I'm having great difficulty with this. My dog understands the command, but he won't "just do it", he wants to have a reason to do it, like I have to hold up an item of food, issue the command 2-5 times, and he'll start out making the mouth motions of a bark, he'll jerk his head, open his mouth, it totally looks like he barked (albeit a very weak bark) but no sound comes out, it looks almost like he's snapping at something. I'll keep holding the item up till he makes an actual NOISE, however quiet it may be, but this usually takes 2-5 "silent barks". He knows what he's supposed to do, he's not a quiet dog by any means, he likes to bark, and once he's barking on his own I can get him to "Speak" without a problem.

Does anybody have any tips on how I can make him bark the first time, every time? There are times where I can sit there for 5 minutes n not get more than 1 bark out of him. I've been trying to work on "speak" for about 8 months now and he's done this same thing for the last 5-6 months. I'm all out of ideas.

Both my dogs do this, even the Border Collie! And yet when I ask them to 'go after' something they immediately start barking like crazy. I think maybe they need to be worked up before they can start barking because once I manage to get one bark out of them the rest is easy to come by, it's getting started that's the problem. I've never rewarded their efforts either, just a good solid bark.

Jim I'd try not feeding him for a day and see if he's not more interested in the food. I'd not feed him for a few days except when he works for it by barking.

Years ago we had two JRTs--one that would 'speak' for treats and the other who didn't seem to have a clue. Then my little sister decided to take on the challenge of teaching the clueless one. She decided to get the dog mad so she teased the dog and blew in her face while keeping the treat out of reach. The dog finally had enough and barked at her to which she was generously rewarded. The dog then started trembling as it finally dawned on it that if it barked, people would give it treats. After that, we were plagued by this little dog who would not shut up at the dinner table. The dog was so excited by this newfound power she now possessed that we didn't have the heart to tell her to knock it off. Plus, she didn't have an off-button.

Kitty accuratley describes one problem with teaching a dog to bark on command, not shutting up. When you teach a dog to bark it's important to also teach a "quiet" command to get him to stop.

Since he knows the command I would try Lou's idea. One day of fasting might make him more eager to work for the food. When he is hungry, hold up the food, give the speak command one time. If he doesn't comply put it away and try again in another few minutes. If he knows the command and what is expected he should give a full bark the first time. It is like any other command you give your dog. If you have to say it 2-5 times to get compliance, something is not right. He is either unsure of the command or he knows how to count. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

try putting the dog behind a barrier like a fence...show him the food, ask for speak and if he doesn't speak, walk away. Let him smell the food and 'almost' get it thru the fence, repeat.

it works especially well if you have access to another dog on your side of the barrier, that you can feed the treat to the other dog instead. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> Competition is a powerful motivator!! our corgi loves when we do this, since she is the recipient of the treat in this case.

You can also teach the same thing, the same way with a toy instead of food... when he speaks, let him out to play immediately. (or use a back tie)

When he makes noise you need to reward that for a while. then when he makes the noise, you keep encouraging him,but no reward. This should make him try harder. Been there, man it can really make you nuts if they don't even make noise. Had to do this with my Rotts. I always got teased by my neighbor for all the crazy antics I would go thru to get some sort of noise. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

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When he makes noise you need to reward that for a while. then when he makes the noise, you keep encouraging him,but no reward. This should make him try harder. Been there, man it can really make you nuts if they don't even make noise. Had to do this with my Rotts. I always got teased by my neighbor for all the crazy antics I would go thru to get some sort of noise. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

haha, I'll admit, my dog has a very cute way of trying to get the treat anyway. Sometimes I'll tell him speak, n because "shake" was a recent trick that he learnt, he tries to give me his paw, he also did this for a while when i told him "down", but he's realized that "down" and "shake" are 2 different things now. Sometimes it's almost like he's trying everything he's been taught before attempting to bark, n when no sound comes out, it's cute too lol but I love the sound of a bark so getting him to be consistent, loud and immediate is a big thing to me.

Thanks for all the advice, I'll be persistent and work on it more and hope he catches on.

My Dobie bitch Raven was resistant to learn to speak. She did enjoy little tidbits of cheese, but didn't make the connection at first. Since she was also in protection training I would make her sit, then threaten to thwack her in the nose with my finger and hiss at the same time. This would get her to rumble then bark! When she barked I would reward her with the treat.

Since we also teach a hand signal (talking hand puppet type motion) with our speak command, she responded quickly to the hand signal if it immediately followed the threat to her nose! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Since she was made to sit each time I wanted her to speak, she would automatically bark whenever I gave the sit hand signal! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Oh well, the by products of training. The practical application for the speak was when she had to indicate articles in her search and rescue training. The down wasn't real practical when she was under cover of the Vancouver Island rain forests! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Sadly I lost her last week at just over 8 years to mammary cancer. She had a great many perks and quirks, she was a very challenging dog, but taught me a great deal.
Somewhere at "the bridge" my old cat Groucho is up a tree! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />