[Mom] One of the things I have been having fun doing is teaching Pippi tricks. She enjoys it too. and working together for 15 minutes seems to make us closer. She is natural and would be a star trickster if I could get my act together and work with her consistently - but alas...In our favorite training book, 100 Dog Tricks, there are hand commands, verbal cues and behaviors to use. I particularly like to work with the hand commands - so much so I decided to look more up online here, here and a video here.
Hand signals work better for Pip because she is always watching me - no focusing issues for her! Unless she is sleeping, she is either next to me, in my relative area or watching me. It used to creep me out, but now I am used to it, and I watch her back. We often have staring contests - I win!
As I searched, I was surprised by the number of sites I found AND that the signals/commands were different site to site! On one the command for "bring it" was a flat hand held down and to the back, on another it was using your finger in the classic come here way.
It also never occurred to me if you have a deaf dog, either from birth or old age, you have to communicate with them somehow. The American Sign Language is the recommended tool for talking to your deaf dog.
So, this weekend, if you are casting about for fun things to do with you your dog, consider teaching them some hand signals. It's fun as well as potentially helpful as our dogs grow older.
