Should you teach "speak" before "quiet"?

The two always go together, from the very first session: they're the tap and its handle. You trigger a happy bark, you name it "speak", then straight after you mark and reward the silence that follows with "quiet".

How do you quiet a barking dog without shouting?

Shouting doesn't work: to your dog, you're barking along with him and confirming the alert. A useful "quiet" is taught in calm, rewarding silence dozens of times, so it keeps its meaning in front of a real trigger. And never an anti-bark collar: it cuts off communication and leaves the dog worse off.

Speak & quiet

Teaching your dog tricksPart of · Teaching your dog tricks

Speak & quiet

Q: How do I teach a dog not to bark?

You don't teach "not barking", you teach silence on cue : you reward longer and longer moments of calm with "quiet", and you stop reacting to spontaneous barks. But if your dog already barks a lot, that isn't enough: start by looking for the cause (boredom, loneliness, alerting, frustration).

Q: My dog already barks a lot: will this trick make things worse?

Yes, that's the risk. Teaching "speak" to a dog who's already very vocal or anxious builds up the very behaviour that's overflowing. Start by tackling the cause of his barking, with a trainer or a behaviourist if it's taking over, before thinking about this trick.

Q: From what age can you teach "speak" and "quiet"?

It's a beginner-level trick, with no physical strain: you can offer it early, as soon as you've got the marker word and short, cheerful sessions in place. The real prerequisite isn't age but common sense: a puppy or a dog already prone to excessive barking waits.

Q: Why does my dog bark to get what he wants?

That's the demand bark: he's learned that barking brings the bowl, play or your attention. You avoid it by never rewarding a bark you didn't ask for, and rewarding calm instead. If it's already established, you go through supported extinction and reinforcing calm, not punishment.

11 min read

Is this trick right for your dog?

Go for it

Your dog is fairly calm and rarely barks.
You're after a playful self-control exercise, not a fix for a problem.
You accept the golden rule: once “speak” is learnt, you never again reward a bark you didn't ask for.

Not just yet

Your dog is already very chatty, or he barks when he's alone, anxious or frustrated.
The neighbours have already said something about his barking.
In those cases you'd be reinforcing the very behaviour that's spilling over: start by treating the cause (see below), with a professional if the barking is taking up too much space or comes from fear.

Making silence pay

Barking is communication, never a fault to be silenced. Whether you want a fun trick or you're laying the ground for “quiet”, you always do the same thing: make silence pay. Once you've rewarded calm dozens of times in a quiet setting, the word “quiet” will still mean something on the day you really need it (the doorbell, a passer-by): a “quiet” that was never trained is just one more noise among many. For your dog, barking then falling silent exactly on your cue is a genuine self-control exercise: it makes him think.

All through this trick you'll be using a spoken marker word, short and neutral. Pick one that sounds clearly different from “speak” and “quiet”: if the words sound alike, your dog can no longer tell which one he's hearing. Your voice is enough, no kit needed.

From “speak” to “quiet”

In these first sessions you're deliberately going to make your dog bark: if you live in a flat or close to neighbours, pick sensible hours and keep the sessions short. The aim isn't to practise barking on a loop, but to get a bark quickly, then silence just as quickly.

Before you start: settle into a quiet room, with no other dog and no visitors. Your dog is loose in front of you, standing or sitting, it doesn't matter, as long as he's facing you. You're standing or crouched down at his level, with a handful of small soft treats already to hand in a pocket that opens easily. The same marker word (“yes”) will serve for the bark and for the silence: it doesn't name a particular behaviour, it simply says “that, right there, is what I wanted, the reward is coming”.

You change one thing at a time, and you only move up a level once the previous one is smooth. Aim for short sessions, a few minutes, a handful of repetitions each time, and stop while your dog is still enjoying himself.

Step 1 / 6

You can trigger a bark easily, without ever overwhelming your dog.
- Take a toy he loves, hold it just out of reach and bring it to life with small, lively, playful movements right next to him, as if you were about to start a game: many dogs end up letting out a bark of excitement.
- If the toy isn't enough, try another trigger: a doorbell sound or a knock at the door played quietly through your phone's speaker (a sound app or a video will do), or have someone from the household come in.
- Another option, with nothing to trigger at all: keep treats on you during the day and capture a spontaneous bark, marking it exactly as it comes out.
- Check that this produces one or two happy barks, not a meltdown.
Move on when: He barks almost every time on your trigger.
He barks when you say “speak” and show the trigger.
- Say “speak” just before you present the trigger.
- Mark the first bark with your marker word, then reward him.
- Mark one single bark, never a burst: if your dog goes off in a series, don't reward that one, let him settle, start again, and mark the very first isolated bark.
- If he doesn't bark at all to the word plus trigger, don't push: go back to the previous level and capture a few more barks on the trigger alone, without saying “speak”, before trying the word again.
Move on when: Right 4 times out of 5.
He barks on the word “speak” on its own.
- Say “speak” without showing the trigger; only bring it back out as a rescue if no bark comes.
- As soon as the word alone works, the golden rule kicks in: you never again give a treat, attention or a game for a bark you didn't ask for.
Move on when: Right 4 times out of 5.
He stays silent for two seconds after “quiet”.
- Straight after a successful “speak”, take out a treat, keep it closed in your hand and bring your fist up to his muzzle: he starts sniffing it, which stops him barking at the same time.
- One treat, one reward: you're not giving it for the bark, you keep it in your fist, and it's the silence that releases it.
- Say “quiet” while he's already sniffing in silence, wait two seconds of calm, then mark and finally open your hand to give him that treat.
- You put the word on a silence that already exists, never on noise.
Move on when: Right 4 times out of 5.
He stays silent for ten seconds on the word “quiet” alone.
- Stretch the wait before the reward: two seconds, then five, then ten.
- If he starts barking again during the count, say nothing: wait for the calm to come back and restart on a shorter wait.
- Fade the hand prompt in two stages, holding each one until it works several times in a row: first bring your empty fist up to his muzzle instead of the treat, then, once that works, say “quiet” without moving your hand at all.
Move on when: Right 4 times out of 5, with no hand prompt.
He falls silent on “quiet” even facing a real, mild trigger.
- Chain “speak”, then “quiet”, then the reward, varying how long a silence you ask for.
- Once the chain is solid in a calm setting, test “quiet” on mild real triggers (the recorded doorbell played louder, a distant noise on the landing) and reward the silence you get generously.
- If “quiet” fails twice in a row, the setting is too hard: drop back a level.
Move on when: Right 4 times out of 5; otherwise you drop back a level.

