Photo taken many years ago.
Verbal cues are the words that we place on a behavior or action. These are very important for communicating with your dog. The more you teach, the more your dog can learn. I am always trying to teach new cues when going through our day to day. The importance of verbal cues has come to my attention recently as Elsa is recovering from her stroke.
When Elsa goes through her day to day, it is extremely helpful that I can give her a heads up. Meaning to give her a communication before it happens. eg. She is standing in the middle of the living room not knowing where we are going next. I can tell her “outside,” or “kitchen” and she gets the much needed info. Turning spontaneously is difficult for her; this is where the risk of falling comes in most.
She also has the added problem of thinking she can still do it all. This has meant a lot of tail grabbing last minute and giving her heads up verbal cues so that she does not anticipate the wrong movement.
Educating our canines is so very important and for the record, they are so much more intelligent that we can even imagine. They really astound me daily, even little Riggs. I cannot believe the words that he already gets and the emotion that he feels from me. Last night we sat watching an episode of Homeland; it is getting very intense now intense and crazy now in season 4 and has me sitting on the edge of my seat quite literally. Completely enthralled I let out a gasp last evening. Both Elsa and Riggs were licking my face in the next second. I ensured them that I was fine and they lay their heads down again.
Teaching your dog all that you can simply makes life more enjoyable as you share your day to days.