All of my dogs react to silent hand signals that were taught at the same time as the verbal commands.
Mostly because they may be in a situation where I do not want to make noise and also in the event they go deaf later in life.
[has happened]
I have never followed the “push on their rump” school of thought for teaching to sit.
A treat dangled over their head makes them flop into a sit, naturally and they learn the basic hand command at the same time.
Back in the 70s, my kennel club obedience classes insisted we do that so I had to look like I was when I wasn’t and I always apologized to the dog, who already knew how to sit properly, anyway.
Oh well...I did what they said I had to, to earn the dog’s certificate.
I am always willing to absorb new, better ways of training *but* sometimes it seems that the things I did instinctively 40 years ago worked better than all the new-fangled and often conflicting modern stuff.
I’ve been going back to the ‘old days’ of just watching what the dog is saying rather than fussing with some contrived philosophy.
Life was better and easier when I simply listened.
Yep we did the same kind of sit teaching..and use hand signals more often than words. Dogs do respond so much more to body language than speech they tell me.