A rescue for a rescue

[dakota]

Originally posted by DeAnna:
Let me know if any one has any good ideas for teaching him to bark on command.

Backdraft sounds like a wonderful dog! Congratulations to you for taking such good care of him, and for ending up with a great friend. I am sure you have been rewarded 100x over in the joy he brings into your life.

I do have a tip for getting Backdraft to bark on command. This worked with our Rottie pup. We had to find out first what would make her bark, and then reward her once she did it. In this case, we got her all excited, bending down and barking at her, so she'd go into her "play stance." When she finally barked, we told her "Good Speak" and gave her a treat. We did this about 10 times the first day, and the next day, she remembered it right away! This technique usually works well with any behavior that your dog does naturally. We noticed that our rescued Dalmation likes to crawl along the carpet to sneak up on our other dog or the cats. We started telling him "Good crawl" and now he will do it on command. (Of course, it's best if there's a treat in hand!)

Good luck to you,
Dakota



[This message has been edited by dakota (edited August 15, 2000).]

[DeAnna]

Dakota, thanks for the tip! I am going to give it a try. Tonight, Backdraft will get a lesson in barking. He is suppose to bark when he finds his human and then go and get his trainer. We will work on this.

------------------
DeAnna