...she tentatively put her paw up to shake when she was being unleashed after being out.

GSD's use their paws a lot, kind of like boxers. You might notice shepherd's in old T.V. shows, or in movies, using their paws. That's because they do it naturally, so why not make it into something useful.

So, to keep our big boy from hitting us with that big, strong paw of his, we created a time when he could use it, and all other times were out of bounds. (That paw is painful if it smacks you, and with each of us having one eye worse than the other, we don't always see it coming.) So, when he comes in from a walk he sits to have his leash removed, and at that time we have him shake with one paw, then the other paw. It has satisfied his need to use his feet.

But, we never thought to have Hira do the same.

Then, tonight, she came in and sat to be unleashed, and tentatively put her paw up to shake. We didn't teach her that, she must have been watching Krypto, and decided to try it! :-)

No, we didn't know how it was going to turn out, and as you know, I was prepared to take her in to save her, then find her a permanent home, need be. Now, we feel like she's part of the family. :-)