How to teach a dog the voice command?

In play training, the team can be used in various tricks or just for fun. It is a mistake to think that by teaching a dog the “Voice” command, you can develop its protective qualities. A dog in case of aggression barks in a completely different intonation and with a different stimulation of this barking.

It is possible to teach a dog the “Voice” command as a game training, but two conditions must be met to successfully practice this technique:

• The dog must know the “Sit” command;
• She must be hungry.

After that, you can start training:

1. Take a piece of treat in your hand, show it to the dog and, having given the command “Sit”, encourage the pet to do it, then reward it with a treat;

2. Then show the dog another piece of treat and at the same time give the command “Voice”. Under no circumstances give food to a dog until it makes at least a slight sound, barely resembling barking, from the desire to eat it;

3. Once this happens, reward your dog with a treat. Repeat the exercise, persistently seeking a sonorous and clear bark from the pet. Believe me, just two or three days of classes – and your dog will bark beautifully at the signal “Voice”.

If the pet is actively interested in the toy, then it is acceptable to practice the “Voice” command with the replacement of a treat with a toy. The sequence of actions must be the same. And after barking, you can encourage the dog by throwing her a toy.

other methods

All other ways and methods of teaching the dog this technique, as a rule, have a fairly large number of side habits and skills, which sometimes have an adverse effect on the dog’s behavior. Among these methods are tying the dog on a leash and walking away from it, imitative training next to a barking dog, encouraging the dog to aggression, closing the animal in the room, prompting to bark when going for a walk, encouraging just barking for no apparent reason.

Remember, it’s much easier to teach a dog to bark than it is to wean it from this pet who likes to exercise his vocal cords for no reason.

With this in mind, first analyze whether this skill is really necessary for your dog.

26 September 2017

Updated: 19 May 2022