Be sure to check out some of the great training videos by other deaf dog owners under our Training Video section to see how the positive reinforcement training works with deaf dogs.Īlso if you start training your deaf dog to do new tricks and you want to learn new signs. To start on different sign cues, give the specific sign cue you want the dog to perform, lure the dog into place with a high value treat, (I use Light Bologna and cut it into very small squares) give a open flash of your hand when the dog does what you want (or a thumbs up sign), then treat. When he makes eye contact with me, I give him an open flash of my hand (to visually mark the correct behavior instead of the sound of a clicker like the do in Positive Reinforcement Clicker Training to mark the right behavior) and then I give him a treat. I sign and touch my nose with Nitro to give him the cue for “watch me” sign. Your first training should be mini sessions of working on getting the deaf dog to look at you. The deaf puppy or dog needs to be looking at you directly at you FIRST before you can actually give the dog a sign command. To read more about Tether Training, please click here. If you want to knock your training up a notch, then you can do some Tether Training while using directional signing the whole time your dog is tethered to you. I sign when it is time to eat, when it is time to go outside (they have to “sit” and “wait” to eat, go outside, come inside ect) and also I point in different directions when I am walking through the house so they can learn and understand directional signing. For example, I sign a “W” every time I fill up their water bowl. Try to get into the habit of signing to your deaf dog throughout your daily routine instead of just signing in your training sessions. You just need to tweak your training a little bit. Training a deaf puppy isn’t that much different then training a hearing puppy. The video below shot by Alisha McGraw pretty much covers many of the basic deaf dog sign cues you will need to learn. If you are enjoying learning about dog training but want more! Here are some of my favorite books on the subject.Lately I’ve been getting so many questions on our Deaf Dogs Rock Facebook page asking about how to tell or train a deaf puppy “no”, “sit” or “laydown”. This may seem a little crazy if you are just beginning to learn about dog training but I promise it will start making more and more sense as you keep learning. When we train out pets and give them choice and decision power, their lives are enhanced and they feel better and more eager to participate. And this is where the future of dog (and animal) training is heading. Why is this? the word command implies that the dog must do what I say but the word cue leaves a little room for choice. In light of these changes a lot of trainers are choosing to use the word "cue" instead of "command". We have now moved away from that type of training, the dominance and alpha theories have been disproved and we understand that positive reinforcement is easier, less dangerous and more fun to use with our pets. The term "command" was originally used in dog training when this discipline was about "the dog MUST do what I ask because I AM THE BOSS". However I want you all to know that dog training is constantly changing and improving, specially as more and more humane methods are discovered and we understand more and more about dog behavior. This page is titled "Dog training commands" because that is the most popular search term. Dog training is heading that way because as we give out pets the chance to make a guided decision, they tend to choose what we wanted anyway! And their lives are better for it too. When animals (including humans) have the choice to make a decision, they feel empowered. It's all about giving our pets choices and let them decide.
Regardless of which language or dog training cue you want to use with your pet, you will find a list of basic dog commands and advance obedience commands to teach along with easy to follow tutorials.
The advantage of using words in a different language is that your dog will learn to recognize and differentiate the sounds you make when talking to someone else vs talking to your dog. You can even use words in a different language, for example it is very popular to use German dog commands, specially with German Shepherds. Most dogs will learn hand signals more easily than verbal cues but you can eventually teach them to recognize many different dog obedience commands. You will be able to teach your pet basic to advanced behaviors on cue and even teach your dog to respond with distractions.ĭog commands can be hand signals, voice commands or a mix of both. This list of dog training commands and step-by-step tutorials will help you teach your dog to be obedient and friendly.