Be careful of dog training hand signals

In most cases, dog exercise hand signals are not as important with basic obedience in comparison to the command and how well the dog reacts to that command. But, hand signals can be very important for hunting and various competitions. For example, when instruction for competition, especially agility, how you hold your hands and how you provide your signals can greatly determine what obstacle your dog takes next.

Dog training hand signals are a wondefull means to ensure that your dog's attention is always on you, as he's waiting for his next step. By using hand signals, you can easily reinforce your verbal instructions.

When training your dog, your dog training hand signals need to be consistent every time. You want to make sure that you keep your hands stable and clear. Even the most intelligent and well taught dog can get easily confused with dog instruction hand signals that are similar, unsteady, or just not given properly.

Common dog training hand signals can include:

• Sit- By means of a fist or an open hand, make an upward motion
• Stay- Make certain that your hand is open and flat, in front of your palm to your dog
• Lay down- With an open hand, keeping the palm side of your hand facing down, make a downward motion
• Dog instruction hand signals are great in many situations, and you can easily make up your own hand signals for different instructions that you want to use when instruction your dog. Simply remember to keep things simple for your dog to learn.

And remember that it's best when you first start instruction your dog with hand signals, that you carry on to say the verbal command at the same time that you give the hand signal. This way, the dog will associate the hand signal with the verbal command. You do not want to move on to a new hand signal until your dog is reliant and doesn't miss a hand signal. Always start with no distractions and slowly insert one or two distractions at a time to ensure that the dog fully comprehends the signal with the response that you want.

It's best to start with simple hand signals, and once your dog is fully trained and cooperates with those hand signals, start adding more to your training agenda. You simply want to make sure that you stay calm and patient; when your start to get frustrated, so will your dog. Remember that he's not born knowing dog exercise hand signals and instructions.