Dog Training Hand Commands
November 19th, 2008If an owner wishes along with using verbal commands to control their animal, they can also use hand commands as well. When it comes to teaching your dog the various different kinds of dog-training hand commands, you will in the beginning need to use verbal commands also. In this article, we look at just one of the ways in which a dog owner can teach such commands to their dog.
Teaching a dog how to obey hand commands rather than verbal ones can be achieved very simply. It will require some patience on your part, but having a few treats available when they do react in the right way can help things progress a lot more quickly and smoothly.
It is important that in the beginning when you are teaching your dog to react to hand commands is that you use the words as well. Therefore, you will need to decide which hand signals relate to which commands you will be giving to your dog. Only once you have made a decision on which verbal commands go with which hand signals can you then start your dogs training.
When you first start your dogs hand command training you will need to say the word and show them very deliberately the hand movement at the same time. This you will need to repeat several times to them before they start to understand what it is that you would like them to do. Immediately you notice that they have reacted as you begin to raise your hand and say the word then this is the time that they should be rewarded.
With this kind of training you will need to repeat the verbal commands every time you do the hand signals in the beginning, then as time progresses you need to start eliminating the verbal ones. Although you should be still praising your dog and offering them rewards these should only be offered when they actually respond to the hand commands and not the verbal ones as well. It is a good idea to very slowly and gradually stop using the verbal commands and replace them with hand ones only.
Once you feel your dog is actually fully responding to the hand signals that you are using to control them you can now start to actually begin to eliminate the need to provide them with treats. However, as with the elimination of verbal commands, a dog owner should not stop providing such rewards immediately, but gradually and slowly start to eliminate them. Instead rather than offering your dog a treat you could praise them.
When you are going to be teaching your dog to respond to hand commands rather than verbal ones it is a good idea to start of with the most basic commands that you want your dog to respond to. Most owners will start of with the ones we all learn in the beginning with our dogs, which is sit, stay, down and come. Only once you feel that you and your dog are ready should you be moving on to commands that are far more elaborate.
Actually getting advice on the right way dog training hand commands should be done is easy. There are plenty of sites on the internet today that can offer lots of practical advice and tips. Plus there are plenty of books and videos, which can help you with training your dog to respond to such hand signals.