Command Central: Guide Dog Commands
We’ll be the first to say it: dogs are smart. Their ability to learn skills and to respond to cues continues to amaze even the most experienced instructors and, of course, their human partners.
As for the specific cues that our dogs learn, it depends on whether they’re training as a service dog (for veterans) or as a guide dog (for people with vision loss). In this post, we’ll cover cues guide dogs learn. In a separate post, we’ll dive into cues for service dogs.
Guide dogs are more than just companions; they’re highly trained partners that help people with vision loss navigate the world safely and confidently. Behind every guide dog is an extensive training process where they learn essential cues that are critical for guide dog work. From obedience, directional, and “find” cues to the extraordinary concept of intelligent disobedience, guide dogs learn skills that make them true life-changers. Here’s a look into the amazing cues that guide dogs learn and how these skills keep their guardians safe.
Guide Dog Training: Obedience Cues
All of our puppies—regardless of career—start out with basic training where they’ll learn basic obedience cues, detailed here in a previous post. Here’s where our volunteer puppy raisers lend a much-needed hand. Puppy raising is not just giving a dog a loving home environment and daily care; it’s ensuring puppies can master the basics, through positive reinforcement, before they start their advanced training on our campus.
That sounds like a lot of pressure for our puppy raisers, but we know they’re not expert instructors! Plus, puppy raisers have treats on their side—excellent motivation for eager pups. The good news is, during their advanced training, the dogs will continue to have these obedience cues reinforced through clicker training as they learn new ones.
Guide Dog Training: Directional Cues
Directional cues help the dog’s guardian travel safely. It’s the person’s responsibility to know where they’re going by becoming familiar with their surroundings and regular travel paths. But it’s the dog’s responsibility to lead their guardian safely between point A and point B.
As guide dogs advance in their training, they learn directional cues that are crucial for helping their guardians navigate daily environments. Cues such as “left,” “right,” and “forward” guide the person safely. The dog learns to take the lead, moving confidently and adjusting its path as needed to ensure their person’s safety.
Directional cues are especially essential in complex environments like busy city streets, crowded public places, or unfamiliar areas. The dog’s ability to understand and execute these cues makes everyday tasks—from running errands to exploring new places—possible for people with vision loss.
Here is a longer more detailed list of cues instructors teach our guide dogs:
- Forward – move forward in a straight line of travel.
- Forward around – go around an obstacle and continue forward, recovering to the original line of travel.
- Forward down – used at the top of a flight of stairs to proceed down the stairs.
- Forward up – used at the bottom of a flight of stairs to proceed up the stairs.
- Forward in – used to enter a door, elevator, etc.
- Forward out – used to exit a door, elevator, etc.
- In or out – used to enter or exit vehicles, doors, kennel, etc.
- Left– while standing still, the team makes a 90-degree turn to the left.
- Left left – instructs the dog to turn left at the next available opportunity (i.e. at the next intersection).
- Over left – sidestepping to the left while moving or standing still.
- Right – while standing still, the team makes a 90-degree turn to the right.
- Right right – instructs the dog to turn right at the next available opportunity (i.e. at the next intersection). This cue is used only while the team is moving forward and is called a “suggestive turn.”
- Right about – while standing still, the team makes a 180-degree turn to the right.
- Over right – sidestepping to the right while moving or standing still.
- Follow – the dog follows behind a sighted person, indicated when the guardian taps the person along with saying the cue.
Guide Dog Training: Find Cues
The find cue usually follows the forward cue, and the guardian directs the dog to walk to specific object. This could be the curb, a chair, the steps, elevator, or escalator. Guardians might also instruct the dog to find the way inside (door-in), the way out (door-out), or even the mailbox, etc.
When the dog finds the desired object, he learns to stop directly in front of it so it’s within easy reach. Once the dogs learn to generalize the find cue, they can be taught to find additional, specific objects that the individual may encounter in their daily travels.
The find cues are invaluable to a person with visual impairments. For example, guardians can shop in a large store, and if they become disoriented, they can ask the dog to “find the door.” “Find the chair” means to find an empty chair, which is helpful when the person enters a room full of people and chairs. It also comes in handy if a guardian often travels by public transportation.
If a person with visual impairments enters a building and knows they need to get to the second floor, the cues “Find the stairs” or “find the elevator” are incredibly helpful and get our graduates to where they need to go.
Intelligent Disobedience
Learning to follow cues takes skill, but there’s something else our guide dogs learn that arguably takes even more skill. This isn’t a direct cue; it’s a concept called intelligent disobedience: the ability to disobey a cue for the safety of the guardian. If the dog disobeys a cue, the guardian must explore their space to find out why.
Many graduates have commanded their guide dog forward at an intersection near traffic, but the dog disobeyed. Afterwards, the graduate found out from bystanders that a silent electric car or bicycle just passed by. Our dogs save lives!
The many cues our dogs learn are simply amazing. These dogs are smart, intuitive, ready to work, and eager to please. It’s no wonder we love to say that Dogs Inc is all about extraordinary dogs, transforming lives.
Learn More About Dogs Inc
Want to learn more about our mission—or even tour our campus? Discover how our guide dogs, service dogs, and skilled companion dogs bring hope to those facing significant challenges.
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