Speak
Tricks · 7 steps · by Push Drop Stick
Your Dog will learn to bark on cue for a hand signal or the verbal cue 'Speak', with clear stimulus control so they only bark when asked.
For this plan you will also need:
**- A Marker:** such as a clicker or a verbal word like "Yes" to instantly mark the correct behavior. This bridges the gap between the bark happening and the time it takes to deliver reinforcement, helping Your Dog understand exactly what they did right.
**- A Trigger:** something that reliably makes Your Dog bark, such as a knock, a doorbell sound, a question that would excite them like "Want to go for a walk?", or a toy held just out of reach. You will fade this out as training progresses.
**Avoiding demand barking:** Only ever reward a bark you asked for. Barks Your Dog offers without a cue should earn nothing, no treat and no eye contact. Train this way and barking stays a behavior you control rather than one they spam for treats.
Training steps
Reward any sound
Setup: Your Dog is in front of you.
Some dogs need to warm up their voice. Get Your Dog excited with your trigger, like a knock, a doorbell, a question that would excite them, or a squeaky toy held just out of reach. Mark and reward any vocal sound at all, even a whine, huff, or grumble. We will shape it into a full bark from here.
Success: Your Dog makes any vocal sound.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Elicit a bark with a trigger
Setup: Your Dog is in front of you.
Use your trigger to set Your Dog off: knocking, a doorbell sound, a question they get excited about, or holding back a toy they want. Do not add a hand signal yet. Right now you are only finding out that you can produce a bark whenever you want one. The instant Your Dog barks, mark and reward.
Success: Your Dog barks for the trigger.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Add a hand signal
Setup: Your Dog is in front of you.
Now that the trigger reliably produces a bark, put a hand signal in front of it. Give a clear hand signal first, for example an open and close 'talking' hand near your shoulder, and then use your trigger. The order is the whole point: the signal has to come before the trigger and predict it, or it never takes on any meaning of its own. Mark and reward the instant Your Dog barks.
Success: Your Dog barks after the hand signal and trigger.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Shrink the trigger
Setup: Your Dog is in front of you.
Keep leading with the hand signal, then make the trigger that follows it smaller and weaker, a quieter knock or a softer squeak, while the hand signal stays big and obvious. The goal is for the hand signal to start predicting the bark on its own. Mark and reward each bark.
Success: Your Dog barks for the hand signal and a faint trigger.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Hand signal only
Setup: Your Dog is in front of you.
Give just the hand signal, with no trigger behind it at all, and wait a beat to give Your Dog a chance to think. Mark and throw a party for the bark.
Success: Your Dog barks for the hand signal alone.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Add the verbal cue
Setup: Your Dog is in front of you.
Say 'Speak', pause for 1 second, then (if needed) give the hand signal. Mark and reward the bark.
Success: Your Dog barks for the verbal cue.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Only the verbal cue
Setup: Your Dog is in front of you.
Say 'Speak' once and wait, with no hand signal. Mark and reward when Your Dog barks.
Success: Your Dog barks for the verbal cue alone.
Advance on: 4 of 5 successes
Nice work. Your Dog now barks on cue for the word 'Speak' or your hand signal, and just as importantly, stays quiet when you have not asked.
From here, the rule that keeps Speak useful is simple: only ever pay a bark you asked for. Cue it, mark the bark, reward. A bark Your Dog throws in on their own earns nothing, no treat and no eye contact, so barking never becomes a way to demand things. Keep your sessions short and upbeat so it stays a happy party trick.
Use it for fun, like a count of barks or a 'say please', and as a foundation for other behavior, such as a watchdog 'speak' on cue. It pairs naturally with Quiet: Speak puts barking on cue, Quiet gives you the off switch, and together they hand you the volume knob.
If Your Dog starts offering barks for free, do not scold it. Quietly stop paying the uncued ones and go back to rewarding only the barks you asked for, and stimulus control tightens right back up.