Hand Signals

[loverocksalot]

I was discussing with Marc on another thread about the benefit of hand signals. I am big on using both hand and verbal.
I thought it would be good to share this info.
I use hand signals for everything except for eat. Some of them I made up. Some of them are somewhat standard. I tried finding a good web page showing this, but not very successful.
Found the basics
ezinearticles.com/?Training-Dogs-Using-Hand-Signals&id=2213745
www.squidoo.com/dog-training-hand-signals-2

I once had a video of tricks and stuff that I made for my trainer to show our success but I cant find it):
I might work on a new one. But it would take a while.

Hand signals along with verbal work well for Rocky and I. It has come in handy for Therapy and during vet visits. One of my favorites is "relax and put your head down". This hand signal works without words or just a whisper.

[catstina]

I always did hand signals with verbal signals. Benny would sit if I pointed up and lay down if I made a flat palm facing down. My mom's lab, KC, sits if you make two pointer fingers and put one on each side of your mouth!! It's very funny!

[wannabeowner]

I have to admit, I wasn't up to the task of trying to train Andrew, so I took him to "doggy bootcamp". The trainer there started training Andrew with hand signals. I still use them, and Andrew almost responds equally well to both. I'm planning on taking Valentine to the same trainer (who also boards & retrains former "pupils") so both dogs are trained the same way.

[bluetrees]

Since we have to use hand signals with Jack because he is deaf, Jess has begun to pick up on them too. Now she responds better to hand signals than voice commands. I usually do both voice and hand signals. Also, dogs understand bodily communication better since that is what they use with each other.

P.S. I mostly just use signals from American Sign Language since I am a deaf/hard of hearing teacher. If you're at a loss as to what hand signal to use, visit this website posted below. They have videos of people actually signing words so you can see what to do. Just search for the word you want to use.

www.aslpro.com

[loverocksalot]

Thats a cool site but I could not find where to type a word in I had to go through the s list to find sit. Funny the face the girl made when she signed SIT like she was yelling it and demanding it now.

[loverocksalot]

I have also found this one
Obedience hand signals
pages.swcp.com/~trish/files/HandSignals1.pdf

[loverocksalot]

This one real good hand signals for Deaf Dogs. Like how it has animated hand signals easy to understand.
www.deafdogs.org/training/signs.php

[bluetrees]

LOL, yes, the faces are kind of funny. Facial expressions in ASL are how you show inflections (if I'm asking a question versus a statement or excitement versus sadness). So when you isolate words like that, the face always looks funny.

[marc]

went thru the links today. thks for posting everyone