Hello, fellow dog lovers! I know that this issue has been around for a long time, but I am looking for some advice. My boyfriend and I met and hit it off right away because we are both crazy about our dogs and they are the same to each other. My little girl is a 3 year old shiba inu. I worked very closely with her as a puppy and she has retained all that she has learned. She can sit, lay down, speak, roll over (clockwise and counterclockwise), play dead, and give me her right/left paw (depending on which hand I provide).
My boyfriend's dog, a 6 year old "schnug" (schnauzer/pug) did not receive the same attention as a puppy. He is very paw shy, which, I am sure contributes to the problem. I have been working with him for close to 2 years without any progress. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong. I say "paw" while petting his paw, praising him and, occasionally, giving him treats. I also demonstrate with the shiba in front of him, so he can see. He's a smart little guy and LOVES attention, but is having difficulty with this one. Any suggestions?

I should also add that he is the master of "sitting" and "laying down". It's just that he is limited to those two tricks.

Some dogs can be very difficult to train, almost impossible.

My mum is a dog groomer and she has been this one ladies dog for about 6 years now... it still missbehaves as bad as ever even with grroming every 6 weeks for those 6 years.

All you can really do is keep trying.
Have you tried different techniques?
What worked for your Shiba may not work for the Pug mix.

He might be food or toy oriented and respond better with a reward of some kind, or he may need physical encouragement (actually picking his paw up, shaking it and putting it down)

One of my poodles learned tricks very quickly with me just showing her what to do once while my other poodle took a lot more encouragement but once he did the trick once, he did it perfect every time after that.

Don't give up yet, just try a few different techniques. ;)