How to teach a stubborn dog to speak?

[lv4dogs]

I (and my family & friends) have been trying to teach Raustyk how to speak for 7 years, still no luck (gave up here & there but many times I would try to teach her multiple times a day for months straight). And now I am afraid Kaige is following in her footsteps. A month of teaching him & no luck at all yet.

I've tried the obvious, barking at them, tying them to something & putting a yummy treat or toy just out of reach & getting them excited.

I've tried giving the command speak when they are already barking (Raustyk only barks when she ehars something or sees a stranger or the like, Kaige only barks when he plays with the other dogs). No luck

Nanook knows how to speak. I've had Raustyk & Kaige watch as Nanook barks, Nanook gets a treat, over & over & over again.

Does anyone have any pointers? Something different to try? Anything?

[k9krazee]

Hmmm...thats a good question...it took quite a while for Kyra to learn to speak but she learned from Micki.

How about trying to get him to bark out of frustration? Put a gate up or tie him up so he can't get to you and talk excitedly to him until he gets frustrated because he can't get to you and bark, this may or may not work. My friend has also been working for years to get her dog to speak on command and has not yet succeded, it is much easier to teach a dog that barks a lot. Good luck!

[wolfie]

Um, I think if you've been trying for 7 years then she probably doesn't want to speak! Nothing bad about a dog that doesn't bark. ^_^

Maybe they could each have their own special trick! What are they good at? You could train something fun like spin, or play soccer, or play jump rope!

[lv4dogs]

Originally posted by wolfie
Um, I think if you've been trying for 7 years then she probably doesn't want to speak! Nothing bad about a dog that doesn't bark. ^_^

Maybe they could each have their own special trick! What are they good at? You could train something fun like spin, or play soccer, or play jump rope!

Normally I'd just get on with it, so what if they don't want to speak.
But when they bark they bark non stop for a while. They say if you can teach a dog to bark on command it may help with un-necassary barking. Thats what I'm trying to do.

And yes they each have their own special tricks that they know & Kaige is learning a bunch more.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Is there anything that makes your dogs bark, like vacuuming? One of my dogs learned from a toddler toy of my nephew's- she liked to bark at it when I rolled it around because it was loud. If you can find something that will make them bark consistently it should be easier to teach them! Good luck!

Pembroke_Corgi

[lv4dogs]

Is there anything that makes your dogs bark, like vacuuming? One of my dogs learned from a toddler toy of my nephew's- she liked to bark at it when I rolled it around because it was loud. If you can find something that will make them bark consistently it should be easier to teach them! Good luck!

Pembroke_Corgi

Yes, he barks non stop when playing when he plays with my other dogs. I've been telling him to speak when he plays with them & I know he will speak soon but I swear when I say speak he stops and looks at me. It's like speak to him means be quite & be still. lol IF he doesn't do that (which is rare) he just continues on like he didn't even hear me. When that happens I still praise him when he speaks when I told him to speak but he just ignores me.
I can't find anything else that makes him bark.
I'm being as consistant as I can & patient but he hasn't had any improvements at all for a whole month. And he learns everything else so darn fast.

[Jessika]

Whenever he barks, give him a treat and say "good speak!!" and get very excited. Whether he's barking at the neighbor's cat, television, or just playing, anytime you're near and he barks give a treat and make sure to say "good speak!" every time! Eventually he'll start to associate "speak" with barking.

[lv4dogs]

Whenever he barks, give him a treat and say "good speak!!" and get very excited. Whether he's barking at the neighbor's cat, television, or just playing, anytime you're near and he barks give a treat and make sure to say "good speak!" every time! Eventually he'll start to associate "speak" with barking.

Even if I don't tell him to speak first?