I taught Cajun to check every door and window in the house when I whispered "what's that?" I began this training by having someone come over but not to the door, they would be outside and tap or scratch at the window or the wall. When I heard this I would become alert, make my eyes wide and look around and whisper "what's that?" - my alertness without nervousness followed by another "strange sound" as soon as Cajun showed interest in the strange sounds he would be praised, and allowed to then go about his business, which at first was to come and lie back down next to me.

I did this several times over the next few weeks, having the person go to different windows and doors, Cajun learned that when I said "What's that?" very quietly that there was someone/something outside, and he would go to the places he had previously been rewarded for going to (doors, windows) until he found the source of the moving sound. Eventually he did not need a sound and would just go to every door and window and look outside and stand and listen when I said "what's that?"

I did not use treats for a majority of his training, after the age of 4 months he got verbal praise and physical praise/petting/scratch behind the ears. I did not use treats to reinforce the "what's that?" as I wanted the reward to be finding the source of the noise/verbal praise. He eventually would bark on his own, but this was developed by the person continuing to move and make sounds, louder sounds, until he barked. Once he barked the "intruder" went away and I directed his attention back to me with praise and he was given a toy to play with. After he matured more I did not use toys, it became a game with him and the person outside. How fast could he find them, and once he did, he barked and 'made them go away.'

I taught Cajun to bark on command, growl on command, and show his teeth on command(he also would sneeze on command, which was not at first intentional). He was not a barky dog, however, so I never had any issues with him barking excessively. To teach the growl on command, which is what I had to teach him first, I had to know when he was likely to growl - which at the time was when working with the tug, it was a higher pitched whiny rrrrr for an AB. I marked the sound with verbal praise and allowing him to have the tug. This was when he was fairly young, around 11 months or so.

Eventually, after marking the desired sound several times saying "Good GRR(growly sound)" I could initiate the growl by saying his name to get his attention, having him sit to further get his attention, and making a rumbly grrrr sound. At first he just looked at me like I was nuts, tilting his head, thinking.. and after the second time he hesitantly growled for a very short burst, like an exhale. I praised, lots of love, and asked again. I kept it very short, only asking 3 times or so, twice a day. He had it down within a week and would growl like a demon.

His excitement at reward-for-growl then took him to end it with a wuff, which I marked by imitating the sound/verbal praise/affection. Eventually I could get him to imitate any combination I said.. such as: grrbarkgrr... he would growl/deep bark/growl, or the opposite, or just grrbark, etc. I decreased the volume of the command/association gradually and decreased the actual sound of a growl/bark to just grr, or just bark, etc. Imitating the sound helps to initiate it, that is if you can bark! I am almost embarrased to say I bark pretty darn well lol.

I think whether or not to teach these things to a dog depends on the dog, and your purpose for it. I know a few people who used the "teach to bark on a command, then teach not to bark" and just wound up with a dog that began to bark all the time, or continued to bark all the time.

Teaching a dog to bark this way you are only associating yourself, your praise, with the bark. Most dogs taught to bark on command will look to the handler for it's reward, which would not in most cases be viewed as menacing if you are wanting the bark to make someone go away. Cajun would growl and bark on command, but it was not intended as anything other than a "trick" I never intended for him to bark and growl on command at someone else, SERIOUS barking/growling at a human was reserved for the training field.

Hope this helps

As far as teaching the bark, it was the simplest thing for all my dogs to pick up.
Mine picked it up within the first 30 seconds of training it.

Tie the dog out and wave their favourite toy in their face as you step out of their reach. Keep calling them and teasing them with the toy (or food, whatever works) and they'll bark out in frustration.

The second the dog lets out the bark, say YES!!! in a REALLY excited tone of voice as you run back towards him and toss him the toy.

Once the dog is focused on you again, back away saying bark, bark! and the bark should come pretty quickly again.

If the dog just lets out a little yip the first few times, reward that. They'll catch on pretty quickly.

As for the quiet, just catch them when they're barking at something and say QUIET in a serious tone of voice as you step in front of them. The second the dog interrupts the barking, mark it and reward or praise.

It's easier to teach the quiet when the dog isn't overly excited as he's barking. If the dog is going crazy at the door when the doorbell rings, that's not a good time to start teaching the quiet
Better to try when the dog thinks he may have heard something and gives a few undramatic woofs.

When teaching the bark - the more excited the dog, the better.
When teaching the shut up - the less excited the dog, the better

It's really easy if you time your markers correctly, have fun!

The was suggested above are how I taught “Speak.” But that tended to be an up beat, happy type bark and one (maybe two) at a time. Not so scary when on a walk and suspicious people are about. And “Speak” isn’t a very intimidating command either.

To teach my female a slightly more intimidating bark, I had to go a different command and with a different method. I found she would bark in a scary way when someone would knock on the door or ring the doorbell. Even if it was only on TV . I marked that and gave it “Who’s that?” command. You really don’t need a helper either, just stand near the door and knock away!

I like that she will bark a separate, happy bark on command though. When she is showing off her trick repertoire, it doesn’t scare the locals.

I did find that it would increase the everyday barking, but when it starts, I just give her a separate command. I will call her to me and have her lay down, roll over, or even just sit. By taking her mind off of what ever is causing the barking I can stop it.

Good luck! It can be a fun trick, especially if you can get it on a hand signal. It always impresses people!

