Just curious to see what cues everyone uses for basic commands (sit, down, come, target etc), and might borrow some of them!

Sit - point upwards
Lie down - point downwards
Come - hand on thigh
Stop - Palm in the air held flat
Roll over - point to the side (whichever way you want him to roll)

Sit - dogs name and voice command

Down - dogs name and voice command

Stand - dogs name and hand signal

Heel position - dogs name and 'close' command

Come into present - dogs name and both hand signal

Sit- Fist over his head
Lie down- move my hand down flat out plam facing downwards
Stand- Lie down in reverse pretty much
Heel- Arm bent and tucked into my side
Stop- Hand upwards palm out
Come- One arm up in the arm bent up at the elbow.

All use the voice commands as well. Most of his commands including stupid tricks have hand signals too he learns those faster

__________________
"A dog is not "almost human," and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such."
John Holmes

Owned by Buster cairn terrier mix and Leo netherland dwarf mix bunny

Thanks for letting me steal all your cues! Just want to get a system in place, so I know what I'm doing and the poor puppy won't be getting all confused, partner thinks I'm mad because we haven't even found the right breeder yet. So I'm going to be training puppy and him! There's nothing wrong with being prepared right?

It's great to see someone so prepared. What breed are you getting?

__________________
"A dog is not "almost human," and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such."
John Holmes

Owned by Buster cairn terrier mix and Leo netherland dwarf mix bunny

Well we debated it for a while and I had a thread on here looking for advice, but finally settled on a german shepherd (a dog that wasn't even initially on our shortlist). We just thought it would be the best fit. I have the time to stimulate so hopefully we won't have any boredom destruction and as my partner works a lot of nights I would feel safe having a dog most people would take a look at and run! :P Just waiting for the right breeder now!

Dog's name sit
Down (for instant down, either from static or on the move)
Back (for stand)
Settle (lie down wherever you fancy)
Off (off sofa)
Here (recall) - or whistle
Dog's name close
Dog's name come (formal recall)
Dog's name hold (formal retrieve)
Gettit (grab tuggie/fetch thrown toy in a play situation)

TBH, I think the REALLY important thing is that you use words that come naturally to you. Try as I may I cannot - CANNOT - get my OH and kids to use "Off" instead of "Down" if they want the dogs to move from the sofa. "Down" just comes naturally/makes sense to them. Luckily it doesn't seem to make a jot of difference to the dogs; they seem able to differentiate between my cues and the rest of the family.

TBH, I think the REALLY important thing is that you use words that come naturally to you. Try as I may I cannot - CANNOT - get my OH and kids to use "Off" instead of "Down" if they want the dogs to move from the sofa. "Down" just comes naturally/makes sense to them. Luckily it doesn't seem to make a jot of difference to the dogs; they seem able to differentiate between my cues and the rest of the family.

Quite right - my husband stills says "sit down" to my lot...!!

Teach hand signals first. English is a second language for dogs so use the established hand signals to translate the verbals.
You can use any words that you like but as others have found it can be difficlt to use odd words for some actions.

__________________
Anne, owned by Rufus & Tripod

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