Barking

Question
My Sheltie is around 3 years old and I cannot get her to stop barking.  She is my second Sheltie and I love her dearly but she is a very timid girl and barks at everything and everyone.  It did not help when I found out that my now ex neighbor's grandkids were throwing sticks, rocks, bricks at her and when I discovered it I wanted to go paddle those kids but instead I talked to them about why they should not do what they did.  All of this made her more timid.. How can I cure her of barking... I cannot stand outside to talk to a neighbor without her barking at him.  And she knows him. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer
Allison,

I am so sorry to hear your Sheltie has been tormented.  

What you will have to do is to teach her that it's ok to be outside and not ok to bark at everything.  When we are outside with our rescue Jinx we have to physically pick her up to introduce her to strangers (and best friends).  Usually when we control her like this it stops the barking.  Mostly.

Then once "we" are friendly we make her sit quietly next to us.  The more we do it, the better it works.  Until the next dire threat (like a kid on a bike or a squirrel on the telephone wire) presents itself to be barked at.

The bad news is we have been working on this with Jinx for 4 years.  Even the "expert" has to patiently work at issues like these.  I wish I had some magic beans to feed them but I haven't found them yet.

starter steps:
1) Leash her and walk her outside.  
2) When a stranger approaches: thank her for warning you and calm her down.  Hold her and have her meet the stranger.  Calmly tell her it is ok and to "be nice don't bark".
3) If she stays calm you can love on her and tell her how good she is being.  Then it would be ok to give a treat.  
4)Try to identify threats faster than she does.  If you can grab her and love on her and tell her to be calm before the neighbor approaches (or whatever the "dire threat" could be) then you can nip the barking before it starts.  Definitely give her a treat when she doesn't bark.

You and I share a problem with a herding dog that thinks everything in the universe is a threat.  It takes a lot of patience and reserve to help her understand what is good and bad.  Yelling doesn't seem to work, kind words go a long way toward calming them down.  

If I stumble into something that works I'll make sure to email you.  Otherwise I hope these insights work for you.

Dave