# Teaching speak



## Clare (Feb 6, 2005)

I taught the puppy "speak" (its just too adorable) but realized I never taught that to Sasha. If I say speak she looks at me like "mommy, I want to do what you are telling me but I have no clue what you are talking about!!!!" I taught Wolfgang by "accident".

How can I teach this to Sasha?
(DBF says you cant teach an old dog new tricks - I want to prove him wrong!!!)


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## tibvixie101 (Nov 26, 2007)

I've been trying to teach mya "speak" for 3 years.... still nothing!! Not a peep! The way they say to do it is to ask her to speak, which of course she doesnt have a clue, so you wait and wait until they get fed up and bark at you, then praise and cookie! Yea, mya gets fed up waiting and walks away, forget the cookie ma, i dunno what you want! lol


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## Elmo's Mom (May 21, 2007)

I taught Elmo to speak by finding something that makes him bark. When he sees cars or people go by the front of the house, he barks. So, I sat next to the window with him. Every time he would bark, I said "gib laut" (Speak in German) and gave him a treat. He learned it very quickly. I'd say about 10 minutes! It's really cute because sometimes his mouth moves and no sound comes out. He looks at me like I did something to make that happen.


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## Heidi's Mom (Dec 27, 2003)

I just found something that would get Heidi excited enough that she'd bark. Then, I'd praise her using the term I want her to learn ("Good speak, good speak") and give her a treat. 



> Originally Posted By: bsinghVA It's really cute because sometimes his mouth moves and no sound comes out.


Heidi does that sometimes. Because of living in an apartment, I tell her she needs to speak quietly. Sometimes, her mouth moves and there's very little or no sound. It is kind of cute.

I changed "speak" to "give me a woof." Heidi was getting confused between "speak" and "shake." She'd get out of the water and I'd tell her to shake and she'd speak instead. 

So, in our house

Give me a woof = speak
Shake = shake the water off
Paw = give me your paw


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## DHau (Feb 24, 2007)

Can anybody add to this? I spent about 30 minutes "teasing" my dog with a liver treat to get excited and bark but no luck. I have taught this before to other dogs and they got it fairly quickly.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

DHau - "speak" was one of the hardest things I've taught my dog, because she is naturally just so very quiet unless she is herding. She had a lot of moans and groans, but never barked. The only bark she would give was at herding, and it's sort of a yippy bark that, on more than one occasion, had people around us asking, "What dog is making that sound?" because they could not believe that a Shepherd could make that sound.

It took me forever to get those first few barks out of her so I could praise and reward for the behavior and build it up to where it was consistent. I've found that if I act really really really excited - as in, jumping up and down, waving some really good treats, flailing my arms, and just generally acting like a fool - I could eventually get her to give me something like a low "woo". Nowhere near a bark, mind you, but enough for me to click and treat for it, and then try to repeat it and see if I could get more of a sound.

I did eventually get something like a bark (a kind of, "Uh ... wait ... was that me? Did I just bark?" kind of bark) and I marked and praised for that.

Is there anything that sets your dog off barking or gets him/her super excited? For mine it's going for a ride in the car. So using your treat and excitement together with something that stimulates a bark may work well for you.


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## Karin (Jan 4, 2008)

We just taught Heidi to speak and she picked it up pretty quickly. The problem is that now when I give her commands, sometimes she'll speak (complainingly) in response!

We taught her in the same way as we taught our previous dog: by saying, "Speak!" (while lifting our heads while saying the word)--kind of like when dogs lift their heads and bark. Then, as soon as she made any noise, we made a big deal out of it and gave her a treat. Worked like a charm!

We can also get her to howl by howling ourselves. It's SOOO cute!


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

> Quote:The problem is that now when I give her commands, sometimes she'll speak (complainingly) in response!


There is a definite down side to teaching your dog to speak, because once they find their voice .... My pup now tells DH no when he tells her to do something and recently "sang" along with the Fifes & Drums in Yorktown.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Nikon learned speak by 10 weeks, but he's a barker! Along with teaching him some other things, it has really helped, he no longer barks at me to demand things. Now, he first tries a sit or a down and offers eye contact whereas before he would just bark at me nonstop if he was hungry or wanted something I was holding.

I haven't figured out how to teach my two adults to speak on command. They rarely bark so it's hard to capture.


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## IliamnasQuest (Aug 24, 2005)

Some dogs are just not talkers - I have one chow that in 10 years I haven't been able to get her to speak on command. She rarely barks (she's a grunter, not a barker .. *L*). But all of the other dogs have learned to speak.

Sometimes if you bark they'll get excited and bark too. Basically you just have to find something that gets them excited enough to bark - and that something will depend on your particular dog. What does your dog bark at normally? If you can pinpoint what creates a bark under regular circumstances and then either take advantage of that or replicate it, you'll have something to reinforce.

Khana barks and also growls on command. But it's not a growl to her - it's a low gutteral "grrrrr" sound that is a very typical chow noise. They have the weirdest noises. I'm sure that most people hearing it would think it was a growl, but to her it's a "please give me a treat" noise. I can "rrrrr" at her and she "rrrr's" back.

If I "huff" (puff out my lips and make an airy sound) then that can set the dogs off barking too - it's a typical warning sound that dogs make, so to them it means "something's out there!". I can also knock on the wall and that will make them bark. So anyone having trouble getting their dogs to bark might try those too.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska


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## DHau (Feb 24, 2007)

As my dog had been growing up, we discouraged her from barking for no reason. She used to bark when she was a young puppy as in a talking back attitude when she was being trained some manners. Now she will only bark when somebody knocks on the front door or goes into the protect mode which is all good. 

I tell ya, I feel awfully stupid barking at the dog and saying speak. lol. I'll keep trying because if my friend's mastiff can do it, a German Shepherd can do it better. lol.


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## MayzieGSD (Aug 28, 2006)

I had a hard time teaching Mayzie to speak (we had to teach our dog a new trick for puppy class and this is the one I picked). What finally worked was saying Speak and then doing something that always made her bark (ringing the doorbell), then saying "Good speak" and giving the treat. After a few sessions she would bark when I said speak and I didn't have to use the doorbell anymore.

Edited to add: Barking at her, teasing her with a treat, etc. didn't work for Mayzie.


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## billthedogguy (Dec 3, 2008)

Per Konrad Most, anytime your dog makes a whimper, bark, etc. tell him good speak. This may take a long time to teach, so have patience.


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