To teach your dog that anytime is a potential opportunity to earn something (so she’s always on her best behavior), place containers of treats in different areas around the home or carry a pouch with three types of treats that vary in value: This can be done once you are in standing position and the dog’s doing the cue by following your hand signal 90 percent of the time.

Introduce the cue word (like “down”) by saying it each time you give the signal.

Next, start changing your body posture little by little each time you give the cue with your hand until you are in a standing position.

This helps teach her patience and willingness to work without food being present.

Once she’s down, mark with “yes,” show her that your hand is empty, praise her and then give her a treat from your pocket.

When she’s consistently going down, use an empty hand, but don’t let her know there isn’t a treat.

Gradually get her to lie further down each time. If she won’t go down, you should “shape” this behavior by using the marker signal (saying “yes” or clicking) if her elbows bend or she gets part of the way down.Once she’s down, mark it with a “yes” (and a click if you have one) and open your hand and allow her to eat the treat. Don’t allow her to have the treat until she’s fully down.She should follow your finger and lie down. Then move your hand and index finger slowly towards your own body as your dog follows it. Once your dog’s sitting, put your hand in towards your dog’s chest, and move it slowly down to the floor.You may need to put your dog in a silent sit first - meaning you don’t verbally say “sit,” you just perform the “sit” hand motion (so your pup doesn’t get his verbal commands confused). Put your index finger in front of your dog.Put a treat in your fist and hold your index finger out.Get down on one knee in front of your dog.“Ensure that you are relaying the right message to your dog in a timely and consistent fashion.” “It’s amazing how much your dog will look to you for cues and guidance,” Semel said. “Start out with an easy skill in a familiar place to your dog and with no other distractions present.”Īccording to Semel, it’s important for you to always provide clear, consistent and timely feedback to your dog. “When you start out training a new cue, always keep it simple for your dog,” Semel recommended. These sorts of nuances will only come as you progress through training your dog(s). This means that if you have two dogs, you might notice that one picks up on learning new cues faster than the other - or even that one dog gets more restless faster. “There is no set way to teach commands that will work for every dog on the block.” “All dogs are different,” Semel told The Dodo. When it comes to training your pup, it's up to you to discover what works best for your individual dog in regard to the motivation you use (i.e., what kind of treats she loves the most), length of training sessions and how quickly you progress through each new skill. This is a form of dog training that involves giving your dog something she likes as a reward for a behavior to make it happen more often. It’s always important to use the basics of positive reinforcement when training your dog.

Dog training hand signal in kennel