How To Teach Speak/quiet Commands?

[quickbrownfox]

Hi

Can anyone explain to me how to teach my 4 month old pup how to speak/be quiet on command?

Stanley has a deep, loud bark and is beginning to talk to the neighbourhood dogs. I don't want him to become a nuisance and want to nip this behaviour in the bud.

[koalathebear]

We taught Elbie to speak by woofing at him and saying 'speak' and doing a hand signal. He now speaks on command. Other people capture the behaviour i.e. when their dog barks, they praise it.

That being said, my dog doesn't tend to bark very much, though but to be honest I'm not really sure that the quiet/shhh/no barking command is all that useful.

Any ideas why he is barking? Birds/bored/sound of other dogs/sound of neighbours? It might be good to identify the cause rather than relying on 'quiet' which is a somewhat shaky defence

Edited September 26, 2010 by koalathebear

[quickbrownfox]

We taught Elbie to speak by woofing at him and saying 'speak' and doing a hand signal. He now speaks on command. Other people capture the behaviour i.e. when their dog barks, they praise it.

That being said, my dog doesn't tend to bark very much, though but to be honest I'm not really sure that the quiet/shhh/no barking command is all that useful.

Any ideas why he is barking? Birds/bored/sound of other dogs/sound of neighbours? It might be good to identify the cause rather than relying on 'quiet' which is a somewhat shaky defence

Thanks for the advice! I will try the Speak on Stanley tomorrow.

Why he is barking... I really think he's bored (although I do play with him when I'm not busy, which is about 3 times a day including training. Plus he has a ton of toys, a clam shell to dig in and a HUGE backyard to run in.) Also the sound of other dogs has him barking too. He's fine with people speaking, though.

I'm signing him up for obedience classes next month, so that will keep him busy (hopefully ) Going for a walk with him now.

[koalathebear]

Thanks for the advice! I will try the Speak on Stanley tomorrow.

Why he is barking... I really think he's bored (although I do play with him when I'm not busy, which is about 3 times a day including training. Plus he has a ton of toys, a clam shell to dig in and a HUGE backyard to run in.) Also the sound of other dogs has him barking too. He's fine with people speaking, though.

I'm signing him up for obedience classes next month, so that will keep him busy (hopefully ) Going for a walk with him now.

I gather that some dogs are just a bit more barky than others. There's a sibe x in our class at dog school and she barked once and her owner almost fell over: "I've never heard you speak before!" he exclaimed gleefully. "Speak! Speak!" he said in an attempt to capture the behaviour. It was hilarious.

Could we have some photos of Stanley? We used to have an Airedale Terrier in our class at dog school named Bobbi and she was soooooooooooo beautiful. Funny thing was that she was so fluffy and cute-looking that I didn't realise how big and strong she was! Her handlers came as a couple and usually the husband was the handler, one week he was away and just the wife came and she seemed to be struggling a bit, so I offered to hold Bobbi's leash while she got her training card - I almost got pulled off my feet! Just wasn't expecting all that strength.

Regarding the boredom, if he's anything like my dog, the size of the backyard is irrelevant. I find Elbie only wants to play in the yard when we're there with him - otherwise he's just chilling out near the back door being a couch potato. In this thread I've posted some links to a tucker ball and also a Home Alone Ball which some people say is useful for entertaining dogs when they're in the yard. I find that Elbie also loves empty juice bottles and can play with those for hours.

In any case, good luck and don't forget to post some piccies! ;)

[aussielover]

Really wouldn't recommend teaching speak tbh

They sometimes will start barking for attention if they have been rewarded in the past. Sure it is cute, probably ok for dogs that are naturally quiet

[koalathebear]

Really wouldn't recommend teaching speak tbh. They sometimes will start barking for attention if they have been rewarded in the past. Sure it is cute, probably ok for dogs that are naturally quiet.

Yup ... Elbie's speak command is a cute trick to show other people and he looks very cute when he's trying to bark on command, but it's not been useful for us to stop him barking. Thank goodness, he doesn't tend to bark much generally

[quickbrownfox]

Really wouldn't recommend teaching speak tbh

They sometimes will start barking for attention if they have been rewarded in the past. Sure it is cute, probably ok for dogs that are naturally quiet

Ok, so teaching speak would be useless for me then (except as a trick.)

