So proud....

My little boy learned to "speak" today. You have to understand Jake...he's 11 1/2 months old and the quietest lab you will ever meet. We got him in May and I think we've only heard him bark 2 or 3 times in 9 months. And that's no exaggeration! He doesn't make a sound at the doorbell, other dogs, strangers, loud noises, NOTHING! Not that we want a dog that doesn't stop barking, but a little noise every once in a while is OK! So I was determined tonight and frustrated him to no end with new cheese and bacon cookies and he finally got it!!!!!

Yay Jake!!!!! Mommy and daddy are so proud of you!!!!


(Just had to share! Thanks for listening)

Message edited 2/24/2010 10:22:41 PM.

Re: So proud....

That's pretty cool! If you do it right, you can get him to speak at the appropriate times too. Of all the tricks people want to see our dog do, speak is the favorite.

He barked at a noise outside once and we decided we liked it when he barked at cars outside. We praised him for it, and for people coming to the door, but not for any other kind of barking. So far so good, although I could see how it could turn into a problem if the dog doesn't differentiate between when it's ok and when it's not.

So how did you teach him? Gave him treats when he would speak on his own? He does it on command now?

Re: So proud....

Well, like I said in my original post, he didn't bark at anything. This bothered me a bit because in the summer, I like to leave our front heavy door open (we have a full glass screen door). This way he can lay there and look outside - which he loves to do. But ANYONE could come to the door and he would just sit there. Not a noise out of him. People thought our doorbell didn't work becuase he wouldn't bark when they rang it. He would get super excited, but no noise. I didn't like this because I felt like people would think he's a pushover....not that I want people to think he's mean...but not so passive either....KWIM?

Anyway, yesterday, I got him some new treats....bacon and cheese cookies. I had him sit in front of me...smelling the cookie, showing it to him...just really frustrating him until he barked for it....it took FOREVER at first. But as soon as he barked, I said "speak", praised him like crazy and gave him the cookie. By about the 5th time, he got it and would "speak" when I said it. We'll work on it more today. My hope is that if he learns to be a bit more "vocal" for something he wants, whenever the doorbell rings, I'll tell him to speak and reward him. Eventually, eliminating the food reward for speaking at the doorbell.

I know this all sounds crazy - who wants a barking dog?!?! But he is almost too quiet!

Re: So proud....

That is exactly how we did it. Teased the heck out of him with a toy and then praised him for speaking. I even did it with a hand signal, so I don't have to say 'speak', I can just do the gesture. He does this alligator snap thing instead of speaking a lot of times. I'll FM you a link to a video, I just sound so stupid in it, I'm embarrassed to put it out on the board.

Re: So proud....

I just FMed you back and I'm reading your post AFTER I saw the video and completely understand the alligator snap thing. Jake does that all the time in lieu of actually barking!!