The best visual I can give is imagine you’re pushing the dog farther away from you-that’s the motion that you want. When I give this command, it looks like I’m pushing my hand up in the air. (Photo By: Jordan Horak)īack - Sending your dog on a retrieve but need to get him to go farther? The “back” hand signal is what you need. Send your dog farther away from you with a 'back' hand signal.

I also use it for my upland dogs as it allows me to direct them into an area that I think they missed while hunting a field. For a waterfowl dog, this command would be used for handling on a blind retrieve, or even a marked retrieve when the dog needed a little assistance. It’s a very intuitive gesture (as all non-verbal commands should be) and is simply a matter of putting one arm straight out to the side of the handler’s body. Over - A strong understanding of the non-verbal “over” command is crucial for both a waterfowl dog and an upland dog. Cast your dog left or right with an 'over' hand signal. Let’s take a closer look at some of the specific commands that I use hand signals for, what they look like, and when I use them. Dogs are typically very easily taught the meaning of different gestures and can quickly respond to body signals just as readily as verbal commands. Knowing that, it would behoove us to use a dog’s aptitude for body language to our advantage. Little nuances of posture, gaze, lips, tail, etc., all are used to communicate, and typically are very quickly understood by other dogs. While amongst other dogs, body language is a dog’s primary form of communication, and they’re very good at it. Oddly enough, while we may consider verbal communication to be the primary form of communication with our dogs, they likely have a different idea. Thankfully, when verbal communication falls short, there’s another form of communication available to pick up the slack. (Photo By: Jordan Horak) Non-Verbal Communication Is Key Place training provides an effective way to get your dog started with directional commands, including the use of hand signals.

4) Clarity: Verbal communication sometimes lacks clarity because our dog’s understanding of vocal vocabulary is limited. 3) Stealth: Whether it’s chasing ringnecks in the cattails, crawling for chukar on a scree slope, or jumping ducks off a pond, sometimes verbal communication isn’t the best choice because it will spook birds. Howling winds quickly drown out our commands and make audible communication difficult. I’ve seen this happen on the prairies of the Dakotas especially. 2) Background Noise: Wind can make it hard for our dogs to hear us, even at moderate distances. Some of the limitations that come to mind are: 1) Distance: Whether it’s a retriever on a long mark or a pointer running on the horizon, sometimes long distances make it hard to connect verbally with our dogs. But verbal communication has its limitations when it comes to communicating with our canine friends. Verbal communication also can be highly effective because it’s easy for us to add emotional inflection (happy, angry, excited, urgent, etc.), and it doesn’t require that our dog can visually see us while we’re communicating with them. We are accustomed to verbally communicating with our fellow Homo sapiens, so it’s natural for us to use verbal communication with our dogs. Verbal communication is typically our default mode of communicating with our dogs, and with good reason. Isn’t Verbal Communication Adequate Enough?

Best hand signals for dogs