Teaching Dog To 'speak' On Command

[Cavstar]

Hi all

Just wondering if anyone out there that can give me some tips on teaching my dog to "speak"

Shes a cav so naturally not very vocal but from time to time she will bark at something...this morning it was a paint tin! :laugh: Every time she barked I used the marker word "yes" & pretty soon she got the idea that when she barked she'd get a treat so then I threw in the word "speak"

After a while every time I said "speak" she'd look at or move toward the paint tin & bark &then look back for a treat

I then moved the paint tin out of her view & the game was over. I said "speak" she just looked around for the paint tin SO my question is how do I disassociate the paint tin (or whatever object) with her learning this trick? Or am I going about it the wrong way completely?

[Erny]

I'd randomise. Paint tin in view. "Speak". She barks. "Yes". Treat. Pain tin out of view. "Speak". She doesn't bark. "Oh dear ". No Treat.

Also, when you are using the paint tin to assist, I'd work on the paint tin being moved further and further away.

Mind you, I'm a bit reluctant to teach any dog to bark. How old is she? If she's very young, you might find the barking is yet to come.

And I've been called out to quite a few Cavs where the problem related to excessive barking.

ETA: And just because you're teaching her to bark on command, doesn't mean it will automatically carry over to alert barking, which I presume is what you are aiming for?

Edited April 2, 2012 by Erny

[Guest Pandii]

How do you teach shut up

My boy will speak on command easy

[Erny]

:laugh: .... sometimes that's the hard part.

Pair "shut up" with your dog being quiet, follow up with "yes" and a treat.

Edited April 2, 2012 by Erny

[Erny]

I taught my boy to close cupboards (ie what I call the draws in the kitchen). Only thing is he loves doing it, which means every time a turn to put another plate/cup or whatever in the draw, it has been closed behind me. Doesn't matter to him if he gets a treat or not. In fact, there are days/times when he just isn't up to eating because of his digestive issues, but he still enjoys closing 'cupboards'.

So, be careful what you wish and train for :).

[Weasels]

Mind you, I'm a bit reluctant to teach any dog to bark. How old is she? If she's very young, you might find the barking is yet to come.

For my childhood dog 'speak' was one of the most important commands she knew. She'd often get herself locked in one or other of the sheds while looking for mice and the speak command let us know where she was :) FWIW I don't think teaching my Weez to bark on cue has made a difference either way to his 'recreational' barking

Cavstar - agree with everything Erny said, plus if you can continue to catch and mark her regular barking in different situations it should help her generalise the behaviour more quickly :)

How do you teach shut up

My boy will speak on command easy

I started by holding a treat tucked under my thumb in an open palm just in front of his face while he was barking. The sight/smell of the treat distracted him enough to shut up for a few seconds so i clicked & treated that. Then I added a cue ('hush'), faded the treat and we're still working on increasing duration before the barking starts again.

Edited April 2, 2012 by Weasels

[Red Fox]

I tried to teach my pup to bark on command using the vaccuum, (foolproof I thought). BIG mistake! Ended up with her going ballistic every time she walked past the bloody thing.

A friend gave me a tip to make a low barking noise at the dog (more air than actual noise if that makes any sense) and they will usually bark back, then you can mark and reward until the dog makes the connection. Worked great for us and I managed to teach a pretty solid bark on command within a week.

[voloclydes]

How do you teach shut up

My boy will speak on command easy

same... he will also talk on hand comand but only when he feels like it.... so often it flops...

screaming sit down and %*^*& shut up ya face works if i slam him in the crate in the middle of night... i call it attention seeking at its worst.

[RuralPug]

Hah! Cheddar will do anything for a treat...well almost, "stop drooling" he will never be able to manage. I taught hin to "speak" on command, or so I thought.

However, after my cochlear implant surgery I discovered that the command "speak" simply caused him to open and close his mouth, like a goldfish. Oh dear. Retraining took a while but was finally successful.

[voloclydes]

Smart dog min effort max reward, shows he thought that one thru well.

[Cosmolo]

I free shaped my Jack Russell to bark on command as he never barked so i couldn't capture it.

[iBoz]

We're no training experts but we taught our whippet to speak pretty well. He practically never barks so we started off because we realised that he often barked if you blow right in his face. So we would say 'speak' then blow, he'd bark and we would praise and treat him. :-)

Oh, we also did an action with our hand when we said speak. I think that helped him at the start to be clear on what we wanted so we didn't have to blow on his face for very long! :) I usually do say speak but sometimes I just do the hand command. People love it as a trick if you go "How much is that doggy in the window?" *hand signal" "Dog barks!"

My partner really wanted to teach him speak just for fun but I said only on the condition that we teach him quiet! We haven't really had to coz he still barely ever barks (or I should say, we haven't had the opporunity to teach quiet, coz he barely ever barks!) but I have noticed that sometimes he will tend to bark very occasionally now if he wants attention, a toy that is stuck somewhere, or another dog to play with him. I think he is a tad confused why we aren't cheering for him being so clever in those situations :laugh: So, if had a more barky dog then I would be prepared to totally sort the quiet command!

He does the cutest thing though sometimes where the first time you say speak, he does a little sneeze (or sometimes a yawn!) Like he is clearing his throat - so cute!

[Cavstar]

Thanks all! I forgot that I posted here! :laugh:

She is only 6 months old. She has started to bark if she hears something outside or if something is placed somewhere in the house or back yard thats not normally there.

The other day she was barking at the bath water so I pulled the treats out. Same thing as the paint tin, happy to "speak" & treat but let the bath water out & she goes dead silent :laugh:

[Guest Pandii]

Thanks for the hints

[SupaDupa Mini Cooper]

I was just searching for this exact thing - we would like to include "speak" into the repertoir but Cooper doesn't bark a lot so getting him to bark to be able to reward is the problem. He barks if he hears the doorbell or he sees someone coming at the front of the house, or he does a half-woof (more like a huff) if there is a toy stuck somewhere he can't get to... I just don't want to create a barking problem!

We'll try the deep huffy bark and see if we get a response but so far that just makes him rush to lick us.

[Nik]

My dog barks when someone knocks on the door, so all we had to do was knock on something and while she was barking say "speak". After a few days of this I introduced a hand signal and started to fade the knocking.

A little OT but my kids have been playing with the iPad and there's an app on there with a talking cat. They tell the cat "speak", it repeats it back in a funny voice and Annie barks at it! Funny to watch the cat bark like a dog.

[koalathebear]

I was just searching for this exact thing - we would like to include "speak" into the repertoir but Cooper doesn't bark a lot so getting him to bark to be able to reward is the problem. He barks if he hears the doorbell or he sees someone coming at the front of the house, or he does a half-woof (more like a huff) if there is a toy stuck somewhere he can't get to... I just don't want to create a barking problem!

We'll try the deep huffy bark and see if we get a response but so far that just makes him rush to lick us.

It worked for our two. We wanted them to bark to be let out the back door (before we had a dog door) - Elbie used to have a bad habit of just standing by the back door expectantly in silence as if we would just magically be able to read his mind :) So we woofed at them and they woofed back. Eventually we gave it a word 'speak' and they will speak on command but also know to speak when wanting to be let out.