Riley used to bark a lot-for attention, to get out of the bedroom at night, to get Sadie to play, to talk back at me... for pretty much anything. He finally stopped most of it (occasional bark to go out). Since I thought he knew "quiet", I tried to teach him and Sadie (who only barks in "protection mode") to speak on command. Sadie usually picks skills up in one to two tries-she's a smarty pants. Riley's a bit slower normally, but with this, I barked at them and stared until he'd bark and he'd do it. Sadie wouldn't. She got frustrated that he was getting treats and started running through her list of tricks and commands. It was pretty amusing-poor baby wouldn't bark-I guess she knows she's not supposed to bark about other things? She just did everything else she could think of-sit, down, "show me your belly!", shake, touch, and even getting me her stuffed animals. I had to start giving her other commands just to give her something to get a treat for.
But it all kind of backfired-Riley has started barking a bit again. It's not as bad as before, but he's barking more at Sadie for her attention especially. Sigh... He sure thinks he's a bright bulb for barking on command, though. He gets really happy with himself for that.
