Speak
| Difficulty: | Easy | Tweet | |
Prerequisite: |
None | ||
| Items Needed: | Clicker, Treats |
TEACH
The night dark and soundless, and the house hushed in sleep. The man's chest rises and falls with each breath, and his dreams take him far away from his home. Outdoors a shadow comes upon the house, the shadow of a man, to break in. None hear him but the dog on the floor, woke from his soundless slumber. He leaps to the window and bares his teeth and growls and barks and speaks in his own language. His master awakes from dreams. The thief outdoors freezes on the porch as lights appear in the house. The man pets his dog and watches through the window into the dark, and the thief bounds away in retreat.
"Use this trick to
discourage strangers
from trespassing on your property, or to teach your dog to count (trick 43)."
STEPS
Step One: Get your dog to bark. For example, if you know that your dog barks when the doorbell is rung, then ring the bell, and when he barks say "Speak" and click and treat.
Step Two: After repeating this several times, try giving him the command (Speak). If he obeys and barks, give him a jackpot.
TEACHING TROUBLE
My dog never barks. How can I train him to speak?
Take extra time to figure out ways to teach your dog. It's definitely a trick worth teaching, since you can do lots of things with it (training to bark at strangers, learning to count, growling, etc). Notice when your dog makes any growling noise, however slight. Click and treat for these small things and once your dog can make these little 'yips' on command, ask more of him by clicking and treating only when he growls louder. Become pickier by clicking and treating only when you are satisfied with the way it sounds. With hard work in this direction, your dog may very well become a barker!
