PUPPY HAND SIGNAL INSTRUCTIONS- TRAINING HAND SIGNALS TO YOUR DOG
TRAINING HAND SIGNALS TO YOUR PUPPY
Training a puppy with hand signals works well for some breeds and puppies, but not as well for other puppies and breeds. It is important to keep things in mind if you have a toy breed or a breed that has partially obstructed vision due to long hair on the face or even a puppy that has poor eyesight, hand signals may be more challenging to teach. Puppies that are highly distracted and puppies that are not able to focus will usually need additional training before starting hand signal training. Some breeds are very easy to teach hand signals and these typically include the gun puppies and herding breeds that have a natural instinct for a particular type of work or activity as well as an ability to understand hand signals and respond.
One of the most common methods of teaching a puppy or puppy to respond to hand signals is to work on pairing a verbal command that the puppy or puppy already knows with a hand signal. This means that the puppy or puppy must already know the command and respond with a high level of accuracy. Pairing a hand signal with the command means that the puppy must actually understand that you want him or her to respond to the hand signal. To start this process cue the puppy that you want him or her to look at you, usually through some sort of cue such as a clap or saying the puppies name. Once the puppy is looking at you, use the pre-determined signal in a very obvious and easy to see location for the puppy, typically about mid-body. You may wish to exaggerate the movement slightly. Say the verbal command at the completion of the hand signal and then immediately reward the puppy with a treat or a lot of praise. Don't overuse this technique and have the puppy repeat the command numerous times, especially if you are working with a breed that becomes easily bored with repetitive training methods.
Most of the basic hand signals are fairly common sense and are typically what you would use even if you were not familiar with the traditional hand signals. The following are the most common signals, however there is nothing to stop puppy owners from developing their own signals, as long as they are easy to read and understand by the puppy.
Good puppy - one of the first things you want to teach your puppy is how to signal they have been a good puppy. This can be a one or two thumbs up signal that is paired with treat.
Sit - a flat open hand turned to the side and drawn up from the side to the middle of the body by bending the elbow. This is sort of a sweeping motion across the midsection of the body.
Down - bend the elbow and hold the hand open, palm down, at about the chin level, then lower the open palm down to the waist. This will be done in a downward sweeping motion, resembling a downward motion.
Stay - a hand moved across the front of the puppies nose or away from the face, with the flat, open palm towards the puppy's head. This is very similar to a moving "stop" sign. Many trainers prefer to simply use a signal hand movement, without the sideways motion.
Heel - a hand led down beside the leg and full extended. This does not mean tapping your legs or snapping your fingers, it is just a flat hand signal.
Come - teaching come includes using a flat hand, sweeping motion side ways from the outside of the body towards the center of the body. This is similar to a come here motion that you would use with another person.
Any hand signal can be used as long as it is significantly different than any
other hand signal that is being used. Many owners make their hand signals to
similar or too minimal to allow puppies to be able to see the difference in the
signals. Hand signal can also be problematic if the puppy is not significantly
aware than you need them to watch your hands.
Switching the
puppy from responding to verbal cues to responding to hand signals is really not
difficult once the puppy understands what you want. Reward them for watching
your hand signals and then also start giving verbal cues less frequently and
rewarding with treats and lots of praise when the puppy responds to the hand
signal. The pairing really is the key, but this can only work after the puppy is
trained in the command. Some puppies for deaf or hard of hearing people are only
trained with hand signals, which can also be effective but typically takes some
training experience in working with these types of training programs.
If the puppy does not respond to the hand signals it is important to look at the
training program. Does the puppy understand that the hand signals are important
or relevant or do they need to be trained about this? Is the puppy able to focus
long enough to see the hand signal? In addition it is important to check and see
if the hand signals are being made in a clear line of vision for the puppy.
Remember puppies are not at the same height as humans, so it very important that
either they are cued to look up at your arms and upper body or that hand signals
are made at an appropriate level.
Start by using hand signals and commands that are very positive and highly
rewarding for the puppy. This may mean only teaching the come and sit command
and using lots of praise and treats until the puppy becomes very familiar with
what is happening. After the puppy has learned the "easy" commands with hand
signals it is then time to transition into the more challenging commands.
Remember that treats and lots of praise and attention will be essential in
reinforcing the new
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