Dog doesnt learn command by sound.

My dog knows commands, Sit, Stand, Jump and down but the thing is, it does not know the commands by the sound that comes from my mouth. It only understands the command if i use the hand actions. Can someone please help me teach it the sounds.

First, how's his/her hearing?

Next, assuming your dog's hearing is normal, repeat the hand signals WITH the verbal commands, gradually using the hand signals less and less. Approach this the same way you did teaching your dog the hand signals - your dog did, after all learn those, so there's no reason to think your dog won't learn verbal signals the same way.

Unless, of course, you've got one that's being stubborn and has figured out that with hand signals as long as you're not in the line of sight there's no reason to obey . . .

I have a question about the hand signals. Should you train with verbal and hand signals at the same time? Or should you only use verbal? I haven't started the training on typical tricks yet, waiting for the PT to soak in (no phun in tended) So everyone's input is needed. Thanks all!!! This so awesome to talk to everyone and get gr8 advice.

I always train my own dogs first with hand signals and second with verbal commands, if at all. That way I can be sure that my dog will actually look at me for input, instead of looking at some distraction. (One of my first pooches was deaf, so that may be what started it. But hey, it works!)

The reason dogs respond so much better to hand signals is pretty simple. Let's put it this way: how many times have you seen a group of dogs standing around in a circle saying, "Woof woof woof?" and agreeing, "Woof!". The majority of canine communication is based entirely around visual signals and body language. Barks, growls, howls, and whines are also communications, but they are blunt and ineloquent when compared to the vast range of exchanged that can be passed along through body language. People are an extremely verbal species, so it's hard for most of us to understand the dogs' world of mostly silent language. But it makes sense that a dog will differentiate one hand signal from another long before he can tell the difference between words.

So to answer your question, Renee nailed it. If his hearing's okay, then you just need to couple the verbal cue, which he doesn't know, with the hand signal, which he does know. Then slowly take away the hand signal, and reward him when he obeys the verbal cue by itself.

I teach a hand signal as I teach the command too. For down I use two fingers straight out and then point them down.....that way I can later drop the voice and if I am talking to a customer and need the dog to sit (I make a fist and lower it once from the wrist) I don't have to interupt them while they are telling me what they want. At city market people would ask if Bronki wanted the left over meat from their turkey legs....I would give him a small bite and drop the rest in a bucket to share with the dogs at the kennel...I would point to my ear and say "Tell em thanks Bronki" he would speak and they would think he understood what I was saying. Hey creature teacher..what hand signals do u use? For sit pretty I hold my hand palm up and lift my fingers once...other then that mark is the only other one I use and that is just a point beside their heads to get them in the right direction or over but that is just basic common sense.

You should see mine sit or lie down when I give them the non-verbal of raising one eyebrow at them! Of course, they mutter, but they go ahead and do it and it's all I can do not to laugh at their "mutt-ering" lol!

My dogs just kind of learned both naturally I guess. I mean, I'd start with holding the treat over their head and back until they'd sit. When that got pretty regular and easy for them, I'd add the word, "sit." Then always in my praise, I like incorporating the command word...."goooood sit." Or..."down." "gooood down." LOL. I don't know...seems to reiterate things a little for them and seems to speed up their understanding.

Hand signals are soooooo useful I think. Sometimes I'm busy on the phone with some business and a dog might be bugging me for attention. I just hold my hand close to my chest and swing it outward, pointing to some other area and they know to go away and go lie down. I've used it with a vocal command but it can go either way. So then you don't have to say into the phone, "Away! Go lie down." LOL. (Of course, it's hard to praise when you're on the phone and they DO go away and lie down, so I can only just give them the thumbs up sign and hope they know I really like what they are doing.) LOL.

Anyhow, you could practice using both...ask for a few sits using a hand signal only if that's what's easiest for the dog. Then do a few with the hand and vocal. Then try a few without the hand signal. It sounds like mixing up too many things, but if the dog is solid on the sit with the hand signal, you should be able to show it another way to do it too.

Are there universal hand signs for dogs? That sounds funny. Like sign language. But I'm serious. If there is, I don't know any of them.

Well, when you first teach your puppy to sit and you're holding a treat above his head a little and moving it back, he sits naturally. So then your hand making that motion becomes the hand signal. Or when you take the treat and move your arm downward in front of his nose to get him to lie down, that motion of lowering your arm becomes the signal....something similar at any rate.

I'm teaching my dog to weave through my legs like he does the weave poles in agility. I entice him to follow my hand which has a toy in it that he wants to get and say, "go left, go right." (in agility, it's "go weave.") Pretty soon I'll make the hand motion a little smaller, not so obvious and he'll catch onto that as being the hand signal. Anyway, that's the idea. (I made one mistake. I was using my left and my right, not his. Woops, LOL)

Would you really want your dog to be trained to signs that other people could potentially use to direct him? Mine don't even use the standard verbal cues, lol; "where are your manners" or just "manners" is a sit or lie down (it really doesn't matter to me which they do, although if there's a cookie involved they always just sit - ).

My dogs listen to my hand signals better than they do my verbal commands. lol (I think it is because I babble on to much when I'm with them so they just tune me out. lol) I say their name to get them to look at me, but to do sit and stuff they mostly just listen to the hand signal. If I can't get Rose to sit by just my voice, I use the hand signal and wa-la! She sits! lol Once they get the command, they usally can do it without my hand signal but sometimes they need it as extra incouargment. lol

I am trying to teach my my saint but seems we need more time to learn PT...lol We are making slow progress, but making it.

I agree with Rosie's Gal. I'm sure my constant stream of chatter to my dogs is a big source of consternation for them. "Was there a command in there somewhere?" haha!

I have always used hand signals as well as vocal commands for training my boys. One of my dogs Soda, is completely deaf so he only works to the hand signals, I do say the words too as he reads your facial expressions as well. Since getting Soda I have done a lot of reserch into signing for dogs. It seems that a lot of people base their signs on American sign language. I do use some of those signs but have made up a few of my own. I have also read about a lot of people who teach both signs and commands as a lot of dogs loose their hearing as they get older and it means that you can still communicate with them should this happen. Which is something I hadn't thought of before but it seems like a good idea.
Lynn