[NAGDU] list of guide dog commands and what they do

Fri Jun 23 23:32:39 UTC 2023

I wrote out all of the commands my dog was taught from the program a
while back so here you go. My guide is from the Guide Dog Foundation
if anyone is curious.

Obedience/life skills
Sit: sits with haunches on the floor
Down: lays down
Stand: stands with four paws on the floor
Off: Tells the dog to jump down from something (like an exam table),
or to put their two front paws back on the ground after
inappropriately jumping up.
Stay: maintains current position until released
Place: dog goes to a designated location (bed, blanket, mat, etc) and
lays down until released
Free: releases dog from a stay/place/stationary position
Come: dog comes to the front of the handler and sits
Heel: stands in heel position on the handler’s left side
Walk: walks on a loose leash roughly in heel position
Side: The dog moves from heel position behind the handler to stand on
the right side. This is usually used before walking through doors with
hinges on the left.
No: Tells the dog to stop doing whatever they are doing.
Busy: gives permission for the dog to relieve
Under: cues the dog to move under a chair/table and lay down
Touch: dog touches nose to handler’s fist

Guide work
Forward: tells the dog to start moving forward in a straight line
Halt: tells the dog to slow to a stop in 2-3 steps
Left/right: from a stationary position, the dog turns 90 degrees
Find left/find right: when moving, the dog will find the next available turn
Over left/over right: encourages the dog to move toward the left or
right of a sidewalk/road/path/hallway
Find the (insert name of object): cues the dog to find a specific
object like an empty seat, door, stairs, etc.
Find the way: encourages the dog to find the safest way around an
obstacle they have stopped for
Curb: The dog should stop at curbs with no prompting. However, this
can be used to find a mid block crossing, for emphasis when crossing
the street, etc. This is also used a lot in sidewalkless travel, where
the handler can stop and cue the dog to make a 90 degree turn and put
their paws up on the curb, verifying that the handler is close to the
edge.
Hop up: this can mean either to walk faster, move closer to something
they have stopped to indicate, or to stop engaging with a distraction
Steady: tells the dog to slow their pace
Inside/outside: This is used to tell the dog to go in/out of a door or
a car. It can also be combined with finding a door (inside, find the
door) to have the dog find the entrance or exit of a building.
Careful: used as a correction when the dog makes a guide work error
One: This tells the dog to put their front paws on the first step down
when going down a flight of stairs. This allows the handler to feel
the depth of the stairs through the handle before proceeding down the
rest of the flight.

I've taught my dog a bunch of other cues since coming home. These are
more so fun tricks or personal preference though, so I won't list them
all.

Also, of course I echo everything else Julie said about manners/life
skills, and guide tasks done based off environmental cues rather than
verbal commands. Much of the dog's work is actually teaching correct
responses to cues from the environment, rather than cues from the
handler.

