Bark Management: Learning To Speaking & Hush

 

By Claire F.

Besides potty training, barking is one of the biggest struggles a dog owner has to conquer. Depending on both breed and trauma, you may not be able not be able to stop your dog's barking entirely. However, we can regulate our dog's barking, starting with the Speak command.

Learning To Speak

1. Identify your dogs trigger. Take notes on what gets them talking: Knocking on the door, dogs barking, ect.

2. Imitate that trigger so your dog reacts and starts barking.

3. While the dog is barking, use your gesture for Speak and say "Speak."

4. Say "Good Speak" and reward the dog. 

Add this into your daily practice for 1 week. After a week, try Speak without the trigger. If your dog barks at least once, they know what what Speak means. Once they know Speak, we can immediately move onto Hush. It's important to know that every dog is different and your dog may not understand Speak after a week. All that matters is consistency on your end.

Once your dog understands the Speak command, we can move on to the next command in Bark Management: Hush.

Learning How To Hush

1. Imitate your dog's trigger so they start barking.

2. Use your preferred trigger for Hush and hold a treat in front of your gesture hand.

3. After your dog focuses on the treat and is silent, hold the silince for 3 seconds.

4. Say "Good Hush," and reward the dog.

Add the Hush commmand into your daily practice. After a week, try doing Hush without the treat. If the dog stops barking and maintains their silence, then they understand the Hush command. Practice both Speak and Hush during your daily practice sessions to reinforce these commands.