Paw lifts can be either distance increasing behaviors or distance decreasing behaviors.  In both the examples below, the puppies are signaling peaceful intentions, thus the paw lifts are distance decreasing behaviors.

                        31 Day-Old Puppies

42 Day-Old Puppy Does a Shake Off

Shake offs are most often signals of mild stress occurring after some form of unwanted encounter, such as play that has been too rough.