A Quieter Dog

A noisy dog can be helpful when they are warning you of danger, but the majority of the time they will actually simply be giving you a headache or keeping you up at night. However, there are ways to stop your dog from barking so much and it may be surprisingly easy to totally alter how noisy your pet is.
In the majority of cases, a dog will be barking because he is trying to talk to you. Usually they will just want attention, food or even simply to let you know something in particular. Barking is their natural communication tool, but some dogs will bark far more than others or may have a much louder or more incessant bark.
If this is the case, you simply need to teach them other ways to get across the same information. If is dog feeding that is on their mind, encourage them to wait by the food bowl when they are hungry and whatever it is they want, ensure that you do not give in until they stop barking. This way, they will associate positive responses to them not barking and in turn learn to find other ways to attract your attention.
It is not only dog feeding that will be a cause for barking though and, in other situations, you may simply need to teach them that silence will lead to rewards. Distracting them when they are barking will often stop dogs from howling and when they do stop their barking it is important to reward them to show them that silence is the preferred behaviour.
There may be other reasons, such as poor diet leading to irritability and it is always wise to make sure the diet you offer them is a balanced and healthy one. The higher the quality of food you offer, the more pleasant they will be and the more likely they are to respond well to such conditioning to boot.