Non Verbal Communication

Pallez vous Doggish, Que! Non Comprende?

Picture this, you are in a foreign country, with a different culture, you do not speak the language or understand their quaint but somewhat bizarre customs and you need to explain that you are hungry, thirsty and could do with the toilet! What do you do, you revert to good old non verbal communication and start doing hand gestures, mimes and play acting, patting your tummy and doing gesture eating actions, lifting an imaginary glass to your mouth then sitting down and pulling the imaginary loo chain.

It may look weird but strangely enough you can get the message across eventually, momentarily bringing two cultures together. So the next time you start explaining to your dog that you don’t want him on the new settee or you want him to respond and recall when you shout him across the park, or stop him barking at the slightest noise, use non verbal communication, as he does not understand English. I have recently help train a Jack Russell who was born deaf, the owner thought that it would be very difficult to communicate with the dog due to his disability; in fact it was relatively easy, just as long he was looking at you.

We developed a set of hand signals and facial gestures which covered all the basic commands. For instance, when he did something considered good behaviour we had a thumb up sign with a smiling affirmative nodding head gesture and for bad behaviour a thumbs down sign with a scowling negative head gesture. Each new gesture and sign was reinforced with a positive reward i.e. titbit or fuss and repeated until the dog understood. My own dog Ben can be worked at considerable distance using only hand signals, an open hand raised high means stop and look at me, an open hand straight out to the right means ‘get right’ and likewise an open hand to the left means ‘get left’ a hand signal with my right hand which goes across my body from left to right means ‘get over’ (get over a fence, obstacle or water), both my arms out stretched in a crucifix means ‘come to me’.

To stop Ben in his tracks I use a long single blast on gundog whistle which can be heard at a greater distance than I can shout and if he is out of sight repeated short pips on the whistle means come. For achieving recall with deaf dog, vibrating collar units are available, enabling contact up to 1000 metres distance. So remember for a more attentive dog and quicker response to your requests, ferme la bouche (shut your mouth) and use non verbal communication.

Many owners are amazed that I don’t talk to their dog during training; I simply tell them I don’t speak Spaniel or whatever breed it happens to be. Try this little experiment: When your dog is walking toward you, take a step toward them and look them in the eyes whilst standing upright, then raise your hand in an open flat gesture with your hand at the side of your head, nodding your head slightly up. If you do this correctly your dog is now sitting in front of you without even muttering a word.