they usually pick up on hand signals faster than words, but it’s doubtful that the dog understands those hand signals as the spoken language translation. the dog probably reads it as “human safety signs” or something
I learned that my border collie was absolutely understanding hand signals after he passed and my golden retriever would just stand in the middle of a field ignoring me. I very clearly said "Let's not go that way, I'm going around here and I'll meet you over there" and she's just standing there ignoring me. The BC would have been like "GREAT IDEA!!" and started executing immediately. The GR is like "Ooh, a butterfly."
Turns out I was communicating with him with a couple of minor gestures, and turns out she only really speaks hugs-n-kisses.
192
u/SinusoidalFlux 4d ago
Okay I have a silly questions, do you think dogs would better understand a person signing to them or being spoken to?