WOW! What a hot topic this has become! I am almost afraid to post my opinions but I also have some opinions on this.

First off, I think Carrie is only trying to get you to see the difference between human and canine thinking. We tend to love our animals immensely and sometimes think that they are capable of understanding on human terms but they can not! They are not human and should not be trained on human levels.

There have been several posts in the past on dogs barking and how to stop it. Personally, I think positive dog training is the best and most effective way to train a dog. I have been training dogs competitively for over 25 years and have used all the methods along the way. In using corrections such as swatting or popping a choke chain the dog is learning to look for a negative correction to it's behavior. If done correctly and the timing is 100% done in the correct time, this method can be effective. However, most people do not correct in a timely fashion so the dog understands what it is being corrected for. If your dog is barking and you call her to you and she doesn't come but stops barking, sniffs along the way, and eventually comes to you and then you correct, this is ineffective timing. Corrections need to be no more than 3 to 5 seconds after the behavior is displayed for the understanding to sink into the dogs thinking.

I use treats to get the dog to understand what I expect and then slowly wean them off. If you are afraid of giving too many treats, then use the dogs regular dinner kibble and use it as a treat.

I am attaching the links to the other posts that have this discussion so hopefully something there will be helpful.

Excessive barking

Why dogs bark

Controlled barking

Max N Petey's story

I hope some of these threads give you the information you are looking for.

Positive reinforcement works more effectively and quickly than any other method I have used.

Good Luck!