Dog Training: You should ALWAYS teach your dog to understand hand signals

[123animalcrazy]

hand signals would be good for a deaf dogs or mute people :)

[Elfsarefun]

"i really have no friends in real life " lol

[ernanimartins]

I do not have the kind of friendship as I do with my dog, so it taught me a whole new concept about friendship and since then I can state I do not have that kind of friendship as well, all and all brother, we do have our dogs, and, they are the best friends we can have, and if dogs could, they for sure would like you on facebook as well...:)

[ernanimartins]

@ernanimartins And when I mean it, I mean the friendship, not her (my sharpei dog named Java) :)

[djboy951]

HOLY SHIT THIS VIDEO IS PRETTY RECENT! :DDDDDDD!

[BL4CKLABLE10]

Hi I'm trying to train by Labrador but she inst responding to my commands what do you recommend that I should do?she is 5months old.

[ernanimartins]

@BL4CKLABLE10 Get her attention by using something that she likes to play with, like a freesbie or a chewing toy, and then, let her know you are the one who will bring such nice goods to her, reward her when she is nice, and mean it, always double or triple the positive attitude, to stimulate the achievement.

When something undesired happens, just stand still and do not reward her, takes patience, but eventually she will give it up and do the right thing!

[brugc]

Great



[chaset1337]

Zak, I have a 12 week old Border Collie, I have taught him a few things in the week I have had him, he can sit, lie down, and shake.  He is great and attentive at home however when i take him to the park he completely freezes up, and he is scared of louder noises, is there anything I can do to help him relax in public?

Thank you

[bananafreak2]

@chaset1337 Hi, I had the same problem with my dog too. He's a black lab. What I did is I first would teach him in a quiet room, or a room with few distractions. Then slowly progress him into places with a few more distractions every time... I finally got to the point where we could be next to a marching band and he would listen to me. :) Hope I helped!

[163mojo]

Bahaha!! man that was good when Nova comes waddling in like "yes dad?"

[AgilityFox]

There's even a DVD about teaching ASL to dogs, called "mimic mutt".

[Ixxithedog]

Hi Zak (and everyone else seeing this), please search for the user alishamcgraw and look at her video named Deaf Dog ASL where she shows the viewers what signs she uses for her two deaf dogs, Rocket and Coco. Very interesting!

[yodapug123]

im trained my dog ASL

[piiipan]

2:18 rofl !!

[duckcluck123]

YOUR EYES. 

[stephboo92]

any ideas on how to help teach my dog to "drop" it, like a ball sock shoe paper or toy or anything. we went to training classe but he still doesnt seem to get it. maybe theres another approach. HELP!!!!

[tigercub995]

@stephboo92 i took my puppy through and they taught us 'leave it' where u have a treat under ur foot and say leave it then wait, they can sniff it and as soon as they stop or look away u click and give them the treat. my dog has taken to this method quite effectivly

[CitizenOvTheWorld]

heeheehee! I just read your comment RyuukiCho and it happened straight after. Couldn't stop guffawing.

Anyway, I have always wondered why on earth dog trainers do not just teach their dogs American Sign Language in the FIRST place, in order to make training one's dog more universal. ASL is used world over, why not for dogs world over too. It would have the added benefit of being able to know a little, well, ASL Anyway, that wasn't a question, just a little frustration is all.

[StickItOutTillTheEnd]

I love how you say, "Nova, come here, Buddy!" and he just casually walks in. SO CUTE. I always do hand signals with my dog. Sometimes I don't even use words when I ask him a command. I read somewhere that dogs actually learn the hand signals first before they learn the word commands - but that would be dependent on the individual dog, I'm sure.

[Cassy1plus2]

Hey. To all the People with Stupidly Easy Questions that have been asked. JUST GOOGLE IT! :)

[erikandfox]

We use the same hand signal for sit. That is strange. I did not copy you.

[djcbeats1]

Ahaha, did anyone laugh when he said "come" anyone? Lol

[moonthelost]

One thing I'd recommend when teaching a dog sign cues is, at first, hold your hand in front of thier face to make sure they make the connection between hand and command. When I'm giving my dog signal only commands I snap my fingers to get his attention, so he'll look at me. It also works for no.

