I want to teach my dog hand commands
“I want to teach my dog hand commands for everyday activities. How early can I start? Can I teach my old dog? I’ve seen other people do it and it looks like magic.”
What a great question! The answer is right now! No matter if you just got your dog or puppy or if they are already in your home. Dogs are never too old or too young to learn. Learning keeps our minds busy and happy and it’s the same for our dogs, they love to be busy and learn new things. Experienced dog handlers are really fun to watch. It’s hard to tell if they’re using hand signals, body language, or facial expressions to guide the dog’s actions. When a person and a dog are attentive and they understand each other, it does look like magic as they work. The examples I like best of voiceless signals are in agility competition and dancing with dogs. There’s very little talking and lots of action.
Hand signals are great for every day living, not just for the fancy competition stuff. It’s nice to ask the dog to get in or out of the car, into the kennel or house, back up, lie down, come, leave it, shake your body, shake hands, high five, play dead, and SitStay, without any voice request. I start hand signals the moment the puppy or the rescue dog becomes a member of our family.
I like to use the gesture for “right this way” to signal that I want the dog to go from here to there. (Think of a butler in the movies. “Dinner is served. Right this way, Madam” and the hand waves gently from in front of him to the direction of your dinner, the open palm curving away from their body, they may even do a little bow.) I like to keep my elbow curved for this signal, don’t use a straight arm. A dog who has been abused may not recognize a straight arm as an invitation, a soft loose curving arm is best. A straight arm can look mean and hard. Try it and see the difference I’m talking about.
Whenever you give your dog a voice request, use the hand signal that you want them to learn. When your dog is going outside first thing in the morning, “wait” at the door (international stop sign, full palm facing dog), then “right this way” out the door. Same thing coming back into the house, “wait” at the door, then “right this way” into the house. The SitStay Dogs wait at doors until they are waved through.
Hand signals can and should be added to every trick and every behavior along with the voice request. Add the hand signal you want to use and pretty soon you can stop saying the words and use the hand signal by itself. Add hand signals for simple things, too. Like your dog jumping up on the bed. As she jumps, add the hand signal.
Your dog should start thinking you’re the traffic cop in the house and really that’s just what it is, you’re directing traffic! It’s a fun way to train. Use both hands, either hand can mean the same thing if you practice enough. You’ll be able to use your left or your right to call your dog to you. That will be convenient should you ever break an arm. If you’re consistent in your training, your dog will start automatically doing what you want when you signal. You and your dog will be communing quietly; the world will think that you and your dog are the new magic act on the block.
Dancer is losing her hearing. One good thing about this is that she can’t hear all of the 4th of July celebration anymore. The best thing about it is that we can still communicate with our hands and not have to speak. I know she can’t read lips. I say “Hey, Dance, come here” and she tilts her head with a puzzled expression, “What did you say?” I motion with my hand and she comes to me. Try teaching your dog some American Sign Language (ASL). By the way, clicker training can be used for dogs who are losing their hearing or have already gone deaf. Put the clicker against the skull so they can feel the vibration when it clicks. Make sure your dog understands that goodies or a toy are coming as a reward with every click, don’t need to scare the dickens out of them.
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Watch the Charlie Chaplin Dog dancing for an excellent example of voiceless commands. Four paws up for this performance! Yes, your dog can do it, too.
