# Training - We All Know This...



## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

It amazes me that dogs CAN learn verbal commands and can acquire quite an extensive vocabulary given that they are not themselves verbal. They do communicate using sounds, but those sounds are not words. I always believed that gestures and hand signals would be easier for them.


----------



## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Nice to know that the scientists have learned what dog people already knew :idea:..........


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

While both signals and orders are effective and can be reinforcing it looks to me as if the part of the study where the dogs were given contradictory signals and orders and followed the signals more commonly and with statistical signficance is the more meaningful part of this research. After all think about how puppies and young dogs are taught new behaviors, we gesture to lure the behavior long before we put a name to it.

Here is a quote from the linked piece that has the most important conclusion for me. "This latest research confirms other research that has been gradually establishing that although dogs can learn both verbal commands and gestured signals, the visual signals are more effective."


----------



## doditwo (Nov 7, 2017)

lily said:


> ...although dogs can learn both verbal commands and gestured signals, the visual signals are more effective."



Coincidentally, in a study by dogs, the same was found to be true when training their human.










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

doditwo said:


> Coincidentally, in a study by dogs, the same was found to be true when training their human.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Interesting timing on that idea of how dogs talk to us. Alexandra Horowitz (author of The Inside of a Dog) was on the Please Explain segment of the Leonard Lopate show on WNYC yesterday. Much of what they discussed was about scenting abilities of dogs, but there was a discussion of how poorly many people read the body language cues of their dogs. Here is a link to the segment. How To Sniff Like A Dog - The Leonard Lopate Show - WNYC


----------



## doditwo (Nov 7, 2017)

Thanks for posting that link.
I love Alexandra Horowitz and have both her books. 
Inside a Dog was a page turner, but Being a Dog was a revelation. The nose of a dog is so overlooked but it’s the dominant way they sense the world, like sight is for us. 
I’m excited to have that link to enjoy, I can’t get enough of Horowitz.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## doditwo (Nov 7, 2017)

It has made me wonder what scent signal we could use to communicate with dogs. Lol, I wonder what scent we could leave that would mean don’t chew this and stay off the white couch [emoji16]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Countryboy (May 16, 2011)

An interesting interview, C... thanks.

And I love, love, love her for her Let Dogs Sniff attitude. You go, girl! 

But srsly, it's maybe a message that should be spread. When dealing with your dog, always remember to take scent into account. For an understandable reason, we tend to ignore it. You start to learn a lot about your dog by watching them check their p-mail... stop as they catch a new scent on the wind, or on the ground. 

A dog walk is the relax time, the time for mental musing anyway.


----------



## patticake (Apr 17, 2017)

I have been learning about hand signals & training with it is fun for both dog & 
me it's going well.


----------

