Reader’s Digest Australia & New Zealand – May 2019

May• 2019 | 19

and‘walk’,becausewheneverthey

hearthosewordstheyarerewarded

withfood,a gameoranouting.Your

dogwillconstantlypickuponwords

andsignals,sousethistoyour

advantageandincreasethe effect

withsuitablerewards.

3 USEHANDSIGNALS

Dogsbynatureenjoyresponding

tovisualcues,andseemtohave

adaptedtocomprehendhuman

visualcommunication.Pointingis

a greatexample,asyoucanpoint

toa toyandyourdogwillpickit up.

Dogs are one of the few animals

thatunderstandthatgesture.Back

upyourvoicecommandswith

handsignalsandyouwillfind

yourdogrespondsquickly and

enthusiastically.

4 REGULARTRAINING

Shortburstsofregulartraining

throughoutyourdog’slifewill

givegreatresults.Trainingcanbe

briefandspontaneous,aswhat’s

importantisthatit’sregular.Run

througha fewsimplecommands

withyourdogbeforeyougivethem

theirdinner.It’sa timewhenthey’ll

be really keen to respond.

Dogs constantly pick up on human words and signals

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