How do I make him bark

Landy308

Member
Hi

I have a retriever that i am training to track and he is coming on great but he wont bark when he finds the beast ??? . how do i get him to bark cos the wife would kill me if i loose her boy.

thanks
Landy308 :p
 
Have you taught him to bark on command yet? If not that is your starting point. Whenever he barks repeatedly say 'Speak' until he associates the word 'speak' with barking and does it on command (My first dog always barked when the door bell rang so that was an easily repeatable teaching aid). Now each time he finds a deer tell him to speak and praise him for barking. Be over the top with the praise until he barks on finding a deer without being told to.
Hope that helps.
Baguio
 
Hi

Thanks for the tip, will try that although he doesn't bark very often but what you say sounds logical and could help.

thanks
​Landy308
 
Hi

I have a retriever that i am training to track and he is coming on great but he wont bark when he finds the beast ??? . how do i get him to bark cos the wife would kill me if i loose her boy.

thanks
Landy308 :p

You will probaly find that he prefers to come back to you and then lead you back to the deer.As he is a retreiver he wants to retreive the deer, when he cannot do this he returns to you.If you realy want him to bark tease him with a set of antlers.

Gary
 
What type of retriever? I know labradors through breeding are meant not to bark, that is why they sell collars to aid this.
 
There is compulsion or reward training. Compulsion is said to be a better method but it may not appeal to everybody.

Basicly my you tie the dog up and tease it with a thin switch or a deer head with antlers whilst commanding speak. As soon as the dog makes a noise stop praise the dog. Continue until the sight of the head sends the dog into one!

Reward is just that. Tease the dog with its food whilst commanding to speak, as soon as it makes a noise give it some food. Continue until the dog barks on command.

Both methods can lead to a noisy dog.
 
I can make most dogs howl.
I just howl and they join in.
I guess I would howl at a deer carcass, if he joins in then praise him.
 
If it was me I would rather train the dog to find/kill the deer then come and get me and take me to the deer. In thick cover or a windy day you may find it hard to hear the barking. If you want it to bark on command tie it between two trees and annoy it with a switch.

​Al
 
If it was me I would rather train the dog to find/kill the deer then come and get me and take me to the deer. In thick cover or a windy day you may find it hard to hear the barking. If you want it to bark on command tie it between two trees and annoy it with a switch.

​Al
I read the piece about tying up and annoying with a switch in Guy Wallace's book. However I think he recommended it only for dogs of the 'hooligan variety'.
My young Labrador bitch will bark a lot, when at home in the garden if someone comes to the gate or has the nerve to use the footpath at the side of our home. She is silent when we are out with the rifle. Not a sound does she make even when yesterday she had a young CWD feeding less than 20 feet from her and blissfully unaware of our presence. She kept looking at me as if to say 'its there can't you see it'! but no sound.
When she found her Muntjac yesterday I did my best to excite her with exuberant praise and at one point she gave a couple of feeble 'woofs', but that was all. I don't intend to do anything other than encourage her. If I tried the switch thing then I think she would probably 'never speak to me again', never mind a deer carcass. I'm certainly not going to risk it.
 
I read the piece about tying up and annoying with a switch in Guy Wallace's book. However I think he recommended it only for dogs of the 'hooligan variety'.
My young Labrador bitch will bark a lot, when at home in the garden if someone comes to the gate or has the nerve to use the footpath at the side of our home. She is silent when we are out with the rifle. Not a sound does she make even when yesterday she had a young CWD feeding less than 20 feet from her and blissfully unaware of our presence. She kept looking at me as if to say 'its there can't you see it'! but no sound.
When she found her Muntjac yesterday I did my best to excite her with exuberant praise and at one point she gave a couple of feeble 'woofs', but that was all. I don't intend to do anything other than encourage her. If I tried the switch thing then I think she would probably 'never speak to me again', never mind a deer carcass. I'm certainly not going to risk it.