“Speak” and “quiet” alternating, on the word alone

The numbers (“4 out of 5”, the two, five then ten second steps) are field landmarks, not measured thresholds. What is solid: a steady success rate before you move up a level, one single thing changing at a time, and a silence paid for a real stretch of time after the last bark.

Traps to avoid

Rule these out without hesitating

Teaching “speak” without ever working on “quiet” afterwards: you're building a dog who knows how to bark on request, but not yet how to stop. Work on both from the very first session.
Shouting “quiet”: to your dog, a human shouting is just one more bark, he takes it as encouragement, not as a cue. Say the word once, calmly.
Carrying on reacting to spontaneous barks, even with a “be quiet”: you're validating demand barking, the main risk with this trick.
Using an anti-bark collar, an electric one or any other device that cuts off the voice: punishing a dog's vocalisations means punishing his communication, and a dog who no longer warns is more likely to bite with no warning at all.
Working with a dog who is overwhelmed by his emotions: a trigger that's too strong teaches nothing, it just brings on a meltdown.

Demand barking

This trick carries no physical risk. The risk lies elsewhere, on the behaviour side, and it's a real one: barking is an easy reflex for a dog. If he discovers that barking brings the treat or the attention, you're installing demand barking, which is harder to undo than to avoid. To avoid it, two rules: only a bark triggered by “speak” pays, and the reward always comes after a real stretch of silence.

When barking spills over, this trick isn't how you sort it out: you go back to the cause. Here's when to hand over.

Keep an eye on it

Your dog starts barking to get something: his bowl, a game, a walk.
You catch yourself reacting to his spontaneous barks.

Change your approach

Demand barking has settled in: this trick won't solve it.
To get out of it, you stop responding to the barking altogether, even with a passing remark, while rewarding calm generously between the barks, never punishment: that's exactly what the guide “When my dog barks too much” is for.

Call a professional

Barking for hours on end when your dog is alone: that's no longer a barking problem, it's anxiety or being left alone.
Barking that comes from anxiety, a territorial alert that never stops, or from fear.
A trainer or a behaviourist takes over on the underlying cause.

Going further

guideWhen my dog barks too muchTo tell a playful bark from a signal that really is a problem, and to know how to calm it without muzzling him.Read the guide guideThe foundations: teaching a trick with rewardsThe basics of the marker word and of rewarding at the right moment, which you'll use to teach “speak” just as you would any other trick.Read the guide guide“Watch me”: winning your dog's attentionA dog who looks at you learns faster: the groundwork to lay before you teach a new word.Read the guide guide“Touch”: teaching your dog to boop your handTeaching your dog to follow your hand with the tip of his nose opens the door to dozens of other tricks, once “speak” is mastered.Read the guide guideLights on/off, ring the bellThe same principle applied to an object to touch or push: a good next challenge after “speak”.Read the guide guideTricks to avoid (or to keep in check)Knowing when to keep a lid on a trick like “speak” so you don't feed the barking outside your sessions.Read the guide

Frequently asked questions

How do you teach a dog not to bark?

You don't teach “not barking”: you teach silence on request. You reward longer and longer moments of calm with “quiet”, and you stop reacting to spontaneous barks. But if your dog already barks a lot, that won't be enough: start by looking for the cause (boredom, being left alone, alerting, frustration).

Do you need to teach “speak” before “quiet”?

Nearly always, yes: it's easier to reward silence when you can first trigger the barking on request. You wait until “speak” is smooth, then you add “quiet” straight after, in the same session. If your dog already barks fairly often on his own, you can also capture his silences without going through “speak” at all.

My dog already barks a lot, will this trick make things worse?

Yes, that's the risk. Teaching “speak” to a dog who is already very chatty or anxious reinforces the very behaviour that's spilling over. Start by treating the cause of his barking, with a trainer or a behaviourist if it's taking over, before you even think about this trick.

How do you quieten a barking dog without shouting?

Shouting doesn't work: as far as your dog is concerned, you're barking along with him and confirming the alert. A useful “quiet” is taught in a calm setting, by rewarding silence dozens of times, so that it still means something in front of a real trigger. And never an anti-bark collar: it cuts off his communication and leaves him more fragile.

From what age can you teach “speak” and “quiet”?

This is a beginner-level trick with no physical constraint: you can offer it early, as soon as you've set up the marker word and short, cheerful sessions. The real test isn't age but common sense: if your dog is already the type to bark too much, better to wait.

Why does my dog bark to get what he wants?

That's demand barking: he has learnt that barking brings the bowl, the game or your attention. You avoid it by never rewarding a bark you didn't ask for, and by rewarding calm instead. If it's already settled in, you stop responding to the barking altogether, even with a passing remark, while rewarding calm generously between the barks: never punishment.

Updated on July 11, 2026

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