[Cbig21]

Hi Zak, I'm getting a dog in a couple of months and i would like to be a professional dog trainer like you. So i just wanted to know how do i get to your level in dog training? And how do I become like you, you know with your own T.V show ect.

How do i become such a great dog trainee like you?

And is a Labrador as good in agility as your three dogs Venus, Supernova and Alpha? PS, With what I've seen your dogs do i think I'm leaning more torwards border collies than Labradors.

[robertvanstrasse]

@Cbig21 you're probably around 12 years old

[VanderSluisS]

Zak

Could you please make a video talking about you opinions on collars, regular collars prong collars and harnessess. I have been watching some videos saying that collars are uncomfortable to dogs so the make them pull more. My dog doesnt have a bad pulling problem, I just want to make sure that when he does pull im not hurting him.

Thanks, Sydney

[cardinalskristi]

My dog understands hand signals very well because when I first started teaching her obedience stuff I started out with hand signals. Although I do need to work on teaching her to understand the vocal commands that are associated with the command.

[billywig2]

My dog has become deaf, so the hand signals I taught her come in really handy now... if she's close enough to see them, as she's partly blind, too.

[Jal1515]

my Lab understands both verbal and signed commands. The signed commands do come in handy when i'm sick and have a cold, and it will come in handy if she ever becomes deaf as well. I always teach her the signed que first and then i do the verbal que. She's a smart cookie! :)

[0907Sb0907]

MY DADS DEAF!

[jpranski]

I just love your videos! I have been following you for the past 4months. In regards to this video I would like to comment that my husband and I trained our recuse boxer/ridgeback the sign for no. She responded to it very quickly. It got to the point where we didn't have to say no only sign it :) keep up the great work and videos! I just love them!!! You've taught my husband and I so much!

[Woodwinked11]

I'll be your friend <3

[josipis]

another good reason to do it is because if a dog becomes deaf it helps them out a lot

[hend6475]

My dog responds to both but gets less confused with hand signals when I'm giving him many commands in a row. The only command I don't have a hand signal for is, oddly enough, "speak"

[forcfed93]

Great topic ... I didnt think this was a big deal when I was younger (lazy teenager i guess). But I began using hand & verbal commands when I got my Dalmatian in '92 as Dals tend to loose their hearing later in life. This training became critically important in my case when he began to loose his hearing after he reached 13 yo. Needless to say, since then I have used hand & voice commands with every dog i work with. I also tell other dog owners to do the same.

[brittanyjadexo]

It's funny, Jackson is actually better at hand signals. I have always used both words and hands and one day I found out he wasn't responding to just words, except for very few 'commands' like sit, down, speak, etc. But most he only really is responding to my hand signal, even though I do say the word too.

[OneCrankyFemale]

I had been given the advice when I got Lucy (JRT) to use hand signals with words. I occasionally test her with hand signals alone, and she does very well with it. I've been teaching Maddy (pit/mix) since I adopted her a few months ago. I recently tested her on hand signals alone with what I've taught her so far. She gets it, too. This is good for noisy environments, distance, and, heaven forbid, if they go deaf, maybe in old age.

[Theodoroz]

we dont like these videos... WE LOVE THESE VIDEOS

( but please can u answer my facebook qouestion )

Theodoros Stylianou

[RyuukiCho]

ILL BE YOUR FRIEND!!! ^^

[RyuukiCho]

rofl!!! talking to camera : "nova come here buddy" nova comes walking into room. rofl too funny

[s080026]

I had a dog that hated worded commands, the only worded command she would respond to was drop. But she loved hand signals, I could get her to jump onto a flat surface, sit, hi-five, drop, roll-over and sit back up with out saying a thing. xDD I guess it depends on your dog and what they like doing. :)

[TheKalBaxter]

Great stuff man my mom is pro dog trainer well used to be she had a dog school and everything and i have to say you know your stuff and i like your attitude towards your dogs you seem to be a great loving owner those dogs are very luck

[l0n3wolf89]

I have a friend who taught his dog signlanguage, since his girlfriend was deaf. But I mean, I use alot of handsignals to my dog. Feels better than having to shout at your dog etc.

[beefymonk3y]

1st post? yay i love border collies