Yuko -
That definitely works, too. I have never been asked to teach a dog to bark on command and all of my own dogs were not the barking type. No matter how much they wanted their toy/tug/rag, even as young puppies they were not barkers. Maybe a short yap if I got lucky, but for my dogs (esp my AB) it would have been nothing more than teasing.

The "Quiet" I often hear "trainers" say to use the work bark to teach the bark on command, and to say "nobark" instead of quiet. I personally don't like this idea, I don't use no in direct association with a previously reinforced/desired command.

I think it depends on the dog and the reason you want them to bark, but it definitely can be done both ways (the bark and the quiet)

Jessica-
I would agree that a helper is not needed, but I did not want to go to the door or to the windows. If someone was really sneaking around outside my house, in case they were not aware someone was home I would not want them to know I was there. I remained seated on the couch, kitchen chair, etc. or would follow behind and stay back, such as in the doorway, or the hall, and just watch Cajun to verbally praise a window check, etc. My dogs also would have watched my hand tap-tapping away and just licked me like "whatcha makin sounds for?"

Jennifer, that's a wonderful trick - the GRRing

Love it!

And yes, if you have a suspicious dog (or a dog that gets suspicious when he hears strangers around his home), it's easy to get them in their "alert" mode the way you did it. Basically saying "what's that?" or "look!" every time they get suspicious so they learn to expect "danger" whenever you say it.

All 3 of my dogs respond to a whispered "look!"

There's a definite difference between that and the bark command, which is a purely playful act for them (same as a growl taught during play )

I have to be careful with the "look!" because that tends to trigger their defensive drive (especially at night in a strange place) when they otherwise may not have reacted defensively had I not said anything.

It can be useful if you're walking at night and you WANT your dogs to be suspicious of a certain person coming your way and to let out some defensive barking/growling, but at the same time if you overuse it on a not-so-strong nerved dog, you're telling them that there's danger everywhere and you could be putting too much stress on them.

I think that if the dog is usually stable around strangers (not overly aggressive or a nerve-bag) there's no harm in doing this every now and again. Just my opinion...


Edit: ok I mixed up who taught what how, lol.
Jennifer: you're teaching the dogs the individual acts (barking, grr-ing and checking out the windows) without triggering their defensive drive and Jessica mentioned the suspicious "scary" bark that her dog lets out when someone's at the door.

Sorry for the mix-up

OMG - you all have given me great information! Thank you! I think I will wait til Kodee's a little older (he's just now 4 mos old), and see whether he's a "barky" dog or not, before I decide whether to teach a bark command.

Jennifer - "We're not worthy!" (*bowing down like Wayne and Garth*). LOL! I am amazed at how you trained your dog w/the grrr's and barks, etc. That's too cool.

Thanks all for the great responses!

 Quote: yuko blum

There's a definite difference between that and the bark command, which is a purely playful act for them (same as a growl taught during play )

......

It can be useful if you're walking at night and you WANT your dogs to be suspicious of a certain person coming your way and to let out some defensive barking/growling, but at the same time if you overuse it on a not-so-strong nerved dog, you're telling them that there's danger everywhere and you could be putting too much stress on them.

Yeap, I fully agree on both there, Cajun's growl on command was purely for show, I never intended the command to be for him to growl at someone. I had two commands for Cajun to become alert, one was used only indoors, the other outside while on walks.

I would put emphasis on "what" when I said "What's that" making the "t" a harsher than usual sound, and I would say "Whooooozat?" lots of emphasis on "who" while on walk.

This was used rarely, and always in a different area than before so as not to associate any specific street or park etc with danger. Cajun would look at every person within 30 feet, if there were more than 2, but generally I would only use this when there was one other person around. He would not bark, but he would be very alert and watchful of the person/people and give them a good stare down, following them with his eyes/head as we walked past.

I didn't want him to bark or carry on, I felt that if someone still wanted to cause a problem after getting "the eye" from a sturdy AB that looked like a huge APBT, then I would be better off with my Mace and having my cell phone ready to dial 911. Even with a PPD I still feel it is up to the human to stop any problem there could be, first, and the dog is a last resort. IMO, of course, JMO.

Kori-

LOL! Oh honey, trust me.. on this forum, I am not worthy either!

Jennifer, you’re right, but I wasn’t really looking for an alert, just a bark on command. Rox tends to be sharp anyway, so I was lucky there, or unlucky, however you want to look at it. I just wanted the more “scary” bark. What you did was exactly what I would have done to get what you were wanting (got all that! :grin

 Quote:

There's a definite difference between that and the bark command, which is a purely playful act for them (same as a growl taught during play )

I have to be careful with the "look!" because that tends to trigger their defensive drive (especially at night in a strange place) when they otherwise may not have reacted defensively had I not said anything.

It can be useful if you're walking at night and you WANT your dogs to be suspicious of a certain person coming your way and to let out some defensive barking/growling, but at the same time if you overuse it on a not-so-strong nerved dog, you're telling them that there's danger everywhere and you could be putting too much stress on them.

I think that if the dog is usually stable around strangers (not overly aggressive or a nerve-bag) there's no harm in doing this every now and again. Just my opinion...

Yuko is right here. Just know what you are getting into.

BTW Jennifer, I’d love to teach the GRRR! That’s great!