In the third step of training a ferret to shake a paw, the treat is still held in a closed hand above an open hand, but now the closed hand is held more over the wrist of the open hand. As you can see in the video, the ferret still reaches mostly for the closed hand, but the placement of the hands ensures that the ferret's paw often ends up resting on the open hand. Since touching the open hand is the desired behavior, simply holding the hands differently increases the chances that the ferret will perform the behavior wanted. Though it may seem a bit odd, it doesn't matter much at this point if the ferret understands what it is that you want; what matter is that the ferret is touching its paw to the open hand and being rewarded for it. Because of this, the ferret will eventually realize that touching the open hand is a good thing to do. Return to the entire video training series: http://exoticpets.about.com/od/ferretcare/qt/ferretshakeapaw.htm
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