As I sat this morning with my son, he was trying to get my two dogs (Rosie and Stewie) to sit. He was sitting on the chair at an awkward angle and the dogs were not listening to his voice but most likely wondering why he was sitting at such a bizarre angle. So after he tried several times I told him to use the hand signal for sit. As soon as he did the dogs like marines the dogs answered his request and sat immediately. Then I explained to him why dogs will respond faster to a hand signal rather than a voice command. Dogs have a much easier time reading body language (that is what a hand signal is) than they do a verbal command… They are hard wired to read other members of their own species. They are constantly watching where another dog has their tail, is the other dogs mouth open or closed, is he stiff or is he loose and relaxed, are they rolling over or getting ready to pounce. All of these things and many more are sifted through their minds in a matter of seconds. Now this does not mean that all you have to do is give a hand signal and your dog will know how to understand your request. We need to teach our dog what that hand signal means. Think of this the next time you are telling your dog to sit.
M