Did I invent something?-sorry kinda long for me

[Bo Peep]

I had a dog go deaf. Before she went deaf, she had already known her obedience signs. My grand kids were taking beginning signing in school and taught me some signs. I used them on Miss Lacey- they worked. My final sign to her was "thank you" when she was PTS.

 

Anyway, onto better things. I tried one hour of silence with Usher- me, not him-LOL. I only used sign gestures in obedience and the ones I use around the house, like back off or go take a break, watch, etc... After an hour, the dog that never listens (my mom was asleep during this and the TV was off) I whispered "Usher" and he came !!!!! I whispered very soft. Sit, Stay and I moved around the room. It was great!!!

 

So, Is this a new trick or am I stupid?

[AKB]

I don't know if it's new but it definitely doesn't sound stupid.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I've been told on two different occaisions that ideally I needed to get my dogs to where they'd listen to a whisper from me. Not because they are afraid of me, but because they afraid they'll miss something! That would be a nice place to be all the time.

[Dixie_Girl]

When I first got on the internet concerning BCs, I remember reading a story about a young girl who was quite introverted. Her parents were friends with some trialing/working folks and thought maybe the girl might be interrested and benefit from trianing and trialing. The girl got a young pup and was quite happy trianing the pup. But she still could barely speak above a whisper around people. When she would go to the post, it was said the only one who could hear her was her dog! I think the "moral" of the story was to always talk low to your dog, and that is what he will learn to respond to. If the highest yell is the one right before correction, that is the one he responds to. They said it should never get to that point.

 

Well, I tried. Irish/Indian blood is seldom silent!

 

BTW, I am still working on it. I think you are on the right track to something good!

[Bo Peep]

When you have to whisper, people have to listen more carefully.

I believe this is true.

My mom told me about kids, If you start out shouting at them, where do you go from there? Maybe a lesson to remember for children and dogs.

Also, I am much calmer now after a long dog walk and a good cry and some thinking time. I really loved my results with Usher and hope they can help others. After 20 years with BC's you'd think I'd quit learning, but......I never do.

[Dixie_Girl]

That is great!!! Sometimes the BEST thing for a troubled soul is a walk with your dog and a good cry. Glad you are feeling better!

I believe your mom is right!

 

Hey, you should learn something new everyday, right? Might as well be about your cool dog! Take care!

[Kat's Dogs]

With Dazzle I often go "silent" during Agility practice. It sort of gets the idea back in her head that she has to watch me and pay attention to what I do/say. Her listening ability really sharpen after we do a little practice silently.

[WyoBC]

That's interesting. I started talking less to Black Jack when I was working with him and he has been responding more/quicker than before. I think it does make them pay more attention. I really didn't think about it before.

[SoloRiver]

I lost my voice once and found that my dogs became MUCH more attentive.

 

I try to be pretty soft-spoken around them in general, which can be hard because anyone who's met me will tell you I can be rather loud. I have a very low voice as well which kind of exacerbates the problem.

[ShoresDog]

Inspirational post, Dianne. I am usually way too chatty with my pets, but I really like being reminded to be quieter and get more listening from them!

 

Glad to hear you had a good walk/cry and feel better. Carry on!

[OurBoys]

Glad you were able to have a good walk & cry. A good cry is like a 'shower for the soul'.

 

JJ and Jake are good about listening to whispers. In fact, sometimes they obey better/faster when I whisper. I love it.

[KrisK]

I often whisper to Jazz and he does indeed listen very well. I was told that it's a good thing to teach all dogs hand signals with verbal commands. Even if a dog never goes deaf, you may be in an area where there's a lot of noise and the hand signal works well.

 

I think it's great that you have Usher working 'silently'

[Bordercentrics]

Dogs respond most quickly to body language. I have always wondered why classes start with voice commands. All dogs learn more quickly with signals. Too much chatter can turn the dog off as well. It just confuses things. And yes, a soft voice or whisper will get your dog's attention more than anything loud will. I gave the wrong voice command to one of my dogs once, but she did what I intended her to do because that was what my body was telling her. If a dog has to choose between what you said and what you indicate with your body, they will usually do the latter. KISS is a good plan in dog training! For those of you who clicker train, notice that you just click and not talk when the dog does the behavior you are looking for. And of course, Border Collies are extraordinarily sensitive to body language - ours are always watching us.

 

Kathy Robbins

[Guest WoobiesMom]

When I was recently investigating deaf dogs, JoAnne recommended I try not talking to Woobie for a day and see what happened. OMG!!! The dog that likes to ignore me and obey when he feels like it (unless I have the magic BPF) became super glue velcro and his eyes never left my face. He was so confused, he started an awful lot of yipping at me like he was saying "HEY! WTF??? WHY DON'T YOU TALK LADY????" But he was so crisp and polished with those hand signals that I had taught him, it was like I had a brand new dog!!! And that evening, when I took him to the dog park, he performed like a well-oiled machine just with the hand signals. The people at the dog park were amazed! I'm probably going to keep training this way due to the results. My daughter tried to get him to perform for a treat recently and he wouldn't do the move w/o the hand signal!!! But when we're doing this (hand signals only) he barks with every movement. Not sure I want that habit!

 

Dogs are so cool!

[Michelle K]

This makes perfect sense, but I had never thought of it. Now that I think about it, it does work. I tend to be soft spoken apparently. I never saw myself that way, but I've found that I have to repeat myself way too often due to people not being able to hear me. I have one of our Shelties in obedience class once a week right now. Throughout the class, I hear others practically yelling to their dogs that in return don't respond. I don't. I keep my voice calm and low, and Rain is picking up very quickly. I thought that it might just be her breed compared to the others (Labs, a JRT, a Chihuahua, Rotties, etc), but there is another lady in the class (another trainer that I've known for a few years) and you rarely hear her give commands either. The Rottie that she's training for a friend of hers and Rain are the two picking up what's expected of them the quickest. Hmmm....that makes me wonder.

[billiegirl]

My pup (who I've only had for a month or two) seems to respond best with hand signals and whispers, too. For instance, when we're walking with the leash, if I whisper "hey" she knows she's getting too far ahead of me and she slows down. She's even had a bit of success with this off leash (as long as there aren't too many distractions---boy is she a lover ).

 

She also likes a little soft spoken chatting---it keeps her paying attention to me a little bit.

[stockdogranch]

For those of you old enough to remember the old E.F. Hutton commercials...the point is that they would whisper and everyone would really pay attention and strain to listen, right? If you start training with a very low voice, the dog learns to really listen, and you also have somewhere to go when you need to escalate,

Anna