# Dog won't "speak"



## Equest94 (Oct 3, 2007)

Yes, I have another training issue for Sabina and I to work on... Sabina is an overall very quiet dog. If the doorbell rings or some animal runs across the yard she'll bark, but otherwise she's very quiet around us (vocal wise). Some people may not see this as an issue, but a blessing, lol... but it is a bit of an issue for us.

This dog will not bark to tell us she has to out for potty...she'll quietly sulk over the the backdoor and silently wait for one of us to notice that she has disappeared to there. No whining, no little bark...she just waits patiently. If we don't let her out soon enough, she'll piddle right in front of the door. When we do let her out... she doesn't bark to let us know she's ready to come in. If we don't notice her quietly waiting outside, she'll run over to the front door and just peer in through the windows in the framing....still doesn't say anything...just stares and waits.

I'm trying to teach her to "speak." That way when she needs to go out, she'll give a little bark and when she needs to come in, she'll give a little bark again... I just can't get her to bark on command.

I tried to get her excited, I hold out a treat, get her all riled up...she jumps around whines, sits, lays down...does every other trick she knows...but despite my effort she will not speak and then think I am being mean to her by not giving her the treat and she walk away or gives up and goes to lie down. 

I tried knocking on the wall or door - "Who's that?! "SPEAK!" Who's that?!" - nothing....

I rang the doorbell... she barked... in fact she went crazy... went completely ADD, lost her focus on getting the treat...still would not bark when I said "speak" but just would bark with her attention focused on whoever would possibly pass through that door... when attention was focused back on me I tried again - "speak" - nothing, doorbell - psycho barking fit "speak" - bark bark bark - "good, speak ::bark:: good." Once she realize no one was at the door... "speak" - still nothing.

I tried to standing by the door as she was waiting to go out...I asked her "What? Gott'a go outside? SPEAK." I opened the door a crack, still nothing. I was determined to make her speak...I waited for about half an hour at that door...I figured if she wanted to go out bad enough she would say something... if she didn't bark, she wasn't going to go out. No...she never barked... she peed right in front of me, right by the door...

HELP! I need her to SPEAK!


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

Well I'm not sure what to do then, because thats what I did to teach my dog how to speak. I held a treat or a favorite toy in front of him and he barked. Then I said good and gave him a treat. After a few times I put a command to it and he now does it on command. If she is peeing in the house then she is not house trained so she should be confined to the room you are in or on a leash and tied to you. You could also teach her to ring a bell. 

The way to teach her is to tie a bell to a string and have it low enough so she can hit it and then everytime you go out, ring the bell and go out. She should pick up that if she rings the bell she gets to go outside.


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## Equest94 (Oct 3, 2007)

Oh she is house broken...she pees outside every time we notice she is by the door an let her out... the problem is she just doesn't bark to let us know she has to go out, and if we don't pay attention or notice...she just can't hold it in long enough..hence a piddle accident. We always have to check on what she is doing (which gets a bit annoying). If she learned how to bark to got out and to come back in...everything would be fine.

The bell idea could work...but we also have other animals (cats) that would tend to hit it all the time, so I'm not sure how long we'll be able to stand that, lol. I never has an issue with "speaking" with my previous dog, she was so easily to teach and learned that very quickly, so I didn't expect it to be so hard with Sabina especially since barking is a natural dog thing to do...

I rather her learn to speak then bump into a bell, but that is something we might have to resort to... thank you.




Any other suggestions?


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## briteday (Feb 10, 2007)

I would just reinforce the "speak" command when she is barking. When she barks at the door to alert, praise her for barking "good job! Speak, yes speak!" and try to get her to keep barking whenyou say the word "speak." 

Don't expect miracles overnight. It will probably take a couple of months to get her into the idea. You might be able to speed things up if you can get friends to drop by all the time so you can practice, LOL!


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

I don't have cats so I don't know if they would hit this, but there is a item out at pet stores that is in the shape of a paw and when the dog steps on it, it sends a signal to the reciever and a bell rings. You can bring the reciever anywhere in the house and when the dog presses it, then you can hear it.


