My dog really doesn't bark often but I figured I'd teach him to speak for fun.

Getting this dog to make noise without having a man attack me in front of him is nearly impossible, but I now have a consistant attempt to make noise when I ask.....an attempt to make noise. It takes a sort of warm up for him to bark. He understands it's the sound I want but will often give a few silent barks before actually getting a real one. I don't think he's intentionally doing it, I think he honestly has trouble barking. Anyway I can fix this? He also have trouble holding still while barking. I wouldn't mind if he was jumping and barking but he sort of dances side to side, holding him still and asking to speak will get an effort, but usually only silent barks which lead to coughing. He's never been yelled at or corrected for barking and was checked for neck damage because I was concerned about his lack of bark when I first got him. When he does actually bark under pressure he's quite impressive, but without the risk to his or my life he just doesn't seem to be able to do it....any advice?

I had to back-tie my dog to a tree and then run around the corner of the house with a toy, while acting like a goofball, to get him to start barking. The first few sessions his barks where shrill and high pitched but, they eventually worked their way down to his normal realm.

I got this from a Leerburg e-book on alert bark training and from some advice from Will.

I taught my dog "speak" by knocking on the front door while barking and being foolish. When she figured out what I wanted she was very excited, but she would also end up doing the silent huff a few tries before actually barking.

It took some practice to get her to be able to do it without the huffs. Now she does it but she gives a little play slap and pops back up first. It's really cute!

I think most normal barking is not a deliberate effort for them, so doing it on command can be unnatural at first. Just keep practicing and shaping.