Another common gesture to make a dog sit down is to start with your hand, enclosed around a treat, at your dog’s nose, and then raise your arm straight up. By telling your dog to “sit!” at the same time as holding up this finger, and then rewarding them with a food-based treat as soon as they do, you can, after repetition, get your dog to respond to the hand gesture only. The first is to hold one finger pointed directly up. For sitting down, there are two signals that can be helpful.

While you can use almost any hand signal to train your dog (as long as you’re consistent!), there are some commonly accepted ones that can be useful. As an added benefit, hand signals can be easier for foreign house guests who are not fluent in your native tongue, and they definitely come in handy for an older dog who has become slightly or very hard of hearing.

Once a dog has been trained to respond to hand signals, you can communicate with your pet without saying a word. Using hand signals with your dog is a fun and smart alternative to using spoken commands or a clicker to train your dog.

Common hands signals for training dogs