Teach your dog to be quiet on cue

There are times when we need our dogs to be quiet, like when a baby is asleep or when you’re in an online meeting. It might even be for safety reasons, such as when intruders enter the premises and you don’t want to alert them to your presence. The sooner you teach your dog the quiet cue, the better.

12 Steps

1. Identify what triggers your dog to bark the most, like when the garden service arrives.
2. Make sure you have high value treats ready before you start with the training.
3. Dogs cannot bark continuously, they take short breaks in between and when you place a treat in front of his nose, he’ll stop barking for a few seconds as he smells and eats the treat. The moment he stops barking say the cue “Quiet”.
4. He will soon return to barking when he hears or sees his barking trigger. Wait for him to stop for that few moments and give him a treat again with the cue. Repeat this a couple of times.
5. Ignore him when he barks. You don’t want him to associate the treats with barking – only when he stops. This means you will have to be quick with the reward and the cue.
6. When he realises what is happening, he might ignore the trigger and look at you while waiting for a treat. Now you can look at him and tell him he’s a good boy and give him a quick pat and a small treat, but ignore him when he starts barking again.
7. Make sure that you give him the reward and say the cue the moment that he is quiet.
8. As he starts to catch on to the cue, you can say it before he stops barking. The moment he stops, give him the reward.
9. Be patient! You might have to go back to step 4. The key is practice, practice, practice.
10. Once he gets the hang of the cue, move further away from your dog and let him come to you for the treat. You will have to repeat this step a couple of times. Gradually move further away from him. But each time offer a treat as a reward when he adheres to your cue.
11. If the behaviour has been ingrained in your dog, it might take longer to teach him this cue.
12. Remember, every dog is different. And don’t expect your dog to be quiet all the time – that is unfair. It is like asking you to never speak again. Also remember that some breeds naturally bark more than others – keep this in mind before you choose a dog.