The tips we got through training were expose him to the noise when it happened, expose him to noises in general when he started to bark. Same concept I suppose. It never did anything but make our dog foam at the mouth to get to the trash truck. LOL. Thanks for the advice. Maybe we will try something else in terms of stimulus and see what happens after that.
The trick is the treats, a dog will learn what he did to get it. Sooner or later he will learn that it is being quiet that gets the treat. At first he will think he has to bark first then be quiet, but sooner or later he will not bark, get the treat for not barking and then he will expect treats whenever he is quiet.
You do this for a while giving him treats whenever he is quiet after a noise, but there will be noises that he gets nothing as the treats become fewer and farther between, but he should never get a treat for a bark. (see next paragraph for more on this) Eventually the dog will realize he should be quiet and sometimes he will get a treat. Then you have him where you want him.
Of course if he barks at a knock on the door or a stranger outside you reward him for this bark and then you have your watch dog too.
I forgot to say that some dogs are too dumb to get this. If you have one of these it will become clear after a while that the dog cannot associate treats with behavoir. Then you have to decide if the dog can stay or not. (He may need a quiet country setting), but I would bet this will work. In the TV show they did not say how long it took but I got the impression it was several sessions a day for a couple weeks, so don't throw in the towel too soon.