You never know when either will come in handy.

It’s best if dogs know both verbal cues and hand signals. Tips For Teaching Dog Training Hand Signals So it’s really worth the time and effort to teach visual cues to our dogs. An Italian Study found that dogs responded to hand signals with 99 percent accuracy, whereas they responded to verbal commands with only 82 percent accuracy. Even when conflicting verbal and visual signals were given, dogs properly responded to the visual cue 70 percent of the time. The study was conducted on 10 goldens and 15 Labs–highly trainable dogs. And if we’re consistent in our visual cues, they’ll learn them.

It’s natural for dogs to read our body language.

Also, if you intend to compete in advanced obedience competitions, your dog will need to learn hand signals.

All positive training also improves the bond between you and your dog.

Having your dog focus on hand signals can also sharpen his mind.

She came to me after I cued her with a hand signal to come. One of my shelties, Amber, became deaf when she was about 13 years old. It really helped that she knew hand signals. I could even trust her when she was off-leash because she responded to my hand signal to come. And when I called her in from pottying at night I didn’t wake the neighbors.

So hand signals are necessary to communicate with them. It’s also beneficial in noisy environments in which he may not be able to hear a verbal cue.Teaching hand signals to your dog can increase his overall focus on you.Here are some of the reasons why you should teach your dog hand signals: Reasons To Teach Hand Signals to Your Dog But they do understand sounds, which is how they learn verbal cues. And doing so can significantly improve your dog’s life.ĭogs don’t really understand the words we use. There are many reasons for teaching hand signals to your dog in addition to voice commands.

Deaf dog training hand signals