So, are hand signals the answer to the best possible training for your dog? Maybe. Moreover, when conflicting hand signals and voice commands were given, in 70 percent of cases the dogs responded to the hand signal. Remember that dogs do not understand the words that you use, but they learn to respond to certain sounds, which they must pick out from ambient noise and distinguish from other, similar words.ĭogs are incredibly good at reading body language and distinguishing physical gestures is pretty much second nature to them.Īn Italian study shows that dogs (admittedly very intelligent Labradors and Golden Retrievers that had been professionally trained so don’t necessarily expect the same results from your dog) respond to voice commands with 82 percent accuracy while they respond to hand signals with 99 percent accuracy! Teaching your pooch to respond to your hand commands can be fun and impress family and friends.īut more than this, it can also be easier for dogs to learn hand signals than voice commands. If you want your dog to compete in competitive obedience of sports, responding to hand signals is a requirement!ĭeaf dogs are obviously unable to respond to voice commands, and don’t forget that many dogs lose their hearing as they get older and may struggle to hear your voice commands. Sometimes you want to give your dog commands when it is noisy and they can’t hear you. There are lots of good reasons why you might want to teach your dog to respond to hand signals.
Why Train Your Dog To Respond To Hand Signals? Tips For Teaching Your Dog Hand Signals.Why Train Your Dog To Respond To Hand Signals?.Try to choose hand signals you are comfortable doing and use them consistently while training your dog. Remember these are just some of the dog training hand signals you can use. He will automatically go into a sitting position. If you are holding a treat, his nose and eyes will follow your gesture. Raise your arm so your hand moves in front of your dogs face and over his head. Hold your arm at your side so your hand is pointing down. Once the dog learns it you can move faster.
The gesture only needs to be slow at first. Slowly, move your arm in front of your body and touch your right shoulder with your left hand. Hold your left arm straight so it is parallel to the floor. Some trainers exaggerate the gesture by starting with their hand held higher than normal. Lower your hand or point finger towards the ground. Hold your hand out towards you dog as if telling him to stop. To give you some ideas of common hand signals, here are a few used by other trainers. The only rule is once you have started using a particular signal for a command you should remain consistent. Like verbal commands, you have complete control over the dog using signals as cues. Obviously, if you have a dog that has a hearing impairment then using this method, offers a way to train without words. If your dog knows he has to watch you for a command, he will be less distracted by everything else and will be easier to train.Ĩ. Most people are amazed when owners can control their dogs without saying a word.ħ.
The use of physical signals seems more impressive to others. Using both hand gestures and verbal commands at the beginning of your dogs training helps reinforce your command.Ħ. Hand signals can be taught along with verbal commands. They are more likely to see your hand gesture.ĥ. If your dog runs off, if you are running an agility course, or if you are hunting in the field, your dog may not hear your verbal command. A dog may ignore a verbal command but respond to a hand signal.Ĥ. However, they do respond to what they see.ģ. I see this every time we work our hunting dogs, and it always amazes me.Ģ. If taught hand signals, the handler can communicate to the dog what the plan of action is. When working with hunting dogs, they are usually a distance away. There are a number of reasons to choose hand signals over verbal commands:ġ. You can use hand gestures to cue desired action in your dog these are known as dog training hand signals. No matter if you want to show your dog where is the limit of the area of the wireless fence or when he should give a voice or be quiet. However, hand signals make the training much more effective. Because most of us communicate verbally, we assume its best, to use verbal commands with our dogs. Dog training hand signals is a wise choice for some types of dogs.