People are hooked on caring for pets these days as they can be considered one of the most valuable possessions of a person. When choosing a pet, we have a variety of options, but dogs are the most preferred. One of the reasons for this is the dogs’ ability to understand and follow their owners’ commands. Given the proper training, a dog can understand both verbal commands and signs. However, they tend to learn hand signals more easily than words because dogs are very observant of body language.
Since we do not have official hand signals on dog obedience training, we practice the basic commands in common use and these are: heel, sit, stay, down and come. Through hand signals, you can teach your dog to sit by starting with your arm by your side. You can then move your hands toward your chest, palms facing up. This is ideal if he is inches away from his pet; if not, try to grab your pet’s collar and gently push the back of it until it sits.
Teach your dog to walk arms down in front of your dog with your palms extended forward. You can then command your pet to stay by slowly extending your arm and hand downward with your palm resting just to the side of your pet’s nose without contact. If your dog tries to sniff your hand, you can try to stop it in a gentle way. If you want your dog to lie down with his stomach on the ground and legs in front, do so with your hand open, palm down and parallel to the ground, with your arm bent at the elbow in a downward sweeping motion. Lastly, you can also teach your pet to approach you with his elbow bent and his arms outstretched, then move his arm toward his chest.
It is advisable to combine the verbal command with hand signals to improve your pet’s knowledge of it. They will soon respond to the verbal or hand signal once they learn to associate their hand signal with the desired action. If that happens, it would be easy for the owner to give their pet orders in any way the pet understands. Keep in mind that if you want your pet to impress you, help him enjoy dog obedience training by giving your pet a gift or praise that inspires him to do a good job. If your dog completely disobeys you, physical punishment is a no-no, as there are positive punishments available to increase your pet’s good behavior.
If your dog is successful in doing these basic hand signals in dog obedience training, then your pet is much more ready to move on. You can try enrolling your pet to learn more about these, but you can also do it yourself for a great bond with your pet. Arm yourself with lots of information on training your dog by reading books, searching the web, or seeking advice from experienced dog owners and trainers.
