How to teach the "quiet" command?

my 2, especially Zak bark at everything and everybody that walks past the house. Its driving me mad. I want to teach a quiet command in the hopes this will help. We live on a close and have a huge green infront where kids like to play. Zak hates this.

So far I have tried removing him from the window. Blocking his view, I rattle a tin of marbles and shout "NO" (has had some degree of success( but I would like a calmer approach.

So where would I start, also as i am teaching quiet would it be worth teaching speak at the same time?

Thanks in advance

mel x

I am working on this at the moment but not sure if I'm doing it right;
Wait for him to stop barking, wait ten seconds then say good quiet and treat. I am introducing a hand signal as well. Also when we're outside and he's sitting quietly making no fuss I reinforce and say "good quiet".
Now obviously I am having situations where the barking doesn't stop and there is no distracting him

I'm sure some more knowledgable dogsey members will be along soon to help us out! Good luck with it!

Hi Mel for the kind of barking you describe (warning/excitement/protection) I use the same method as Tess explained below in a little more detail...

Teaching to bark and hush on command.
To start with you need a situation where the dog naturally barks for instance when someone knocks at the door or rings the bell.

Take some favourite/high value treats like chicken pieces and stand inside the door with the dog...
..arrange for someone to stand on the other side of the door and to ring the door bell and to do so immediately after they hear you say the word 'bark' , when the dog barks praise him in a pleased voice,
..now show him a treat while he is barking and he should stop barking to take the treat (he can't bark and eat at the same time) the moment he stops barking say the word 'hush' and let him sniff the treat for five seconds so there is a clear pause then give him give him the treat and say good dog in a pleased voice.

Repeat the game until the dog gets the idea. You can then fine tune it to allow a certain number of barks before you offer the treat and say 'hush' which allow the dog to do his job of alerting you to the fact strangers are around . When he has got the idea give the treats randomly then not at all but always give praise.

...I have taught this to many dogs but not Chloe, the moment she barks I call her to me and she comes instantly like a shot from a gun and will sit and stay (I have constantly reinforced that coming to me will always be a rewarding experience) . She does continue with a bit of 'grumbling' for a moment to make sure I am aware there was something to bark about .

Amy used to sit on the back of the chair looking out of the window, eventually she would give three barks then look at me as if waiting for her praise .

You can teach a similar thing with clicker training ..

Great advice as always Minihaha,

I'm going to follow this advice to see if I can stop the Min Pins from being so vocal

Hi Kelz if I was teaching more than one dog I would do so one at a time preferably starting with the ring leader (if there is one ).