Chapter 4
🐾 Verbal cue first, hand signal second
If we want to fade out the hand signal later, the order of the cues is extremely important.
Dogs usually respond much more strongly to visual signals than to verbal ones.
That means if the hand moves at the same time as the cue — or even before it — the dog may mainly learn the hand movement and pay much less attention to the verbal signal.
🗣️ The correct sequence
Keep it very clear:
➡️ Say “S” first
➡️ Pause very briefly
➡️ Then move the hand up
➡️ The dog makes the small hop
➡️ Continue into the “T” and the Stand
The goal is that the dog starts to understand:
“S” predicts the jump.
⚠️ Why timing matters
If you are too sloppy with the timing now, fading the hand signal later will become much harder.
The verbal cue should always come first so the dog has a real chance to learn it independently.
🎥 Film yourself
This is one of those exercises where your own perception can easily be misleading.
So film a few repetitions and check:
✅ Did I say the cue before moving my hand?
✅ Was there a clear little pause between cue and hand signal?
✅ Did the dog respond with the hop?
✅ Did the dog land and stand securely afterwards?
If all of that works reliably, you are ready for the next step.
💡 Good timing now will make phasing out the hand signal much easier later.