Hand Gestures For Speak

[CrisM]

I'm wondering what hand gestures you use for Speak. I'm teaching Valentine both "Speak" and "Quiet." I thought about using my hand as if it were a mouth and opening it for Speak, but I use a similar grasping gesture when she drops something too far for me to reach or to tell her what specific toy I want her to get when I'm calling it by name.​

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For Quiet I think I'll use the old pointer finger to the lips.​

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Maybe it doesn't need a gesture? I feel like an awful lot of our commands start with "S," though: Sit, Stay, Stand, Spin, Shake, and now Speak.​

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Here are the gestures I use so far:​

Sit: Vertical Back of Hand Rises Up
Down: Finger Points Down
Flat: Hand Horizontal with Floor
Go Get _____ (Specific toy’s name): Grasping Gesture with Fingers
Stand: Horizontal Hand pulls away from her
Stay: Stop Gesture
Touch: Point to Object
Shake: Reach Hand out to Shake

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What do you think?​

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[tigerlily46514]

My dog's cue for "speak" is

"ey Buddy, wanna beer?" WOOF!!


You can mull over cuter cues than the traditional "name of the trick."

If you want your dog to bark to an entire question, such as "Valentine, do you like the Broncos?" WOOF!
Then teach Valentine to bark to the last word of the sentence, in that case, "Broncos".
otherwise, the dog pre-emptively barks BEFORE you've finished asking her the question. so you use that word, "Broncos" as the cue, and then when you want to show it off, you turn to Valentine,
and Valentine will not respond til she hears the key word,
the LAST word, "broncos"<---THAT is her cue to bark.

 

[tigerlily46514]

but, i always try to warn ppl who are about to reward barking in a dog,
especially in a puppy,
ppl tried to warn me, but i did not listen ....still, i try to warn others----------->
http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/how-to-teach-a-dog-to-bark-on-cue.4454/

Once you reward any behavior, there is chance that behavior will occur more often...it's not impossible, that your dog might become a barkier dog after being encouraged, and praised and rewarded, for barking. doesn't happen to all dogs, but, it happened to mine.

and teaching "shhh!" is a LOT LOT LOT harder, oh yeah!!!
than teaching "speak".
You do have the option to shelve that trick,
let the puppy grow up, assess "how barky" the adult dog is,
and teach that trick on her 2nd birthday.

My point is, there are only about 3 million other tricks to teach a puppy .

 

[dogcrazy]

Just like Tiggerlily said, I dont recommend teaching a dog how to speak even tought you are teaching her Quiet

 

[CrisM]

Thanks! The reason I'm trying to teach her Speak in the first place is because she's a barky dog already and I've read that it's easier to teach Quiet once she knows what Speak is. Is there another/better way to teach Quiet?

 

[tigerlily46514]

//I've read that it's easier to teach Quiet once she knows what Speak is//

you've been misinformed.

rewarding, and encouraging her bark, will NOT, i repeat NOT help her become a less barky dog, nor is that necessary to teach her the cue "shhhh".

we've got some threads on teaching "shhhh!" which imo, is NOT the easiest thing to teach. It is NOT impossible, no,
but i would not rate that cue as "easy". imo.

and, even after your dog fully understands the cue,
even after you dog has been helped to develop the self control necessary to follow the cue,
it is yet another process altogether, of interrupting her every bark, to help her become a less barky dog.

but, it CAN BE DONE, i have done this myself.

my dog was NOT a barky dog, not at all, but doncha know, i decided it'd be so cute to get him to bark on cue. and i did not listen to others here who tried to warn me, that sometimes, for some dogs, that can backfire.....nope, i didn't listen.

and that is when a bark-monster was born. i know, i know, this does not happen for ALL dogs who are rewarded for barking,
but,
it happened that way for *my* dog.

i'll try to find the threads. What specifically, does your dog bark about? what are the triggers for YOUR dog?

 

[tigerlily46514]

Depending on WHAT your particular dog barks ABOUT, there are lots of ways to teach "shhh!" or to teach the dog to be able to sit calmly while your dog observes whatever it is that sets off YOUR dog. So we need more info, about WHY your dog is barking, or "at what".

here is what i did to teach my dog to stop barking on cue:
see reply #2----->
http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/working-on-teaching-missy-to-be-quiet-on-command.4246/#post-30433

there are others ways, like i said, we need to hear what makes YOUR dog bark. It can be done, it can, don't give up.

 

[CrisM]

Her trainer and I are working on her barking during walks at men and other dogs. The second I something she would normally bark at I say, "Look! It's a man!" and pop a treat in her mouth. I give it a couple of seconds and then treat her again. Hopefully she'll look to me for treats instead of barking at them as she gets used to the game. I can see improvement, but it's slow.

She also barks incessantly whenever we go somewhere "not home" for the first 10 minutes. She's just so excited. Whether it's the park, the vet, her doggy day care, or the pet supplies store, etc. Whenever she barks, I turn her around towards the car. When she's quiet we go forward. It takes about 10 minutes to get into the place. Then she used to bark at every aisle in the store to announce her presence, and back out the door we'd go. She's better about that now, but it still takes forever to get her into a building/park.

Valentine is similar to other pups in that she barks whenever the neighbor dogs bark, whenever she sees our neighbors through the fence, or whenever something alerts her (car door slamming, ambulance sirens, etc.) And once she's going, she doesn't care if the noise has stopped, she keeps at it. She doesn't spend a whole lot of time in the backyard, btw. Pretty much just long enough to do her business, unless she has a puppy playdate and even then it's only for about an hour.

I hope that helps! Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tigerlily46514]

The barking hwen first arriving at new places, you could either try the method in the ^links i posted, as a time to work on the "shhhhh" cue, and interrupt each and every bark,

or,
you could arrive everywhere 15 minutes early, and use that time as a chance to train Valentine (V).

You enter your vet's office (your vet might let you do this even if you have no appt) or your friends home,
and soon as V barks,
you calmly lead V back outside.

wait. Ask V to sit. (i always ask Buddy for a sit first, just to make sure he is listening to ME)
ask V to "look at me" . V only has to look at you just long enough to SEE you do the signals, then V is free to look whereever she wants to---my point is, V does not have to stay focused on you nonstop for THIS "look at me".

Give V some doggie language calming signals, (slow blink, yawn or deep, slooow exhalation through your nose)
when V is no longer barking, lead V back into vet's office.

sure, V will bark again.

repeat.


lead V back into office.
sure, V will bark again.

repeat.

sooner or later, V will get msg-------"if i want to be in here to see all THIS stuff, i have to be a good girl."

this does work, but, it takes some time. this is actually a training exercise, while doing this, you are calmly, silently teaching V that barking is NOT acceptable in these places.

 

[tigerlily46514]

//s. The second I something she would normally bark at I say, "Look! It's a man!" and pop a treat in her mouth.//

take care you are not accidentally, inadvertently rewarding her barking.
I'd ask for something prior to rewarding, such as a sit, or a "look at me" and then reward THAT,

or a sit/look at me/ give her doggie calming signals, and THEN reward V for calming looking at the dog or person.


take care your voice does not convey excitement, so V will not think you agree with her excitement upon seeing a man or dog.

You could try the method i explain in link above for this,
or this. "Let's Go"

 

[tigerlily46514]

barking at dogs behind fences:

 

[CrisM]

Thanks! I will let you know how it goes.