Dog Hand Signals: Your Ultimate List of Commands

Want clearer communication with your dog? It's easier than you think. Many owners find that hand signals, paired with verbal cues, work wonders. Dogs are naturally visual, often picking up on our body language faster than our words. In this post, we'll explore why hand signals are so effective, share some cool stats, and give you a handy list of dog commands and hand signals to start practicing today. Let's dive in!

While for most pet parents it may just be a personal preference, there are a lot of great reasons to consider training hand signals with our canine friends — and scientific studies to back them up. Per Sniffspot’s own proprietary research, 89% of dog guardians report having attempted to teach their dog hand signals!

Why Teach Your Dog Hand Signals?

The most obvious reason visual signals work so well is that dogs are themselves body language communicators, and readily read body cues. Because of this, dogs will usually respond more reliably to visual prompts, and will have a tougher time  with verbal cues. One study looked at a group of dogs that had been taught standard cues with both visual and auditory signals. It was found that the hand-only cues reached up to 99% reliability while voice cues only reached 82% reliability.

In addition, hand signals are useful in a noisy environment. It is much easier for a dog to focus on their handler’s body positioning amongst these types of distractions. It can also be easier for your dog to read gestures during times they are a distance away from you. And if your dog loses their hearing as they get older you will still have a way to communicate with them. 

If another person is with your dog, they can also use your dog’s visual signals with more reliability than with an auditory dog cue. Dogs may get confused by different intonations, accents or even tones of voice. Research shows that hand signals are much easier for dogs to understand when given by different people.

Many professional dog trainers teach their companions both verbal cues and hand signals.

Key Takeaways

• Visual cues are key: Dogs understand body language better than verbal cues. Hand signals are more effective, especially in noisy or distracting situations. They can even strengthen your dog's response to verbal commands.
• Training is easy: Incorporate hand signals into your dog's current training or when teaching new behaviors. Use clear and consistent gestures, and remember to fade treat lures as your dog learns.
• Focus on the essentials: Begin with basic commands like "sit," "stay," "come," and "down." Keep training sessions positive, short, and distraction-free. Gradually increase the difficulty as your dog masters each cue.

Does Hand Signal Training Work?

Of people that have tried to teach hand signals to their dog, 91% report via Sniffspot’s research that they’ve been successful.

• Per our proprietary survey, the breeds with the highest success rates are:
  • Border Collie
  • Australian Cattle Dog
• And the breed with the lowest success rate is:
  • Beagle

Keep in mind that every dog is an individual, though — so even if you have an adorable Beagle, don’t count them out! All our training journeys look different. Regardless of your pup’s breed, basic hand signals paired with verbal communication can be an invaluable training technique.

How to Add Hand Signals to Existing Commands

If your dog already responds to an auditory cue for basic obedience behaviors, the training process for teaching hand signals is easy!  And because dogs respond more reliably to body language, teaching hand signals can actually help you build a better response to your verbal cues.

Anytime you want to build a new prompt for a behavior, you can use the same training process. First, perform the new visual signal, then follow up with the known verbal cue. With enough repetition, your dog will start to see your physical gesture as a predictor that the verbal cue is coming. You should start to pause for longer periods of time to give the dog a chance to start responding before you give the verbal cue.  

When this happens you will now have two ways to ask your dog for a behavior: both a visual and a verbal cue.

Teaching New Behaviors with Hand Signals

When you are teaching a new behavior cue with your furry friend’s favorite treats as a lure as in lure-and-reward training, then you can turn that lure right into a hand signal!

• Hold the treat in your hand while luring for the behavior that you would like. The trick here is to hide the treat with your fingers in your hand so it does not become a visual part of the cue.
• Mark and reward your dog when they perform the behavior you’d like!
• Then you want to start trying repetitions without the treat in your hand.
• Does your dog respond? If not, try luring again and take note to make sure your hand looks exactly the same. Is the treat visible? Is your dog’s nose busily sniffing to see if there is a treat?  If so it will be better to keep the lure until you notice your pup responding faster. 

Important: The training process for new skills should always begin in a distraction-free environment. Keep training sessions short and fun to accommodate our furry friend’s short attention span. Training without distractions is key in the beginning. As behavior becomes more fluent, you will want to practice with your dogs in a variety of situations, including stimulating situations, like outside or at the park. This will help to proof behaviors.

Dogs can learn these body cues at any age. So you can start training with hand signal non-verbal cues to puppies as well as your adult dogs!

You can read more about training in general in our Dog Training 101 guide!

Common Hand Signal Training Mistakes

Of people that have not yet tried to teach their dog hand signals, 59% report through Sniffspot’s survey that they’re confident that they would be successful and 41% are not confident that they would be successful.

