A thumbs up instead of a word, and pay that follows

Training treats for deaf dogs are the same small pieces any dog earns. What changes is the signal that comes before them. Swap the marker word for a thumbs up your dog can see, get attention with a wave or a light touch, give each cue its own hand signal, and pay quickly.

What stands in for a marker word with a deaf dog?

A thumbs up, or a quick flash of an open hand, made where your dog can see it and made the same way each round. It does the job a spoken word would do, and a piece follows it.

Before you use it in training, pair the signal with a piece. Give the thumbs up, then hand over a tiny treat straight away. Repeat that for a few rounds with nothing else going on, and only then start asking your dog for anything.

Keep it big and clear, and keep it separate from your other signals, so a thumbs up is never mistaken for part of something else. The timing is the same as it is with a word, and the timing section of our guide to using training treats covers it: the piece has to arrive within about a second.

How do you get a deaf dog to look at you?

A wave inside your dog's view, or a light touch on the shoulder, and then pay the moment it turns to you. Pay the look first, and only afterward ask for anything. Keep to that order in each session.

Keep the wave in front of your dog. If your dog is facing away, a wave behind its head is not a signal, so walk around into view or use the touch. Keep the touch light and keep it the same from one round to the next.

The name game on this site rests on the same idea: pay for the look. A look game shows how that goes with a spoken name. For a deaf dog the wave does the job the name does there, and the pay works the same way.

Which hand signals cover the everyday cues?

Any signal works if you make it the same way each round and everyone in the house uses the same set. These are plain descriptions of one possible set, and nothing here is a standard.

• Sit: a flat palm lifted from belt height to chest height.
• Down: a flat palm lowered toward the floor.
• Come: an arm swept in toward your chest.
• Wait: an open palm held up, facing your dog, like a stop sign.
• Release: both hands opened out to the sides with the palms up.
• All done: both hands shown empty, then lowered.

Choose gestures that look different from one another, since two similar signals are easy to mix up. If you want to see how a motion your dog already follows turns into a signal of its own, how a lure fades into a hand signal walks through the steps. That page teaches it with a spin, and the idea carries over to any of the cues above.

How does paying change when your dog cannot hear you?

Your signaling hand has to be free and in view. The pouch belongs on the side of the paying hand, so there is no digging around while your dog waits for the piece. Practice reaching for it without looking down.

Bring the treat in from the front, where your dog can see the hand coming, so the pay lands inside the same view as the signal. A piece that appears from behind or above, out of sight, is easy to miss.

Outdoors, practice check-ins on a long line or inside a fence, and pay each look back at you. Recall is its own subject and not taught here. Keep early sessions short and keep the pieces small.

If you think your dog's hearing has changed, take that to your veterinarian.

Our freeze dried cheddar bites are a reward for a good moment, and the day's food still comes from meals. They contain dairy.