Like I said I want my dogs to find the deer then come and get me, I have no interest in a barking dog. The switch method is one a lot of people use, not for me either

​Al
 
Hi All
Again thanks for all the advice. i now wonder if i want him to bark at all cos hes not a barker at all. Hes a very placid loving dog but he goes bonkers when i want him to track he loves it.
Maybe better to get him to come and get me and take me to the deer. will have to invest in a GPS tracker it would be cheaper than a divorce if I lost him.

thanks again got me thinking

cheers
Landy308
 
There is another 2 options apart from the barking

Either work it on a leash instead off free hunting, then no need for a gps collar

Or teach the bringsel, basiclly a toggle type thing on its tracking collar it learns when it finds a deer to flick it into mouth and 'retrieves' the bringsel back to you so u still need him to take u too deer but u atleast know he has found it.

If u can tell when he has found the deer either by Body language or blood hair on him etc u probably could do without the bringsel
 
I think you are right to steer away from barking. Trust me when they know how to bark they hardly stop.
I taught two to bark, and have a lab pup that likes to bark. No I won't be encouraging her.

​As said, what about on a line, or collar and bell ?
 
Sweet music to me.....
My labs bark when they see the animal they are chasing.One bays them.This is not with dead deer,they return to me.
My HS barks on the track whether he sees the animal or not.Not quite as much as when he sees them.He will also bark at dead deer......he is a very very very noisy dog around the house etc

Learning to bark as deer man said....younger the better.
​Any dog handler should have GPS.....it's a very handy tool and gives complete piece of mind.
 
Sweet music to me.....
My labs bark when they see the animal they are chasing.One bays them.This is not with dead deer,they return to me.
My HS barks on the track whether he sees the animal or not.Not quite as much as when he sees them.He will also bark at dead deer......he is a very very very noisy dog around the house etc

Learning to bark as deer man said....younger the better.
​Any dog handler should have GPS.....it's a very handy tool and gives complete piece of mind.

i disagree and agree about GPS, yes it gives you piece of mind but when the battery fails you have a dog who is used to being picked up without returning to the handler. What do you do then? How do you know where to start looking? I would rather a dog came back to me than me going to him

Al
 
If my dog barks she gets her ass kicked i do not want a dog barking when out stalking or looking for deer. I want a dog to find the deer and if its dead come back if its not then i want her to stay with it till i get there. I do think GPS would be very handy but have not got a unit yet but will do.
 
I'm reading comments from experienced dog trainers about a dog barking when it's not wanted???? Really??? :-|

Train it to bark when you want it to and to be quiet when you don't then! :idea: :D

Mine won't always bark when they are lying dead but I am getting there with her. However, when that animal moves especially when I am dragging it off the ground, she goes ballistic. She gets wound up with me yanking the head at her and telling her to bark every time she accompanies me to a dead beast. I stop dragging or moving it and she immediately stops barking. I move again and she starts. Any wounded animal still moving will be bayed and I can follow the sound in. Or use the GPS when I get around to buying one!

On the other hand she does not make a sound when walking to heal with me, even when she sees or can smell deer in front.

I have a couple of videos i'll try and post...
 
Now i am not sure my dog can identify between large tracks of forestry and being close to some ones back garden so i will give that one a bye Brian:rofl:

Dont get me wrong i can see the benifits in both but its not for my type of ground.
 
Now i am not sure my dog can identify between large tracks of forestry and being close to some ones back garden so i will give that one a bye Brian:rofl:

Dont get me wrong i can see the benifits in both but its not for my type of ground.

I don't have any deer in my back garden Davie :D:D:D
 
Yes really, I have no urge to have a dog bark. If it is barking it is not holding, allowing the deer to move on. My dogs will find/kill the deer then come and get me and take me back to it. If you have a dog that barks and it has found the deer but you cannot hear it barking, what happens then ? No, a barking dog isn't for me

Al
 
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