[QuickSilver]

Sooooo, if it's okay to take this thread off Johnny for a moment...

I've actually found it hard to teach Thor to Speak consistently. I think it's probably confusing for dogs because they are reprimanded for barking all the time, and they can't quite believe that now that's what you are looking for.

To teach Thor, I first had to find his big motivator, which turned out to be... wet paws. Like a lot of yorkies, he goes crazy after a bath, and barks quite a bit, so I would dunk his feet, and then reward him every time he barked.

He still is not totally clear on the concept - if he's not super-excited, he'll only bark maybe every three times I cue him, and when he's super-excited, he doesn't always wait for my cue. Also, as someone else mentioned, it generally encouraged him to bark a lot more, just in case I wanted to stop working, or sleeping, or going to the bathroom, and pay attention to him instead.

I've basically just accepted it will take a long time. I work on it on and off with him, and he makes incremental progress. He also Whispers, which is unbearably cute.