If you’re in that latter number, knowing what mistakes to watch for can make you more confident!

Separate Verbal and Visual Cues

One of the most common mistakes people make when teaching hand signals is that they will give the verbal and visual cues together. If you give them simultaneously your dog won’t be able to separate them and will focus on the more salient — obvious — prompt. For dogs, that will always be the physical cue. What happens then is they learn the words you keep saying to them have no meaning… and it all becomes background noise. 

So when training the new cues, wait a second or two in between the known and new prompts. Keep them separate in order for your dog to respond to them separately!

Fade the Treat Lure

The other mistake people make is that they keep the food tucked in their hand. Make sure to fade the treat from the hand so you are truly teaching your dog  hand-only cues — and not just rewarding them for following the treat.

Do mark (click or say “yes”) and treat the behavior with a snack from your pocket! You are still rewarding the behavior — but your dog will learn to perform without seeing, or smelling, the treat.

By teaching hand prompts to your dog, you are avoiding one of the biggest mistakes humans make while teaching basic obedience: Talking too much to your dog. Humans like to talk a lot, and when we do that, our dogs start to zone us out. We become nothing more than background noise. So avoid that mistake by teaching a visual prompt!

Dog Hand Signals: A Comprehensive List

Here are a couple of steps for teaching your dog hand signals for some basic obedience cues. 

Hand Signal for "Attention"

You may also hear this cue called  “watch me” or “look”. You are teaching the dog to look at you, or give you attention.

The physical gesture is your index finger pointing to the outside side of your eye. You can use either your right or your left hand and eye, but once you pick a side, stay consistent. This will help your dog make the connection between your body movement and what you are asking them to do.

When your dog looks toward you, mark and follow up with a tasty treat.

Hand Signal for "Release" (Free!)

This releases your dog from any position your dog is in. Start with your hands in front of you, palms down, right over left.  In a sweeping motion, move the right hand to the right, and the left hand to the left to tell your dog they are “all done”.

As your dog is learning what this means, you may need to encourage him to move from the position he is in.

Hand Signal for "Sit"

With your palm up, start with your arm in a natural position and sweep it in an upward motion over your dog’s head. As your dog watches your body movement, their head will naturally look up, which will make many dogs sit naturally.

If you are luring this behavior, hide the treat in the hand, but cover it with your thumb so it does not become part of the visual cue for your dog. Remove the food after just a few successful repetitions.

Hand Signal for "Down"

The hand signal for down is almost the exact opposite of the sit. Hold your hand at your dog’s nose, palm down, and sweep your hand in a downward motion, almost between your dog’s feet. Imagine there is a string from your fingers to your dog’s nose, and you are guiding him to the down.

If the down is new to your dog, tuck a treat under your palm out of sight and slowly lure the dog into a down position.

Hand Signal for "Stand"

Imagine that string from your dog’s nose to your fingers again! Hold your hand with your palm facing his face. Move it out a few inches, so if your dog follows it they have to get up from the position they are in. The moment your dog stands up and has four still feet, mark and treat!

Hand Signal for "Stay"

The physical gesture for stay is a hand brought forward toward your dog’s face (without touching him) and immediately pull back and relax your hand. Think of how you would gesture at a person to tell them to stop. 

The most common mistake the average person makes when teaching the stay is that they want to hold their hand in their dog’s face for the duration of the stay. This will hinder the dog’s performance because he will become dependent on that hand being in his face, making it hard for the handler to move away or go out of sight while building the stay. So making this cue short and sweet can help you build a better stay.

Hand Signal for "Come"

Coming when called is the most important cue for your dog to know, and you will want to teach both a verbal cue (in case your dog is running the other way) and a visual cue (in case he can’t hear you). Be sure to read our full post on Reliable Recall Training for more thorough info.

With your hand open at your side, sweep it in a diagonal motion until your hand is on your opposite shoulder. When your dog gets to you, throw a party with treats and praise.

Hand Signal for "Target"

A target is almost always initially taught as a hand signal. You present your hand, and when your dog sniffs your hand, you will mark and treat. The hand signal will simply be your open hand.

So what is the point of teaching this?  It can become an alternative to the come cue. But you can also use the target to get your dog into a position (such as on the scale at the vet’s office). Or you can use the hand target to get them to greet people. This makes a fun cue to start with when first getting started in teaching hand signals to your dog.

Hand Signal for "Heel"

The hand signal for the heel tells the dog where his starting position is. You tap your left hip. When your dog goes to that side to investigate you will mark and treat. While on a walk, if your dog gets out of position you can use this body language to get your dog back in the right position again.

