Dog Training - Speak

Question
Hi Kathleen! I'm Kayley and I was wondering if you could please answer my question or give me a reference guide of where to find my answer. I have been searching for months! I would like to know the steps to training my dog to speak. I do not know how to make her bark without upsetting her. Please help me.  Sincerely, Kayley

Answer
Tricks are a great way to build a relationship with your dog -- and fun to show off your skills too!

If your dog is all ready barking -- at the wrong time -- this trick will help teach her to bark at the right time.

Start by finding what things help to motivate her own barking response. This could be a doorbell, the leash coming out, another dog walking past your house, find what works.

Once you have the cue / trigger figured out, use it with a signal. I like the one where you open and close your fingers like a dog's mouth barking. Use whatever works best for you and your dog. If the trigger is knocking, knock and then immediately reward her for barking say something like good bark or Yes, bark. Do this about 5-6 times.

Try the command "Speak" or "Bark" without using the trigger and see if your dog barks. If so, reward and praise. If she doesn't get it, go back to the previous step and keep trying.

Once your dog "gets it" and is barking / speaking without the trigger sound, move to a new spot and try it again. Dogs are situational so she needs to know the command works in all locations not just the starting location. At anytime she falters, go back to the previous step and work some more.

If your dog doesn't want to bark with the stimulus from above, try a different approach and see if she will bark out of frustration. You can tempt / tease with a treat and see if she will eventually bark because she wants the treat. When I was under a time constraint at a commercial shoot, I taught a dog to speak by putting him on a sofa and having someone hold the leash while I tempted him with a tasty treat. He barked because he wanted the treat and we were ale to have him consistently barking on command in about 30-minutes.

This trick is usually pretty easy to teach in one session.

For more training information head to my web site: http://www.OutlawChinooks.com or my blog http://RileyTrainingCenter.blogspot.com

Good Luck and let me know how you do.