Danielle

On 6/23/23, Sherry Gomes via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> My current guide is from Guiding Eyes, and they use two commands I hadn't
> heard of at my previous school, commands I love and use often. Close tells
> my dog to move right up to me, turn around and sit with her head facing out
> and between my knees. Or say at a store or restaurant, this command will
> tell her to come as close to me as she can in that setting. The other one is
> touch which is a command used with food. I'll put one piece of kibble in my
> fist, tell her touch, and then she should come, touch my fist with her nose.
> I give her the kibble immediately at that point. I use this for teaching, or
> to practice recall in a fun way, and sometimes to settle her down, if she's
> excited. She is mellow so not usually excited in ways that I can't stop if
> necessary with a simple verbal, that's enough, but I'll use touch as well.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Gretchen Brown via
> NAGDU
> Sent: Friday, June 23, 2023 2:52 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Gretchen Brown <gretch99brown at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [NAGDU] list of guide dog commands and what they do
>
> Josh, I do have a long list of commands, but I will only tell you the ones
> that come to mind. My dog is program trained, so when I say hop up, that
> means to either pay attention, or to get closer to a curb/obstacle. I also
> use steady to slow down focus, to pay attention, halt to stop, of course I
> also use find the and outside inside up, means to jump up onto the car seat,
> off means out of the car, or of the dog bed, etc. Also use the word place,
> which means for her to go to her specific place normally a dog bed.
> Under which means to go under a table or object, settle, means to rest in
> the down position.  I also use wipe your paws which is to wipe her front
> paws when they are all muddy or dirty. I also have taught her to ring the
> bell when she needs to go outside if we are just hanging out at home, and
> also, I have taught her .  legs, which means to put her weight on my lap
> for grounding. I have also taught her back which means  stan  Directly
> behind me. She also knows block which means to block in front of me, or
> behind me and circle, which means to go around my body when I am in a crowd
> to keep the crowd at a distance. A couple of fun ones I took her were how to
> kiss by touching her nose with my nose. And to shake, which is to shake off
> the dirt/water when entering a building. She also knows how to give me a
> poll, and can give me left or right pole accordingly. Aside from that she
> basically does all the other good work commands such as lift right forward
> straight, etc.  she was trained at Leader, and although she does not have
> training for the psychiatric dog tasks, such as blocking in crowds,
> grounding, etc., I have taught her those over the years. Also, my program
> does not use a clicker, we use the word yes to signify the dog is doing
> something correct. my program also use treat  training, and we also do  the
> basic obedience commands, and they also must wait to be released before they
> can eat their dinner. I am also working on whistle training my dog to come
> to the whistle. Gretchen
>
> On Fri, Jun 23, 2023 at 3:15 PM Julie Johnson via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>
>> This varies a bit from program to program and person to person.  I
>> owner train and while my list will be similar, it's meant to meet my
>> specific needs.
>> Forward: means to move ahead, following any curves of less than 45
>> degrees, until a curb or obstacle is encountered
>> Left/right: from a stopped position means for the dog to pivot 90
>> degrees in the indicated direction and continue moving in that
>> direction until a curb or obstacle is encountered Left left/right
>> right: while moving the dog is to make a 90 degree turn at the next
>> most likely place Step up: means to take one step at a time closer to
>> something, used to move closer to a curb or obstacle. Also to move one
>> stair at a time if I'm having a difficult mobility day. I also use
>> step up to have a dog stand from a sit or down since they will have to
>> stand in order to take the one step forward Right about: a 180 degree
>> turn from a stationary position Find the: means to find the named
>> item, stairs, trash, empty chair etc.
>> Inside/outside: means to find the door or other entrance to enter or
>> exit a building.  I do pair this with left left or right right Go
>> around: used when the dog has stopped to show me an obstacle but
>> hasn't initiated figuring a way around. Usually I use this primarily
>> in the first couple of years, then the dog just automatically goes
>> around Hop up: means to load into the car, this one is very different
>> from how program teams use it, but dogs don't speak English.  You
>> could tell them to burrito if you wanted, so long as you paired the
>> word with the desired action.
>> Straight: I use this to quite literally mean to move in a straight
>> line across a big open space like a parking lot, park or the like
>>
>> Easy: means to slow down and not to pull so hard To get the dog to
>> move faster I use a sound, not a word.
>> Whoa: means to come to a stop
>> My dogs are also taught to stop at the edge of the street
>> automatically with no command from me.  they also stop at the first
>> step up or down at a staircase automatically, at any obstacle unless
>> they can easily go around on their own this includes holes, drop offs,
>> overheads, ribbon barriers and anything else that prevents clear movement
>> through the space.
>> There are probably more, but that's all thats coming to mind for guide
>> commands.  Of course they also know to sit, down, stay, wait, come, go
>> to their place etc.
>> Then there are all the things I call manners or living with people
>> skills.  This is things like appropriate relieving, chewing on
>> appropriate toys, staying out of the trash, not sniffing or jumping on
>> people in public and about 101 other things that dog's love to do that
>> people find obnoxious.
>>
>> Julie
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> > On Jun 23, 2023, at 1:44 PM, Josh via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Does anyone have a list of guide dog commands, along with what the
>> commands
>> > tell the dog to do or how the dog reacts to them? Or is there such a
>> > list published online somewhere? If so, could you send them to me?
>> > And also
>> how
>> > many commands to guide dogs respond to? I can't imagine a guide dog
>> > user having to memorise dozens and dozens of commands. Maybe 20 to
>> > 25 at
>> most.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Josh
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > NAGDU mailing list
>> > NAGDU at nfbnet.org
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>> > for
>> NAGDU:
>> >
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/julielj402%40gmail.
>> com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> NAGDU mailing list
>> NAGDU at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> NAGDU:
>>
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/gretch99brown%40gma
>> il.com
>>
> _______________________________________________
> NAGDU mailing list
> NAGDU at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> NAGDU:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/sherry.gomes%40outlook.com
> _______________________________________________
> NAGDU mailing list
> NAGDU at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NAGDU:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/dsykora29%40gmail.com
>