Does anyone notice their dog more responsive to hand signals? I have tried voice and hand signals separately and found that I get a much better response if I do hand signals. A fist for sit, point to the floor for down, slap on the leg for heal... If I say the word she looks confused and will take longer to do it.
Not sure if I should do a different thread for this question...
When are you sure the dog understands and how to you start putting corrections into your training? What LB DVD shows how to do this?
You alwas say the word first and then give the hand signal a split second later. That way the dog always anticipates the hand signal after the word , and after a few weeks you can just cut the hand signal to half it's movement, then make it one fourth and finally fade it off.
Then the dog will do the behaviour for the voice command.
I correct my dogs ONLY if they are blowing me off, or acting aggressively towards other dogs or humans.
If I know 100% that my dog knows the meaning of sit and I ask him to sit when he is looking at me , and he just blows me off and moves away to look at some thing else then I correct. But the moment he is forced to be attentive, I will praise him(even though I forced him to stay focussed)
I dont correct if I ask my dog to sit and he does not sit but is still not distracted away from me.
I am a novice, so may be that is not correct , but that is how I do it. Kaiser my dog is very soft and he will get upset if I administer hash physical corrections. I guess it also depends on your dogs.
Tiffany Holtfreter Webboard User Reg: 07-31-2010
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I have noticed this too, I think it is because they understand body language more than our voice. We can change the pitch of our voice and it will not sound the same as it did yesterday. A trainer once taught me to use both and mix it up. Practice with just the word and just the hand signal, then sometimes do both. This is really good advice because what if the dog goes deaf..now you have the hand signals. What if the dog goes blind...then you have the command.
As for corrections, I use them when say on a walk and they dont want to pay attention or the similar instances. If we are training I will use a no reward marker (eh-eh) if they are doing something I know that they know..like sit, down, ect.
The canine world is all about reading body language. Tail carriage, head carriage, facial expression, etc. Their whole communication system is more about scent and visual. Vocal takes a back seat to both of those.
When you walk in the house after a bad day do you have to tell your dog your not in a happy mood?
If someone is looking at you with a menacing glare from the other side of a noisy room do you have to hear what that person is thinking?
One of my daughters is an interpreter for those with hearing loss. She taught her down, stay, come with sign just for S&G.
The AKC Utility exercises have a portion of the exercises that are all done with hand signals.
The list of emoticons are there to add feelings and emotions to our discussions here because people can read to much into simple word on the net. They can't "hear" what the other person means. all tell you visually what I'm trying to convey with just words.
I too have noticed that my dog responds well to my body language. In fact, when teaching down stay I pointed to the floor and what do you know - he lied right down the first time. The stay part was more difficult and I had to use light corrections. He is a very soft dog and gets upset and disinterested if corrected too hard. Can't balme him! I really don't like hand signals alone because at night or out of sight the dog may not be able to see the signal but he sure can hear my voice. I use hand signals for training voice commands.
Matthew Grubb Webboard User Reg: 09-27-2002
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Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.
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When people talk about clear communication with your dog, that includes the physical. Understanding that the physical means more to the dog than the voice puts you on the path to becomming a better trainer and having a better relationship with your dog.
I can defiantly see that as true... She much prefers touching/petting with praise than without it and loves the games played with me more than other games with no physical contact.
I am going to work on making the word command stronger...
Reg: 11-04-2008
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I find that my voice excites my dog - if I want a drop on recall for example If I said down, or even wait down - it takes him a while to stop. If I raise my hand he stops instantly.
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Hand signals and corrections
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all tell you visually what I'm trying to convey with just words.
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