# teaching speak??



## RickGibbs (Dec 16, 2005)

My wife is trying to teach Samson the same thing....but he just doesn't get it.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

I tried for 2 months and Maggie WONT do it. My other 2 will and they just bark and bark and Maggie just sits there looking at them. I figured since Maggie very rarely barks she wasnt going to do it and gave up.


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## greg bell (May 24, 2005)

dixie speaks on command..it is her one parlor trick... but she is a verbal dog... I taught it this past winter when we had a couple really cold days and couln't get out..


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Lucky doens't bark much. Only at an occassional bird from the window. I tried to get him to howl by howling...all my past dogs would start howling when I did that. But he just starts licking my face. No howls.

I might wait for that occassional bird bark, say speak and give him a treat. Who knows.


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## Lexie's Mom (Dec 14, 2005)

I just got Lexie really wound up and hyper and tell her to speak and she did. Once she did i rewarded her. Now she speaks on command.


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## Dilligas (Jun 17, 2005)

I'd be very interested in this too, since I've heard that they need to know Speak before they can learn Hush.

Rick, how'd you do it? Mine never ever barks unless we're outside and he's chasing other dogs...


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## greg bell (May 24, 2005)

i could get dixie to bark by doing a kinda long drawn out growl followed by a bark...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrwoof.. kinda like that.. then i went to grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrspeak..then just speak... rewarding each time i got a bark..
now.. im not so sure after having done it that rewarding a dog for barking was such a great idea... but she already knew "quiet".. so it is manageable.. what it did do was get her to bark everytime she wants somthing.. we have regular conversations now.. kinda funny...


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## shaneamber (Apr 20, 2005)

Greg has the right way,but I warn you. Make sure that you want her to bark.
It's impossible to go back.
Instead of teaching Jesse to bark,(like I did with Sam)Lee spent time teaching him to talk.He uses a bunch of different sounds to "talk" to us.Low rumbles and growls,high pitched whines and other sounds to let us know what he wants.We can understand about 15 different combinations for what he wants. He seems to learn more all the time.
Shane


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## heidi_pooh (Feb 9, 2006)

The only time my dog barks is when I tell him to speak or when we are rough housing. He has never ever barked at another dog or any of the cats. I taught him how to sing so sometimes if someone is singing he will bark then. To teach him this, I would make him wait for his biscuit (not a treat, his normal snack)and tell him to say "Please". But I wouldn't lower it until he barked. Now when I tell him to say please he gives me more of a growl then a bark. Either way he is still very polite>


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