How to teach a stubborn dog to speak?

[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?

[Jessika]

Yes, even if you don't tell him to speak first. This way he will be able to associate the word "speak" with barking.

It's the same concept as if I'm trying to teach my pup "bring". I can't MAKE her bring me the toy without doing it myself, and then I'm just confusing her more, and she's not learning anything. But if I say "GOOD BRING!!" and act stupidly excited when she just walks in my direction with a toy in her mouth, she will start to associate "bring" with bringing toys to me.

[lv4dogs]

Yes, even if you don't tell him to speak first. This way he will be able to associate the word "speak" with barking.

It's the same concept as if I'm trying to teach my pup "bring". I can't MAKE her bring me the toy without doing it myself, and then I'm just confusing her more, and she's not learning anything. But if I say "GOOD BRING!!" and act stupidly excited when she just walks in my direction with a toy in her mouth, she will start to associate "bring" with bringing toys to me.

I can understand doing that technique for some commands (like bring) but I have always been leary of using it for certain commands (like speak) but I tried it last night anyways. I may give it 1 more day but it seems as if it is making it worse just like I thought.
Since he only barks when he is playing with the other dogs I think he is associating speak with speak & play and LOTS of it. He is really barking out of control now and playing very hyperly. I think I am kind of cofusing him, he doesn't really know if he's getting praised for playing or barking or both, not only that but he's also getting praised for barking when NOT told to do so.

Thanks for the idea though. It was worth a shot.

[ParNone]

I may be misreading this, but it sounds more like your goal is to be able to get him to be quiet, when he's barking too much. And it sounds like that you're almost there on quiet. When you talk to him, he stops barking to look at you. So I would forget Speak and work on Quiet. When he's barking non-stop, say "Quiet", then when he looks at you and stops barking, give him a treat. Gradually increase the quiet time before he gets the treat. You want to make sure there's enough of a delay that he knows he's getting rewarded for quiet, not barking.

Par...