How to Train Your Dog to UNDERSTAND HAND SIGNALS and WORDS!

How to train your dog to understand you whether you’re speaking to them or using hand signals. Check out Pupford’s awesome training treats and pack deals here:

For more daily dog training tips and videos follow @zakgeorge on Instagram:

I’m on TikTok now!

Like me on Facebook!

Support my videos by making a contribution on patreon:
 
Order the NEW book here (detailed dog training advice)

Or check out my other book (broad overview of choosing, raising and training a dog) here:

Are you new to this series? Get caught up with all of “The Dog Training Experience” videos here:

In today’s episode I’m going to attempt To teach inertia to do whatever I ask no Matter how I ask it this should be Interesting I’m Zack George I train dogs this is my New dog and I’m gonna show you how I Train her from day one things definitely Won’t always go smoothly you can start From the beginning or you can take up Anywhere subscribe and hit the bell Notification so you never miss an Episode when you put into motion an Approach based on love and respect your Results will forever remain in motion This is inertia Welcome to the dog training experience Today’s lesson is gonna be a good one And you guys are always asking me about My favorite treats to use and remember It’s what your dog loves that matters Most and one of the nurses clear Favourites are up for treats Freeze-dried salmon treats these are Actually brand new so I’m excited to see What inertia thinks of these what I like About pupper treats is they’re always Made with just one or a very small Amount of ingredients you’ve got Approximately 475 treats in here that’s A lot of training potential in one bag Yes I like that nice indoor board so These treats are obviously from their Training line but they have their engage Line so these are meant to last a little

Bit longer and just give your dog Something to well engage with these are The turbo tendons you can see why they Call them turbo tendons then they have The reward line for when you want to Give your dog an extra big reward Check out the beef jerky I also use a Lot of the freeze-dried sweet potatoes So that I’m not too protein heavy on my Treats inertia will like literally walk Like a person for these bottom line for Best results when working with your dog You want to have a ton of different Options for them with their pack deals You can get a great deal on their multi Packs of their different treats and Shoes I’m gonna have a link in the Description where you can check out all Of pup firts amazing treats and their Pack deals your dog is going to love you For it okay clearly a nurse I can’t wait To train so I think it’s time to go Let’s go girl come on one of the things That I hope to test today with inertia Is how well she actually understands me See dogs really Zone into certain cues We give them when we’re communicating With them for example many dogs will sit When you just hold up a tree like this So they learn that that simple act of Holding up a tree and sitting equals Them getting the tree but if you just Say the word sit and you Don’t give them the hand signal they may

Have no clue what you mean therefore It’s important for dogs to understand Both hand signals and the spoken word so The obvious question you might have is Why does my dog need to understand both Hand signals and verbal requests for Example maybe you’ve arrived home with Groceries your hands are full and you Can’t really give them a hand signal and You might want to tell them to sit or Stay or something like that or Conversely you might be engaged in Conversation and you may want to just Give your dog that subtle hand signal to Just calm down lie down and chill out Now in a nurses case she’s really clued In to motions and very predisposed to Hand signals I think that’s because we Use a lot of body language when we’re Teaching dogs and a lot of luring so It’s more natural for most dogs to pay Attention to things like that let me ask Your nurse to do a series of behaviors Using only hand signals okay good job Not bad right so we did a sit a lie down A stand back into a sit and into a sit Pretty and so she did all of that right There with just hand signals without Being lured without having to have a Treat in my hand at all right now let’s See what happens when I just say the Words and don’t use the hand signals sit Lie down stand sit pretty okay not bad Pretty good so she’s doing really well

There you can see those are good Examples of how she can differentiate Between both the hand signal and the Verbal cues without using a lure at all And so until very recently actually she Was very dependent on a hand signal for Sit pretty so she’s doing really well There but when it comes to getting her To play dead she’s so highly reliant on The hand motion of play dead by the way If you’re wondering which hand signals To use I find that that really varies From dog to dog so in my experience when I’m luring a dog into a specific Position I then focus on creating hand Signals that are customed to that dog Where they seem to really respond it’s Worth pointing out I’m not using a treat Play dead Very nice okay good job but if I just Say play dead watch what happens Play dead Still confused she’s like you want me to Speak play dead That’s not what I’m asking for a little Frustration on her part right there one More time hey play dead so if she’s Starting to get the idea I want to bring A little bit more attention to the Phrase play dead and less attention to The hand signal in this case it’s a Really intricate delicate process and You’ll need to find your own version of This but I’ll show you what I do

