Sit Does Not Mean Sit: Giving Puppies a Voice with Mand Behaviors

Jane Messineo Lindquist borrowed the term “mand” from the human psychology lexicon. Mand training for nonverbal humans is a way of teaching them how to use gestures to ask for things, and that’s the simplest explanation—a mand behavior is a nonverbal way to ask for things and/or signal a need.

I sincerely hope everyone who owns an English shepherd reads the article I’ve linked below. The article explains how I raise my English shepherd pups. My puppy buyers would do well to understand the concepts laid out in Jane’s article. But, even owners of adult dogs and dogs from other breeders can benefit from this knowledge.

Sit Does Not Mean Sit: Giving Puppies a Voice with Mand Behaviors | The IAABC Journal

Manding is a concept that helps puppies express their needs in a way that fits their neurological development and doesn’t lead to undesirable behaviors later in life.

Manding is a forward communication from the puppy to you, not a top down rule imposed by you on the puppy. That’s why we call it “Give Your Puppy A Voice” instead of “Teach Your Puppy Manners.” They are two completely different things.

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