Good but cease the finger pointing as an attention technique. Instead, you want to train the dog/puppy to look for your face, see a smile, and maintain eye contact. That eye contact is critical to training a dog to look towards you for instruction, help, confidence and praise.
Good on the release, but again, don't use the hand signal as you want to simply give the command, (whatever your release command is), and verbally speak it. Why? Because the use of extra hand signals trains the dog that the voice command + the hand signal IS the way that command works. What happens when the dog can't see your hand signal? What happens when you work an out of sight command (yes, I teach that skill set to advanced students) and your dog ONLY has the voice command to follow? What happens in some distant future when your dog CAN'T see you (in a storm or behind a building/wall or around a stream) etc., and ALL THE DOG HAS to know what to do IS the voice command? That voice only training can and will save a dog's life. But if you train now with a puppy that your voice commands really mean 'voice commands + some signal' then when you're puppy/dog can't see you (it happens) your voice command will be ignored because you trained 'voice commands + some signal'.
Just as the "Sit" is the foundation from which EVERY exercise comes from (and ends with), your voice command is the foundation which cues a dog to listen FOR your words and TO RESPOND correctly.
Voice ONLY commands, signals will be taught later.
Good but cease the finger pointing as an attention technique. Instead, you want to train the dog/puppy to look for your face, see a smile, and maintain eye contact. That eye contact is critical to training a dog to look towards you for instruction, help, confidence and praise.
ReplyDeleteGood on the release, but again, don't use the hand signal as you want to simply give the command, (whatever your release command is), and verbally speak it. Why? Because the use of extra hand signals trains the dog that the voice command + the hand signal IS the way that command works. What happens when the dog can't see your hand signal? What happens when you work an out of sight command (yes, I teach that skill set to advanced students) and your dog ONLY has the voice command to follow? What happens in some distant future when your dog CAN'T see you (in a storm or behind a building/wall or around a stream) etc., and ALL THE DOG HAS to know what to do IS the voice command? That voice only training can and will save a dog's life. But if you train now with a puppy that your voice commands really mean 'voice commands + some signal' then when you're puppy/dog can't see you (it happens) your voice command will be ignored because you trained 'voice commands + some signal'.
Just as the "Sit" is the foundation from which EVERY exercise comes from (and ends with), your voice command is the foundation which cues a dog to listen FOR your words and TO RESPOND correctly.
Voice ONLY commands, signals will be taught later.
Make sense?
Roxanne