Dog Training Speak Command
This is the word of command to a dog when the handler wishes him to bark. For security dogs it is incorporated with the command ‘Watch him’.
To teach a dog to speak on command first tie him to a wall or fence, using leather collar and lead only. Approach the dog with a very thin stick in the right hand and a piece of meat in the left. Say `Speak’, loudly, and raise the right hand as though you intend to strike him. Should he bark or give tongue, reward him immediately.
If you meet with success as early as this, then continue to make him speak frequently, using the command every time. Follow this routine for several days until you know he will speak on command every time he is directed to do so either by you or any other person.
The next step is to use the right hand only, with the same upward motion as was used with the stick, and then, as soon as you can, omit the use of the right hand and use only the word of command, ‘Speak’. The final aim of this stage is to get the dog to speak when the hand is raised and no verbal command is given, but also when no hand movement accompanies the verbal command. The reason for getting the clog to learn both alternatives is fairly obvious but will be quite clear before the end of this lesson.
If the dog is slow in barking, attempt to hit him or strike the ground beside him. If there is still no response you will have to hit him with the stick, on the front legs only, gently at first, then harder if he will not speak. Every time the right hand is raised, whether holding a stick or not, say the word `Speak’. This should be given loudly in the initial stages, but as the dog makes progress the voice should be moderated until eventually it becomes a whisper.
Although the stick will eventually be dispensed with, the motion of raising the right hand from the centre of the body upwards as far as it will go should always be used when the dog is required to speak. The exercise should be practised several times a day, particularly when the dog comes to hand and sits in front of you. Note this last phrase, which indicates the continuity of the training, the joining of one phase of learning on to the next. Teaching a dog to speak may take some time, but the average dog answers perfectly in about a week.
The reason for teaching a dog to speak by raising the hand, with or without a stick, will be readily understood when it is realised that if a wrongdoer is disturbed while being sought for, almost invariably he will take up exactly the same attitude to try to make the dog go away from him. If the dog has been taught to speak by this method he will automatically bark all the louder, thus informing the handler where his dog and the wrongdoer are.
If there is difficulty in getting a dog to speak by the foregoing methods, as is possible with very shy animals, another way is to tie him to fence or wall, as explained earlier, and to walk off as though you were going to leave him. (You will have to do part of the walking away backwards.) Every few paces, call to the dog ‘Speak’, and at the same time raise the stick held in the right hand. You may have to go about fifty yards before the dog attempts to speak, but as soon as this until you have got him speaking well. Then revert to the stages previously described.
The dog that is to be trained in security work, after he has learned to speak on command immediately and without hesitation, should now be taught to bark, with the command, `Watch him’ added. This sounds more appropriate when approaching crowds of people who have to be dispersed. As stated, the new command is simply an additional one tacked on to ‘Speak’, which is eventually dropped.
Have several people stand in a line in front of the dog and get each, in turn, to make the dog speak. This is to get the dog to understand that you want him to bark at anybody. This is most important in security work because the dog, later, must speak every time he finds a person hiding away or at the end of a ‘track’, especially at night-time when he is acting as the eyes and ears of the handler. Unless the dog speaks readily when he finds a person it is impossible for the handler to know where dog or quarry is in the dark, since the dog will be off the lead, possibly searching premises, and some distance away.
The dog should be encouraged to give tongue at anything unusual he may notice during exercise and when at work, and be praised lavishly on each occasion. Even in the home, if a dog gives tongue during his period of rest, especially at night, the reason for his barking should be investigated, and he should never be suppressed by telling him to be quiet. A dog generally accedes to his master’s wishes, and learns accordingly. Therefore, if he is continually directed to keep quiet when at home and something unusual is occurring, the time may come when an intruder is about and the dog will take no notice. The handler must, of course, be guided by common sense and not allow the dog to become a nuisance.
I well remember more than one occasion when I was called to premises where there were believed to be suspects and from which a criminal had left hurriedly. Taken with me to the scene by car, my police dog Chum, after picking up a track, would lead me through the back gardens of many houses, from the back windows of which I have seen dogs of all breeds gazing at us without attempting to give tongue. All these dogs had been suppressed by their owners from barking whereas if they had been encouraged to do so no intruder would have ventured near the premises.