Some handlers pair a circular motion to help their dog rotate their hind legs — but ultimately, the exact hand signal cue you choose to use is up to you.

Hand Signal for "Place"

Place teaches the dog to position himself on a target. This can be a bed, a crate or a platform. Point to the object. Studies show that dogs actually have a rough understanding of what the gesture means. So when they go to investigate where you are pointing, mark and treat their interaction with the object. Eventually you will tighten up criteria, and they will need to have all four feet on the target. But start easy to keep the game fun, motivating them to keep playing.

Hand Signal for "Quiet"

You can probably guess the hand signal for quiet. It is a body language cue even humans respond to! Your index finger in front of your nose. Practice using this hand signal with your dog in low distraction areas. Give the physical gesture and the moment your dog is quiet, even if just for a second, mark and treat. 

Start Using Dog Hand Signals Today!

Dogs are tapped into our body positions, so it makes sense that they respond well to body signals. By taking just a couple of steps, your canine buddy will be looking to you for visual direction with hand signals and you can take your obedience training to the next level.

Make sure that while beginning these steps, train in an area free of distractions. Give your dog your undivided attention and use the power of positive reinforcement. Before long you will have a whole new way to communicate with your dog. Then let us know how this training method works for you.

Printable Resources and Further Learning

Downloadable Charts and PDFs

Teaching hand signals can improve communication with your dog, regardless of their hearing ability. Positive reinforcement and consistency are key for successful training. A great way to stay consistent with your hand signals is to use a printable chart. Having a visual reminder can help both you and your family stay on the same page, making the training process clearer for your dog.

Many resources offer free downloadable PDFs of common hand signals. These charts can be a handy reference as you begin teaching your dog, or if you simply need a refresher.

Additional Articles and Videos

If you're interested in learning more about hand signals, plenty of articles and videos offer helpful advice. Dogs understand body language, making hand signals a natural training method. Even dogs who already know verbal commands can benefit from learning hand signals. This resource explains the benefits of hand signals and provides a helpful list of commands.

Videos can be especially useful for seeing hand signals in action. This BarkBox video demonstrates common hand signals and offers training tips. Using hand signals with verbal commands improves communication, especially when speaking isn’t practical. Finally, if you're concerned about making mistakes, this Sniffspot article covers common pitfalls to avoid, helping you streamline your training.

About the Trainer

There is so much misinformation out there, and we want to make sure we only provide the highest quality information to our community. We have our articles reviewed by qualified trainers. The trainers that review our content are reviewed by other trainers to ensure that we have the best quality filters on our content. 

This is the trainer that reviewed this article:

Olivia Peterson, CCS
Owner – Sound Connection Dog Training WSU Bachelors in Animal Science Business Management. Northwest School of Canine Studies (NWSCS) Certification

Sniffspot Survey Statistics

Sniffspot Research 2023, n = 4,092

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I use hand signals when my dog already understands verbal commands?

Even if your dog responds to verbal cues, hand signals offer several advantages. They can be especially helpful in noisy or distracting environments, when your dog is far away, or if your dog experiences hearing loss later in life. Plus, hand signals are generally easier for dogs to interpret, leading to more reliable responses. They can even strengthen your dog's response to verbal cues when used together correctly.

My dog isn't a Border Collie or Australian Cattle Dog. Can they still learn hand signals?

Absolutely! While some breeds might pick up on visual cues more quickly, any dog can learn hand signals with patience and consistency. Every dog learns at their own pace, and the key is to keep training sessions positive and engaging.

What's the most important thing to remember when teaching hand signals?

Keep the hand signal and the verbal cue separate. Don't give them at the same time. Your dog needs to learn that each signal has its own meaning. Introduce the hand signal, then pause briefly before giving the verbal cue. This helps your dog connect the visual cue with the desired action. Also, remember to fade the treat lure quickly so your dog isn't just following the food.

What if my dog already knows a verbal cue for a command? How do I add a hand signal?

Simply perform the hand signal immediately before giving the familiar verbal cue. With repetition, your dog will begin to anticipate the verbal cue after seeing the hand signal. Gradually increase the pause between the hand signal and verbal cue, giving your dog the opportunity to respond to the hand signal alone.

Where can I find more information about hand signals and dog training?

There are many resources available online and in print. Look for reputable dog trainers and organizations that emphasize positive reinforcement methods. You can also find helpful videos demonstrating various hand signals and training techniques. Sniffspot's blog has additional articles on dog training, including a guide on common hand signal training mistakes. Printable charts can also be a great way to stay consistent with your hand signals.

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