Speak!

[JMFS]

Since the Furbo should arrive today and that darn Zak George showed off not one, but Three, dogs barking on command when demonstrating the device, I decided to give it a go. I never thought to before because they generally bark only when I want them to and it's short-lived. One of the latest posts got me to thinking it would be a good idea to add this tool to our arsenal, though.

 

We might be getting it, but we might be confused, I'm not sure. When Gertie barks I say, "Speak!" and I give her a treat. When I try to get her to do it when I ask she looks at the window. Now, to me that says she's making a connection, but perhaps not with barking, because every time she barks it's when she's looking out the window. I'm not one who's given to being jumpy, but holy cow when that bark cracks through the silence it gives my heart a jolt every time! It's just one short, loud, and sharp bark, but it's sudden and since my back is turned to her it's unexpected. :eek: Thankfully it hasn't happened, yet, while I'm drinking coffee - I think I might choke!

 

What do you think? Keep on the path I'm on, or do I need to refine the method?

 

Pets to those beautiful pups of yours. :)

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello Jennifer!

Have you tried to practice away from the window? Perhaps the window is acting as a distraction. Also, consider the general rule that a behavior should be put on cue once it's reliable (80 percent). It might be too early to put it on cue and she may be confused. For how long have you been training her "speak?"

 

Generally, you'll keep marking and rewarding the barking behavior up to the point where the dog starts offering the behavior on his/her own. Then, when you can reliably predict the behavior, you can then add the verbal cue. First you would start saying "speak" as the dog is doing the behavior for several reps. Then you would say "speak" just as the dog *begins* to do the behavior for several reps. Then you'll say speak just before the dog does the behavior. Worthy of noting is that, just like pawing, training a dog to speak may get out of hand if not put well under stimulus control.

 

Are you planning to use the camera in the same room with all your dogs? Just wondering whether that may trigger resource guarding in case your dogs are predisposed to that. It's my understanding that the camera is capable of delivering several treats at once in different directions so that may help but not sure how dogs may react if they happen to go after the same treat.

Edited November 29, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli

[JMFS]

Thank you, as always, for the input.

 

I closed the blinds so she can't look out the window now and we'll give that a go. It's definitely too early to put on cue - she's -20% reliable. I found a YouTube video of dogs barking and she did that adorable head tilt, but wasn't enticed into joining them. She's going to be a tough one to capture because the only time she barks is when she sees something out the window or something unexpected happens. I'll need to figure out a trigger so I can fish a bark out of her. Or, given your warning, I may leave it alone and count my lucky stars that I'm not having to train anti-bark tactics because she's mainly barking when she's supposed to at this point (even though it gives me a jolt each time).

 

The camera / treat dispenser will be uncontested (Momo was never an intended participant). Gertie willing shares and Abbi is utterly uninterested in the thing as of yet. However, its primary function is for Abbi's separation anxiety and the camera / speaker will be used when Gertie is in the crate, treats will be dispensed when we're here to supervise and so as not to tease Gertie with treats she can't reach. So far I'm unimpressed by it - the app keeps crashing, the microphone had serious echo when I tried ol' Zak's method of tuning the pooches in to the voice feature, and the treats flop out rather than being tossed. It may end up back at Amazon if technical issues persist. I've got 29 more days to get the kinks worked out, though. :)

[Adrienne Farricelli]

I have heard good things about these gadgets for separation anxiety. Personally, I haven't used technology in this way though. Mostly did remote monitoring when the dog is left alone to measure the ratio of improvements versus setbacks so to time the owner's absences accordingly. I can see them put to great use though in delivering treats to counter condition owner absences, but yes, this won't be feasible in a crated dog.

 

With search and rescue dogs, we often stimulated barking by making the dog overly excited about a toy or other item the dog desired strongly and then hiding it behind our back. The dogs would eventually bark out of frustration. There are several other ways, but most require assessing what made dogs bark in the past, and presenting the same triggers, although these can present a challenge since most triggers do not present reliably unless they are sounds that can be recorded. Some dog owners have success by barking themselves. I used a howl to evoke howling in my dogs in the howling trick video, but Einstein didn't really ever have a good howl and often ended up barking like a seal.

[JMFS]

Haha, Einstein. :D Momo will howl with the sirens, but they have to be a specific frequency and if I try to emulate it he ignores me. Thank goodness it's not a life skill!

 

Search and rescue training?! Now that's cool. Mo will stick his head under water for about 20-25 seconds to pull up a rock I've tossed in. I never really figured out a practical purpose for it other than maybe retrieving my keys if they ever fell in shallow water. Problem is, he always came up with a Much larger rock than the one I tossed. He's special, that one.