Clay dead yes so that was a fairly Obvious hand signal okay good work yes Play dead It may not look like much right there But I’m focused on G emphasizing the Hand signal a little bit until I can Fade it out into nothing basically while Saying the word play dead oh now see and That really is the secret there we’ve Done play dead four or five times in a Row in this training session so she’s Starting to anticipate you see that Okay come alive good and play dead okay Good just to make sure that my body Position isn’t the thing that’s cueing Or you might notice I’m on the ground Let me see what happens if I stand up Stay and play dead what that’s good okay Good the more I feel like she’s Understanding it the more I’ll withhold When she does something I don’t ask for Cuz I don’t want her to bark every time She plays dead play dead oh there it is Stay okay good job play dead Hey really Good so there she’s really starting to Generalize the difference between the Hand signal and the verbal request okay No release her from the play dead there Thanks work so let’s see if we can add That to that little routine she did a Second ago sit lie down stand sit pretty Lie down play dead so you can see okay When I use a lot of visual language Right there that she’s super receptive

So my goal is to see if I can get her to Do that same thing without all of the Body language and all of the hand Signals sit lie down up Good stand sit actually I can tell she’s Getting a little confused right now so I’m going to kind of take a step back Here and just acknowledge that I like Those first three behaviors and then We’ll see if we can troubleshoot and Work through that sit lie down yes good Okay inertia stand stay very good having A reminder there so I took a step back And I used the hand signal We’ve got birds and squirrels and lots Of people exercising this morning so you Know we are adding a lot I know she Would do better on this if we were in my Living room for the sake of providing Good examples I really wanted to do this Lesson out here to really show you how At least we try to work through this Confusion one of the things I find that Helps when a dog is starting to get a Little bored with the training session Is to pick up my energy and try to make Things a little bit more playful and Exciting I think dogs really appreciate Authenticity and we tend to be at our Most genuine when we’re playful as our Dogs sit lie down stand sit pretty lie Down lie down play dead Okay yeah good girl good job gonna give Her an extra special reward there nice

Job so you can see I mean that made a Huge difference we were struggling there For a little bit because I’m focused on Being a youtube host perhaps and Sometimes you just have to let go and be Ridiculous with your dog that is the Secret I’m told that I didn’t even Realize it but my producer and wife Bree Pointed out that I actually did give a Subtle hand signal on lie-down I didn’t Even realize it so let’s try again sit Lie down Lie down good stand sit can you sit Pretty very good can you I caught myself With a hand signal there lie down yeah Play dead this is still a little messy And this is something we’re still Working on right here but that’s the Point of this series to show you those Things as we work through them and not Talk about how we did something but Rather show you how we’re doing the Things that we’re doing this is a 30-foot lead I’m using and we’re gonna Focus on our next bit of training now Now we’re gonna try this the other way Around now for something like come when Called where I’ve noticed she’s more Receptive to the verbal requests of Inertia come more so than she is to the Hand signal which in this case I would Like to be or something like that Inertia come yes very good I’ll take it stay come so there as I was

Walking away I called her she’s really Generalizing the word come yes very good That’s a good example of where she’s Actually more reliable on the verbal Request then she is on the hand signal I Think a lot of that has to do with when We teach our dogs to come very or at Least the way I teach a dog to come I’ll Use a really animated exciting voice so She’s really clued in to that exciting Tone over time and I’ve evolved it into Something a little bit more normal so I Don’t look like a total lunatic when Calling my dog in public just as a side Note – as I work on her training out Here I’m being tolerant of the minor Anxiety I’m seeing the barking because I Don’t want to pick all of my battles at Once Now watch more dad you hear I’m still Gonna call her but I’m gonna start Phasing in the hand signals so inertia Come good girl just a little bit of hand Motion there to let her know what I want Good I’m gonna practice this a few times Organically come love when she goes to My side like that stay Now let me try just the hand signal and See what happens see that she’s like What are you talking about Come so I’m gonna be a little bit more Deliberate right there about explaining To or what that hand signal means there Do it at a relatively short range here

Come so remember you’re trying to shift That emphasis from what you’re actually Saying verbally that’s pretty good Pretty good girl do that a few more Times a little more ensure yes so I Really wanted to let her know that was Awesome I’m gonna give her an extra Special reward here haha look and you Could see right there she did it a Little bit more eagerly than the last Time a little more sure yes be nice to Be able to just say hey like that let’s See if she responds to that one oh look At that she’s only she thinks she knows And she does come here good girl Nice job so there I was able not only Did I not have to do this kind of silly Looking at him signal which would be Okay I was able to make it a little more Socially acceptable right yeah good work So you know she still seems a little Unsure that’s something I’ll continue to Work on concerned ideally I want her Really running to me see when I call it Verbally inertia come she comes much Quicker you see that if you’re having Any issues with your dog make sure you Do check out my book guide to a Well-behaved dog I cover a variety of Different topics like barking chewing Jumping up play biting potting problems Leash pulling there’s a whole lot Covered in these 200 pages I’ll have a Link in the description where you can

Pick this book up check out all the puff Words amazing treats and chews and their Pack deals at the link in the Description subscribe to my channel and Follow us on Instagram and tik-tok for Daily training updates check out my book Too I’ll have all of the links below in The next episode I’m gonna teach an Ursa Three brand new things that I bet you Haven’t thought of and hopefully they’ll Help build a nurse’s focus too we’ll see You then