Trick Titles – Novice, Intermediate, or Advanced.
• Grooming appointments
• Therapy work – if you are visiting patients who can’t bend over to pet your dog, you can instruct them to put their paws up on a surface so they can get closer for pets.
• Just for fun! Who wouldn’t want their dog to put their paws up on your to dance around the living room?

Have you trained Paws Up before? How has it been useful for you?

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