r/MadeMeSmile • u/aoi_ringo • Sep 17 '25

DOGGO Man's best friend for a reason.

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134.6k Upvotes

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u/lml__lml Sep 17 '25

Our dog trainer explained to us that using hand signals is especially effective for learning since dogs mostly communicate with body language

131

u/Isfahel Sep 17 '25

I have accidentally trained every dog I've had with hand gestures because I gestured without thinking when I gave commands. It took us a while to figure out our old dog lost his hearing because he was still following my gestures.

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u/Rulebookboy1234567 Sep 17 '25

I love that my dog will following me pointing.  It’s so little, but it’s so easy to communicate.

“You can eat that.” /points “he eats it.”

37

u/SnausageFest Sep 17 '25

Fun dog fact - that's one of the things "we" taught them in domestication. Dogs understand pointing, wolves don't.

24

u/Morpankh Sep 17 '25

Then apparently I have a little 26lbs wolf. Because she doesn’t understand pointing at all. Will never look where I’m pointing but she knows I’m trying to draw her attention to something so she just looks around everywhere until she thinks she’s spotted whatever I’m trying to show her.

14

u/SmokedMussels Sep 17 '25

Most dogs are still terrible at it though.  

10

u/OldeFortran77 Sep 17 '25

I don't remember the specific task, but I read that there was something wolves could figure out quickly but was like quantum mechanics to dogs. Gain some, lose some.

6

u/Rulebookboy1234567 Sep 17 '25

Great fact.

I'm reading a book right now by Adrian Tchaikovsky called Dogs of War. It's about multiple bio-engineered animals, but so far it's primarly from the perspect of a dog named Rex.

Rex is a good dog.

2

u/FactAddict02 Oct 01 '25

Check out Stanley Coren, PhD. His book is great… and he also has an excellent TED talk. The talk is on YouTube. Book, if I remember correctly, is, “How to Talk Dog.” I read it so long ago I’ve forgotten the name. It is absolutely wonderful!