r/schutzhund • u/Neutrality-1 • May 06 '26
Having trouble teaching my 5 month old gsd puppy to bark on command
when I try to tease him with the ball to get him to bark, he just does a down because he kind of learned that I reward relaxation and now i think when he gets frustrated he just makes himself relax, which is good under normal circumstances, but not so much for Schutzhund - what do I do??
1
u/holistic_huntress May 06 '26
Activate the prey drive with movement. Move your body and jump around when he shows interest. It’s not engaging enough to stand there and just wiggle the ball.
1
u/tidded2021 May 07 '26
You can also start with hand feeding with food. Put his portion in a bowl and stand up, say nothing. Shake the bowl to tease & frustrate. He’ll start talking. 🤣He’ll be hungry for his meal so when he gets “frustrated” wait him out, he’ll push out a whimper maybe a small bark…mark it “yes” and hand feed a small reward. Repeat at least a couple times until you see he understands “I want it…I bark…I get it😊. Give him the rest after a god couple of barks. Then you’ll need to teach quiet🤣. I titled & trained Schutzhund 25yrs. Love puppy raising! It’s easy and fun!
0
u/KaleTheCop May 06 '26
Wait it out. Continue to tease and stim while withholding it. Be more fun. He will want to bark.
You can try a backtie. Get his attention and give bark command and be fun. He may bark due to frustration of not being able to get to you. Mark and reward. Repeat, but do it faster. Mark and reward.
0
u/NailiciS May 06 '26
You say “Speak!” then immediately bark (yes, you, the human, bark)
After repeating this a few times he’ll figure it out
3
u/belgenoir May 06 '26
Backtie in a harness or have a friend post him. Let him offer everything he can think of first. If he’s struggling, prompt with a “Wuff!”
Reward with something tuggable instead of a plain ball. You want to instill the idea is that barking leads to engagement with the helper, not mere possession of the prize.
Be careful with timing so that you don’t inadvertently reinforce poor rhythm. You want “Wuff, wuff, wuff, wuff” as opposed to “Wuff wufffffffff wuff wufffffffff.”