When we ask our dog for a hand touch, they stop what they are doing and touch their nose to the palm of our hand. When properly trained, the hand touch becomes a game for our dog. They like doing it because we make such a big deal out of it.

Combining the "Look" exercise and then using the Hand Touch is a great way to redirect our dog off of a distraction we find ourselves in. This could be other people walking by with dogs, bikes going by, or joggers running by on our walks. We simply ask for a LOOK, and expect our dog to sit (or stand) in front of us and look at our face until we release them with a hand touch.

This video is taken directly out of our online course and training DVD, Intermediate Dog Obedience.

Never could I have imagined that, on a warm September night, a person would want to assault me for not being allowed to pet my dog while it was harnessed. Never do I feel so violated as when someone asks if they may pet the dog and, when I say no, they do it anyway, thinking I won’t know because I can’t see. Though these incidents happen, the overwhelming number of people my dog and I encounter are polite and genuinely interested in guide dogs and their jobs.

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