[nagdu] She got it!

[Abby Bolling]

So for the past few months, I have been desperately trying to teach 
Cricket to "speak!"
A very good friend told me to tie her leash to a table, hold a yummy 
treat like a hot dog or some other type of meat in front of her nose, 
and like bark at her!
Well, that way didn't work.
So, I was having her do puppy up excersizes one day and I purposely got 
her very frustrated and she yipped at me.
That is what gave me this idea!
hold a yummy treat (puppy oreos worked the best) in your hand, make them 
do puppy ups, and every so often throw the word speak in there. When she 
yipped or barked, I praised her and continued saying the word speak 
while I was praising her.
last night, she started responding directly to the word speak!
I tried it again this morning and the skill still held! so I am very 
happy with my puppy!
Once we figured out what worked for her, it took her about 2 weeks to 
learn the new command!

I have talked to a trainer, at leader and they told me that as long as 
Cricket is still working well in harness and she isn't barking all the 
time, they don't have a problem with teaching this command. Especially 
since I am a college student, who has been targeted in my apartment 
before, having a dog who is willing to bark when I tell her to is kind 
of important.

anyway, huge happy moment for me because it is the first time I have 
successfully taught this kind of command!

Happy working!

Abby and the eager Cricket!