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## Mdawn (Mar 3, 2007)

We had trouble teaching Uallis to "speak" as well. Although, we weren't doing it out of necessity per say...I just like to teach my dogs silly tricks that entertain my nieces and nephews. Kind of a way to encourage an interest in animals and most importantly to be kind to them as I am their ONLY Aunt with a animal at all....Really the only Aunt that even _likes_ animals really....

Anyway, it took us MONTHS of trying to get Uallis to "speak". I was never _personally_ able to do it...my bf was the one that finally got him to "speak" the first time. He always gets the dogs hyper and crazy chasing them around the house and stuff like that. He was playing like that with Uallis before he got him to do it, so Uallis was in a hyper mood and was already barking and play growling. My bf grabbed a piece of dog food, held it in is hand and said "Speak". Uallis at first was jumping up trying to get the treat, my bf ignored it and Uallis got so frustrated that he finally barked....he did it a few more times and Uallis now has it down pat!  So I don't know if Uallis finally did it because the mood he was in made him more inclined for it or what... I'm not a lot of help, huh? lol

I never had much trouble with Eddie, he picked it up pretty fast...but then again he picks up most things fast...lol


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## hattrickinc (Nov 23, 2007)

I wish I could get my beagle to shut up! lol wanna trade dogs ^_^


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## Equest94 (Oct 3, 2007)

^^^ haha  Hey, if you really want to... (j/k)


Mdawn, you are making sense to me and I do think the dog's mood is a great factor in this. Our first dog, Sasha (a little, occasionally yappy Maltese) was quiet easy to train. She could sit stay, lay down, play dead, roll over, dance, SPEAK, etc. They only thing you would not do is "paw"/"shake" - her paws were just too dainty and she didn't like them held. Sabina (much bigger Shepherd/Lab mix), on the other hand, is a more "durable" outdoorsy dog. She too is very smart, she learned to sit, stay, lie down, and paw just a few days after we got her... she has "stay" mostly down too - the only issue seems to be "speak;" I just can't reach a middle ground with her in order to teach it to her. She either gets too attentive - _I don't know what she's asking, so I'll go every trick I know... maybe if I act extra good, I'll get the goodies so maybe if I go lay down and stare at her.... eh I'll just look happy and way my tail_ or she goes WAAAY ADD and HYPER - runs laps, jumps around..."wait did the doorbell ring? OMG! someone must be there!!!" ::bark bark bark!::: "wait was my owner saying something to me? speak? what?"

lol... I don't know... maybe she'll get it in time....

She's adopted from our local SPCA and was abused before we got her...maybe she got in trouble for barking?


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## FilleBelle (Aug 1, 2007)

Could you invest in a dog door? Sabina could let herself in and out whenever she needed to!


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## Equest94 (Oct 3, 2007)

FilleBelle said:


> Could you invest in a dog door? Sabina could let herself in and out whenever she needed to!


See, I was considering that, but since Sabina is still "new" to us and is still adjusting to the property and the other animals that we have or that happen to roam by... we rather not let her have free access to the outside whenever she pleases (granted, they can be locked... but we're still in the process of getting an invisible fence too) and we do have a strictly house-house cat that cannot go outside...

We also just built our house and my parents aren't liking the doggie-door "style-wise," plus they're worried of people being able break-in through the door... Sabina is a bigger dog and thus would need a bigger size door which a person would be able to fit through (talk about being a bit paranoid ) ....


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## Durbkat (Jun 26, 2007)

Yea, it wouldn't be a good idea since your yard isn't fenced, but I still wouldn't just let her out, only on leash.


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## Equest94 (Oct 3, 2007)

Durbkat said:


> Yea, it wouldn't be a good idea since your yard isn't fenced, but I still wouldn't just let her out, only on leash.


Oh no... Although, we have a pretty big property and she seems to respect our boundaries; if we are not out with her we have a long tether that we tie her up to, that was she can still go and round around, have some room, and do her business without her running away (when we are out with her she always stays close to us and listens).

See it's not the tying her up or the actually letting her out that's an issue... I just want her to bark when she has to go out, instead of us having to hunt her down every 15 mins to see where she is and if she has to go...


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