It's easy to train your dog to lie down and cross his paws. Simply follow these instructions for dog trick training:



Step 1: Get your dog to lie down. Obviously, you must have taught him this trick before teaching him the paw trick.

Step 2: Get your dog to offer his paw on command. If you've never taught him that trick, reach out and grab one of his paws. Using a clicker, click once and offer a small treat each time you take (or he offers) his paw. Your dog must remain in the down position while offering his paw on command.

TIP: If you're having trouble teaching your dog to offer his paw, place a treat in the palm of your hand a few inches away from the paw you want. Your dog will eventually move his paw toward the treat that is in your hand in the hopes that you will give it to him. Make sure to use your clicker and click each time he taps your palm.

Step 3: Keep working with the paw offering part of the trick and focus on only one paw at a time. Keep doing so with the clicker and treats.

Step 4: Once your dog knows to touch your hand with one of his paws, gradually move your hand closer to the dog's other front paw. At this point, the dog must lift his paw up and move it over sideways in order to reach your hand and offer his paw.

TIP: Should your dog decide to lift the opposite paw instead of continuing with the trained paw, pull your hand away and ignore his response. Don't reward this action.

Step 5: The trick is almost complete. Once your dog targets your hand after it has moved near his other paw to the opposite side, snap your hand back quickly at the last second. The paw he was moving should now land directly over and across the other paw. Click and offer your dog a treat.

Step 6: Keep repeating this training process. Each time his paw crosses over, gradually move your hand away from the dog. Your dog will eventually cross his paws by seeing your hand signal and you will be able to do it from greater distances too.