Will try the quiet command first. This article was very helpful for me.

I should cut some slack for Stanley as he's a terrier and can't expect him to be quiet all the time.

I'm about to do a 3 hour drive today; Stanley will be coming with me (he's great in the car, does power naps throughout the journey) so I'll post photos tonight Koalathebear.

[Staranais]

Really wouldn't recommend teaching speak tbh

They sometimes will start barking for attention if they have been rewarded in the past. Sure it is cute, probably ok for dogs that are naturally quiet

Ok, so teaching speak would be useless for me then (except as a trick.)

Will try the quiet command first. This article was very helpful for me.

I found teaching speak first made it very easy to teach quiet, since the dog seems to quickly understand the contrast between speak & quiet.

[aussielover]

But if the dog is "speaking" ie barking already- then it is just as easy to teach quiet.

And no risk of attention seeking barking.

[Staranais]

But if the dog is "speaking" ie barking already- then it is just as easy to teach quiet.

And no risk of attention seeking barking.

Everyone does it differently, I guess. But I found I could get many more reps in if I could turn the barking on & off at will. Bark - quiet - bark - quiet - bark. Rather than having to wait for a bark to ask for a quiet. I guess I'm just impatient & don't like waiting.

Edited to add - I also like to have a speak command so I can ask for it when I want to, for various applications. So that's another reason I chose to teach it that way.

Edited September 27, 2010 by Staranais

[aussielover]

But if the dog is "speaking" ie barking already- then it is just as easy to teach quiet.

And no risk of attention seeking barking.

Everyone does it differently, I guess. But I found I could get many more reps in if I could turn the barking on & off at will. Bark - quiet - bark - quiet - bark. Rather than having to wait for a bark to ask for a quiet. I guess I'm just impatient & don't like waiting.

Edited to add - I also like to have a speak command so I can ask for it when I want to, for various applications. So that's another reason I chose to teach it that way.

I'll admit, that is how I taught mindy quiet.

I also like her to bark when people come to the door, or to be let outside to pee, so it does have other useful applications.

Everyone does it differently, you're quite right, I just think that people should know the risks of teachyng speak, especially in an already vocal dog.

[Staranais]

I honestly haven't found barking on demand to be a particular problem. If you have a NRM, you can easily get rid of the barking on demand issue - NRM followed by end training session or stick in time out. Only takes them a few goes to figure out that barking is only reinforced when it's done following a command, whereas pushy barking only ends in enforced boredom.

So I guess I'm saying, the problem can come up, and it's probably fair enough to mention it, but it's also easily cured, even in a vocal dog like mine (& you probably don't get a lot more vocal than a WL malinois, my girl always has a lot to say).

[quickbrownfox]

Interesting viewpoints here. I think I will have to do a bit more research...

I did try the speak with Stanley this morning. He is starting to catch on (as he did it a few times), but I think it will take a lot more work.

The little man in question (he has been visiting the countryside for a month and loving it):

Playing with his GSD friend, Rukee (who I have to mention has been fantastic with Stanley. Very patient!!)

[spottychick]

Dawwwwww He's a cutey!!

I'm thinking I might teach Dylan to "speak" and "shush" on command too He seems SO trainable.

[Christina]

Gorgeous little man

My breed can be yappy & its not because they are bored or alone so the quiet command is a must.

The biggest problem is getting their attention when they are on a roll like when the willy wagtails torment, just out of reach of course

Clapping hands, using a whistle or making a noise to distract with anything so they look at you is the 1st step.

Then its Quiet in a firm voice followed by praise, good boy quiet, & a quick no or ahh ahh Quiet again if they persist.

They soon learn but the dog has to understand what it is that you want or it can't obey.

I don't so speak, they speak enough to let me know what they want.

ETA

Just read the link in other post. Uses the same method I do but I don't use treats ever, dog may bark for another treat.

Edited September 27, 2010 by Christina