Signals

One of the first signs of his ageing was his loss of hearing, likely exacerbated by long, spaniel ears, one of which is prone to infections. The Amce 210.5 whistle, which had for so long prompted an almost reflexive recall response in him and been our essential piece of equipment on our long, off-lead runs together, became completely useless. It’s now lost at the bottom of a drawer somewhere.

Thankfully, we had recall hand signals to fall back on. They work well, provided, of course, that’s he’s looking in my direction. Hand signals more generally have proved to be invaluable to us and enabled us to continue to communicate easily, to play games and have fun together.

Humans tend to love words, but hand signals are far easier for our canine companions to understand and hand signals will stand you both in good stead should your dog’s hearing falter in later years.

The other wonderful thing about hand signals is, of course, that they are silent and so allow quiet, peaceful communication between us and our canine friends. I recommend establishing a set of hand signals alongside your cue words so that you can work quietly with your dog and communicate with him long into old age should he lose his hearing.

If you need a hand with hand signals, just drop me a line.