Remember not to give both cue's at the same time. REWARD WITH JACKPOT I mean a huge jackpot, should be like 1/4 of your training treats for the session.In anticipation of the phsycial cue the dog will perform the desired behavior.With enough pairings the dog will learn that the verbal cue indicates a physical cue(hand signal).Within one second ( I know the timing on this is difficult) give your hand signal.With out moving your hands at all give your verbal cue.Make sure that your hand signal is 100% reliable.Notable WIKI pages:įor content relating to the physical care of dogs, try our sister subreddit, /r/DogCare. Please flair your posts using its flair link (not, and so on)! See our flair guide for help. In particular, please note that recommending the use of aversives like pain, startle, fear, or intimidation to train dogs is not permitted here. Posts and comments that don't follow these guidelines will be removed. Please read our rules and posting guidelines before posting or commenting. FiltersĪll | Remove Filter Academic Announcement Brags Community Criticism Welcome Discussion Equipment Help Industry Resource Update Posting Guidelines: If your training is not fun and effective, or if you need additional help, then please find a certified trainer for assistance. The advice here is not a replacement for professional help. Don’t hold itīetween thumb and forefinger - where the visual emphasis is on the treat and much less on the hand.This is a forum on dog training and behavior that focuses on a least intrusive, minimally aversive approach. Plane of her nose, she will tend to crane her neck up and sit.Īs you introduce hand signals with your dog, shift the position of the treat in your hand. Remember, if you bring the treat and hand signal above the With your hand somewhere near your dog’s nose, pull it away in a line level with her nose and parallel With your hand raised, simply sweep it straightĭown until your hand is comfortably at your side. The final hand signal for down is the opposite of sit. Only when she’s nailed this should you move to the final down hand signal. This makes no sense initially, since every otherĮxercise (except stay, later) asks her to move toward the treat to get the treat. That your dog move away from the treat to get the treat. Preliminary version first? Because the final version of the down hand signal (which appears next) demands Raised, palm out, bend over so you can lower your hand all the way to the ground with the treat. Initially, do the motion as shown here: With your arm You have to teach the down hand signal in two steps. To issue the sit hand signal, begin with your hand at your side and simply sweep your arm upward as shown. Three main commands: sit, down, and stand. Gestures, and you can add more hand signals as training continues, but I find these three work best for the
Other people and trainers sometimes prefer other Is easy for you to do and easy for your dog to understand. In theory, it doesn’t matter what gestures you use for hand signals. If you encounter trouble with hand signals, or seem to be moving too fast for your dog, “Building a Routine,” until your dog follows you consistently and reliably. Remember, you can’t build a solid house on a shaky foundation. Make sure you’ve nailed each stage in all its variations before moving on to the next. But trust me, if you systematically follow these routines, you’ll have your dog responding to hand signals in no time, and you will have paved the way for genuine “commands.” That makes for a lot of exercises to repeat with only minor variations, and it may seem a bit tedious in theīeginning. Each stage works with the exercises you’ve learned so far - sit, down, and stand. The full transition to hand signals involves three stages. The use of hand signals starts to separate sits, downs, and stands into independent concepts in your dog’s mind, and they begin building the bridge from “exercises” to “commands.” Hand signals also change the way you use treats in order to begin reducing your reliance on them. Once your dog has mastered the foundational sit-down-stand routine, you’re ready to add hand signals.