Teaching a deaf puppy ASL?

She plays with the German shepherds all the time and we all go on walks together. They LOVE wrestling and playing tug of war with each other.
Of the 2 indoor dogs, Maggie (my pug) hates other dogs and will literally try to kill any dog she can get to so we have the house split into 2. And then Chico (my chi-Pom) is 10 years old and is skittish around other dogs and would rather not be bothered by other dogs. He does okay with Maisie, but he gets irritated after awhile.
 
I agree with majority of posts here. Dogs do well with both verbal and non-verbal commands. Dogs are a social animal that is able to pick up on different forms of communication. Dogs do have their own body language, and we can learn a lot about their mood and intentions when we watch that. A dog with his tail up may be feeling confident or becoming dominant, a wagging tail that is down, could mean submissive and happy. A dog however, can learn over 11 thousand verbal words. I imagine they can learn about the same with non-verbal commands we make up too. It is still not their own language, but they catch on so fast. My dog learned verbal commands with a hand signal and we could use either the hand gesture or the verbal command. This came in handy when I wanted to change "where's your tail " accompanied by a hand gesture-flipping my hands palm up and shrugging as though I was asking a question...and changing it to something else like "did you eat the cookie"...and it looks like she is looking away. She goes to the part of the command she could comprehend. So I don't think it needs to be ASL..but any gesture works..You do need to use your body and correction techniques. Dogs in a pack use touch. For example, you teach shake a paw by bringing their paw to your hand. You correct jumping behaviour with your hands- gentle but confident.
That being said, dogs are pack animals. They need to be inside with the family. If you can't provide a dog with a constant family- They get lonely and cold, depressed even. The wild wolves live inside warm dens with many many other furry creatures in their family. They also get winter coats that not all dog breeds are able to have. They are pack creatures.
 
Larimar I like and agree with a lot of what you said, but things like "dominance" and "corrections" are behaviorally inaccurate - as well as from current canine learning theory and knowledge . Dogs do behave very much like wolves- sometimes - but they also behave quite distinctly from wolves, nor do feral domestic dogs have the same social group structure as wild wolves do. Direct correlations should not be made.


ChasingRainbows - love the pictures! She's very cute and she has a soft expression:)
 
All are dogs by classification.

I agree there are differences between a

domestic dog (canis familiaris) vs a wolf.
a dingo vs a wolf
a coyote vs a wolf
an African wild dog vs a wolf etc

They all are very different, but I do still believe they use body language and touch. My cats do it too and so did my guinea pigs. Most social animals will or all. That being said, I didn't mention wolves until describing living situations, not behavioural situations. Making an important point that wild dogs don't sleep in a cage in the cold snow.

The word dominant in a family of dogs is more so speaking about aggressive behaviour, fearlessness, assertiveness (ASPCA source). It doesn't necessarily mean that the animal will be alpha in a real pack. The most aggressive usually is not.

I'm using a general dictionary definition of the word 'correction' not a scientific or behavioural science definition, nor am I advocating for violence. Touch should always be gentle. If a dog is supposed to stay and runs off, I will be using a leash to bring him back- correcting him, showing him what he needs to do and offering praise and reward for that. (tech a leash is using touch).
Unfortunately there is no set standard for dog trainers and therefore, no agreed upon techniques. So I don't like to nitpick words unless the poster is clearly saying to use harmful techniques like shock, or pain. That isn't the case here, I assure you. I am also not a behaviourist and won't be using accurate-up to date scientific jargon or terms to describe things. Many of which are loudly debated amongst trainers.

I hope that clears it up :)
 
yes, body language and touch is important among canines.

Here's an article by Dr. Yin, who I saw at a seminar a few year ago, I really enjoyed it: The Dominance Controversy | Philosophy | Dr. Sophia Yin, DVM, MS

Here is some information about wolf packs I enjoyed reading too:Why everything you know about wolf packs is wrong

The fact that technique and methods are debated, does not mean that there are -not- behaviorally, scientifically accurate ways for trainers to do things. There are also misconceptions based on previous lines of thinking and what is reinforcing for people. Words and terms do have power because people who may not be as experienced as you or I, tend to grab onto terms that they find "romantic" or fulfilling from their own perspective but which, when applied in an inaccurate manner, do actually cause issues in the long run.
:)
 
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