Finally!

[Chicken]

I am getting somewhere teaching my rottie, Abby, to speak!!!

For so long she has just thrown her head to the side when given the speak command, and that has been praised, now she is barking every time (except when I was trying to show my partner I can get her to do it, she just had to make me look bad!!)

I am having the best time training her, she is just a delight.

For someone who has only had small dogs before, Abby is just pure joy. I am so glad she is my first Rottie, now I will never look back.

Thanks for giving me a go with her Lisa!!

[Vehs]

here's hoping she only does it when you want her too!

but giving a command when the dog doesn't know what you mean isn't the way to go about it because she probably still doesn't associated the word with the action, hence her not barking for your partner

[Lab_Rat]

Hi Chicken - like Vehs says, hope she does truly understand the command

I taught our Kelpie to speak on command with verbal and hand signals when she was actually barking - it came in very handy the time our ridgy girl bolted from home during a thunderstrorm! We drove around in our ute, with Wandy on the back and got her to bark every now and then.......Being in the bush her voice carries well. Scared ridgy soon appeared.

I havent taught the ridgy to speak on command tho - was a challenge teaching her to bow and shake hands!!

Rat

[jess live die]

thats wonderful well done

[Chicken]

She knows the hand signal and a stomp of the foot, not so much a verbal command. She will do it at the moment everytime i have her squeeky toy in my hand, or if we are playing out the front.

She doesn't bark un necessarily, only when there is someone she doesn't know outside or on the command or if we are rough housing with her sometimes she will bark.

Thanks Jess, it has always been the one thing that we have all struggle to teach her.

[Guest Pandii]

Great Job

[GeckoTree]

Congratulations, its one trick I would love to be able to train. Bark on command.

[Gayle.]

My daughter taught Benson to speak, he picked it up really easily because he was barking at something at the window and every time he woofed, she'd say "speak" and give him a treat. I could see the look of puzzlement on his face when he was getting a treat and he didn't know what for, but it took him only a few minutes to figure it out.

Now I am trying to teach him to "whisper" cos his spoken words are bloody ear splitting.

[Chicken]

She's a pretty quiet dog, only barks when there is something to bark at. I have been working on speak with her for the 6 months that I have had her and now I am confident enough to say that I have had success!!!