I am hooked on sign language for my dogs

[KurtNYC]

I had a deaf dog a couple years back, sweet boxer. She passed 2 years ago but I use all the hand signals I developed with her with my pups now and they absolutely get it. So much more distinctly than verbal questions and command.

It is pretty much all 2 word sentences. Kind of Tarzan-ish but they definitely understand it instantly. So handy bc you can ask them questions. Read a couple books recently which made a strong case for dogs being more visual than auditory. One argues that hearing in a dog is very imprecise -- dogs aren't all that good at telling what direction a sound is coming from for example. They also don't hear a lot of consonants distinctly. When a dog is born the nose works day one, then the eyes open and lastly the ears. Humans are just the opposite order. We are very sound-focused (and visual). Sign language meets dogs in the middle.

Now I am pushing it. Adding more words and concepts. It is so helpful to be able to ask a dog why they are suddenly excited (I present a range of options and they react to the one which is correct: need to pee, want water, heard a noise, smell something, etc.). Also I work on the phone quite a bit so the dogs can just tune out my verbal output and watch my hands when I'm on the phone and I can tell them 'go get your ball' 'lie down' or 'wait one minute.'

Anyone else using sign language?

[Ilsa]

1. That's a great idea! In the past, I had to use a lot of sign language for my autistic son.

They understand the verbal command faster, and learn to process the meaning of the auditory word faster. it alleviates frustration for them. It also helps babies develop verbal language skills faster.

My understanding is that dogs understand "hard" consonants much better (B, D, hard G, K, P, R, etc are best, vs S, H, L,), and selecting a name with as many of those consonants helps them learn it faster.

I'm going to try it when we get a dog.

[KurtNYC]

6. I visited Bonnie Bergin's University years back and got really

interested in how they know what they know about how dogs learn and understand. From the physical abilities to fairly abstract cognition. They got dogs to recognize words printed on cards with fair success. But then had much better success at getting dogs to interpret stick figure drawings. Probably because reading the stick figures is an extension of reading body language which dogs are excellent at. Recognizing words on paper requires the dog to pattern match an abstract set of symbols with an auditory word and then respond with the correct physical action.

I'm not using American Sign language, more like a hybrid between some standardized sit, down, stay, off stuff and something more like charades. But I am interested in learning more about what sets of signs are already established and seeing how much I can overlap with those.

[WolverineDG]

12. I did not know that

and ironically, my dogs are named Bianca & Gidget. When I say one of their names, the correct dog always wags her tail.

dg

[Aristus]

2. My brother uses sign with his dogs.

BTW, all of his dogs are rescue dogs, saved from shelters. He's a great liberal...

[MrsBrady]

3. how does one teach this to a dog?

i work with 0-5 year olds and we teach the babies/toddlers a few signs so that they can tell us when they want more food, are "finished"
please, etc.... we just do it with repetition -- as we use the words we make the sign.
Do you do the same thing with dogs?

where did you learn how to do this, and how would I do it?

is there a book?

[KurtNYC]

7. Here is a quick vid that sort of demos what it looks like

They are saying the command and giving the hand signal in the first 16 seconds. Their hand signal is out of frame but you can hear the commands. Then they do it again with just their hand in the frame and saying nothing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXpJUALZkdg&feature=related

I did something very similar but I also 'catch my dogs doing something right' and give it a name while they are doing it. I just add a hand signal also and then with repetition pretty quickly you can stop the verbal stuff. You have to get them to look at you so sometimes that is a noise or a gentle tug of the leash.

I have been reading Inside of a Dog (which is meta analysis of recent studies) and Bergin's 'Understanding Dog Mind' which is makes her case for how to balance dogs. 'Dog Mind' is a reference to Zen philosophies but the book spends a lot of time talking about how to pair dog and human personality and activity level wise.

I think Bergin is great because she walked away from all the dog training techniques and the whole philosophy of dominance ("alpha dog") that came from the military training dogs. WW1 set in motion the acceptance of seeing eye dogs and then assistance dogs and now PTSD dogs. Bergin proved that quadriplegics could command a dog and that punched a big hole in mainstream alpha dog theory.

[warrior1]

4. I know one thing about my dog

as soon as I get my tennies on he starts spinning like a top. He knows he's going for a walk.

[NV Whino]

5. Herding dog all respond to signs

There is some language or sounds (whistles) used, but it is mostly signs.

[Duer 157099]

8. Can you describe in more detail how

you teach the dog to respond to your queries as to whether they need to pee or are hungry or whatever? That would be so useful! My dog just comes and stares at my face until I ask her if she a) needs to pee or b) is hungry or c) want to play and her answer is the same for all of them, YES!!! YES, whatever you are asking, the answer is YES!!!

So I have to guess. May as well not even ask.

[KurtNYC]

10. I ahve two dogs, littermates, and they are always near each other

so I will point to the one I am asking and then sign "eat" and then wait for them to react or not, then "out", then "play" . I have to do each one calmly so they aren't reacting to my energy. They will answer by standing up and/or moving toward me or the door if it is "out." The male likes to swat my pant leg but the female is more subtle. I think dogs are excited by verbal interaction. I encourage mine to be as calm as possible. They can ask for something by sitting and looking at it. They look at thing then at me then the thing again. Dogs can react so strongly to HOW something is said rather than what is said that it helps to not say anything at all. The hand signs make communication about 10x more precise.

They ask me questions also. The male found a bird nest. Brought it to me and set it down at my feet then did a head tilt. I was stunned bc he loves to chew sticks and yet he was so careful with this nest.



This winter there were live reindeer on Main street for a pre christmas event and my female sat and looked and then at me and then at them. She was asking to meet them. On the sidewalk she will read someone's energy from 50 feet away and just suddenly sit and look at them with her puppy dog eyes and total strangers will stop and pet her. It is just something she does. I have encouraged them not to jump up and to sit when they meet children, babies, smaller dogs or others they should not jump on. and she extended that.

[suninvited]

9. I was training a dog many years ago for field trials

and she recognized voice, whistle and hand commands. We started teaching her very young, though, but I remember it being incredibly easy to teach her.

[KurtNYC]

11. they love training and any kind of game, any kind of challenge

Mine are 9 months so we play a game where I have them sit in the hallway and then I hide a toy in a room and then open the door again and have them search for it. I start out with the object in view and then progress to places where they have to sniff it out.

They went through so many commands so fast that I took it to the next level and started doing questions and answers and that has opened up our communication. We can also communicate more complicated stuff like 'you can play with this but don't chew it up." We are working on "you can chew this but don't swallow" (they chew rope).

[WolverineDG]

13. I made up a sign for one of my dogs without knowing it

Let's just say that one of them does not like to go into the garage when it's cold or when someone has to work in the back yard. So once, I got frustrated & started slapping my thighs while saying "Come here!" (eventually, I had to pick her up & put her in the garage myself)

Fast forward to a couple of weeks later & I'm wandering around the back yard, whilst the two dogs are "supervising" me from the porch. A mosquito lands on my legs, I start slapping them, then turn around & damn near break my neck falling over two dogs who came running up behind me when I gave what they perceived to be the "come here" signal.

:rofl:

dg

[bluedigger]

14. A little bit.

She knows my signs for "Sit, stay, and down". Sometimes she even obeys.:P