Importance of Training with Hand Signals? By Beth Crosby

You might notice changes in your dog’s sight and hearing as it ages.

Fortunately, we can train blind and deaf dogs. Today, we’ll look at the benefits of training puppies with hand signals. Silent commands are useful with hearing dogs in loud situations and agility competitions. Instead of speaking to convey the desired behavior, the human moves his hand and possibly arms and body.

Do you notice that you clap your hands when you call Rover? This might be an example of unconsciously using common sense signals to supplement our oral commands. Other times we intentionally teach the dog silent commands in addition to voice commands.

“Hand signals encourage the dogs to watch as well as listen,” Michael DeAngury explained. The Charlotte owner of Dog Training In Your Home continued,” They are a primary means of training deaf dogs along with sign language”.

While no established dog hand training language is agreed upon, several hand commands are accepted by dog training professionals. Different people might use different commands, just as some pet owners say “Off” while others say “No!”. (The distinctions in voice commands is another post. Dogs don’t understand multiple definitions for a single word.)

Hand training commands include sit, down (as in lie down), stand, heel, crate, and even a few fun offerings like spin. Hand training can prompt most, if not all, behaviors. In addition, pet owners use body language, body movement and sign language.

At Fluffs of Luv, your pet’s care and comfort is our primary concern. We are happy to enhance visits with your pets by using hand commands during our visits. Call us or visit fluffsofluv.com today to schedule fall and holiday visits.

Copyright ©2016 Fluffs of Luv. All rights reserved.?If any part of this publication is reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or stored in a database or retrieval system, full credit must be given to Beth Crosby and Fluffs of Luv. No part may be used for commercial gain without the express written permission of Fluffs of Luv.

RESOURCES

deafdogs.org/training/signs.php?

dogs.about.com/od/dogtraining/a/Training-Dogs-Using-Hand-Signals.htm