Sully is 19 weeks yesterday! Wow we have come so far. Barking has improved. The crate he does rest in it when he is exhausted but we do not crate him at night anymore. Completely potty trained. Recalls amazingly - I have to continue to proof it. He is heeling beautifully. We teaching leave it. Drop it. Take it. Wait. On. Off. Quiet. Sit. Down. Stand. So many other cues. My question is do I have to have hand signals for all of these? I am training service work for Sully - right now he helps with laundry. The cue "Help Out" he goes my laundry out of the basket and brings it right to me (sitting down). So I don't have to bend over as it's painful. He brings my walker to me (gets on the flat part and pushes it over to me by walking on his hind legs). He also brings my cane to me whereever I lay it against the wall. I am scared I am screwing up. I am scared I won't remember. What do you think?
It sounds as if you are doing a great job and Sully is progressing extremely well. I don't see why you need to train hand signals unless they will be useful. Have a think about whether you are likely to be in a situation with Sully where you need to communicate with him but either you aren't permitted to speak or there is so much noise he would struggle to hear you or he is at a distance from you. If you can envisage a case like this then perhaps train hand signals for just those actions that might be needed then. If you think you might one day need Sully to get urgent help for you (say by fetching your mobile phone or pressing an emergency contact button) then it might also be worth training that as a hand signal in case you were too ill to speak clearly.
We use both verbal and hand signals for Cooper, though she doesn't have any important tasks. She will generally respond to either one.
