Make sure you practice each exercise in a distraction-free environment before teaching your dog new tricks. Dogs can read your body language and will react negatively if your hand signals change suddenly. It is also best to practice these exercises on your own, without your dog present. If you switch your hand gestures too often, they will become confused. Think of it as a kind of language for dogs. When teaching your dog the hand signal, be sure to use the same gesture for each trick. It would be best if you raised your hand in a similar manner to the STOP sign. After teaching your dog to sit or down, you should teach the stay sign to your dog. For example, the stay command can keep your dog calm and obedient during visitors or loud noises. Dog Training With Hand Signalsĭog training with hand signals can be beneficial when teaching your dog a command. If you train your dog using hand signals, you’ll be able to get the desired behavior very quickly. If you use the correct hand signal, your dog will obey you and feel happy and relaxed. ![]() You can also use your dog’s nose and body language to train him to come when called. Once he understands this, you can use the hand signal to get him to move. ![]() For instance, when your dog sits, you can teach him the stay or come command. If this is easy for your dog just play along because what I want you to learn is that no matter what behavior you want to teach your dog this is how you do it – get the behavior you want, mark and treat the behavior, repeat until your dog is reliably offering the behavior, then add a verbal cue.Dogs learn by using hand signals. If she doesn’t sit repeat 5 more times with the hand cue/verbal cue combo, then the verbal cue only on the 6th time. If your dog sits give yourself a pat on the back. Say “sit,” then give your hand cue (move it up and back), wait for your dog to sit, then mark & Treat (M/T).ģ.On the sixth time say “sit” and do not use your hand cue. Now you’ve taught your dog what “sit” means!ġ. When you say “sit” she’ll anticipate that hand movement and sit before you give the hand cue. If your dog is reliable at sitting when you move your hand up and back, and you practice successfully several times, then your dog should anticipate what is coming next. Once your dog sits, mark and reward! The verbal cue “sit”, becomes a predictor that you will offer the hand signal for sit, to which your dog will respond by sitting. Follow this immediately by your hand signal (without saying anything else). You will need to say your verbal cue first, without moving your body. If your dog responds 4 or 5 times out of 5, your dog is on his way to understanding the hand signal! Now you’re ready to add the verbal cue. ![]() To teach a hand signal for “sit”, just move your hand *exactly* the same way as you did with the lure, but without any treats in your hand. So, what do we do about this? How do we teach our dogs both the verbal cue and the hand signal? Well, it’s pretty simple! You just have to separate the two!įirst and foremost, if you have used a lure to teach your dog to sit, you need to get rid of the food in your hand AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. Overshadowing takes place when a certain stimulus (“sit!” is not noticed by the animal because there is a more salient (more evident) stimulus (hand signal) around. What happened? Why didn’t Fluffy sit? She clearly KNOWS sit! When we give both a verbal cue and a hand signal simultaneously, our dogs will only ‘hear’ one of those cues. The owner then assumes the dog knows what “sit” means…. at least until they say “sit” without the hand signal and dog does nothing in response. ![]() Typically what I see is someone saying “sit!” while lifting their hand. In fact, based on studies, dogs can learn 160+ words through training and observation! But sometimes we get ‘stuck’, and our dog doesn’t seem to actually be learning the verbal cue separate from the hand signal. That is why they pick up on our hand motions so quickly when we are teaching them sit, down, and other similar obedience cues.ĭogs can EASILY learn both verbal cues AND hand signals. Our dogs probably think we’re crazy just chattering away! I hope that Knox finds it endearing how much I talk to him, even though he understands very little of what I’m actually saying! Dogs, on the other hand, speak primarily through body language. As humans, we primarily use our voices to communicate. Many of us want our dogs to reliably respond to both verbal cues (“sit!”) as well as our hand signals separately.
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