What random things does your sheltie bark at?

[Internette]

I have heard whining and growling but no bark yet. I wonder if he has one or has been debarked. I went over his papers I got and no where is surgery for barking there.

[SpaceCadet]

Donovan barks at the words "shower", "kiss", "bathroom", and "have a good day at work". He understands the English language quite well! He even stares at the pages of books when we read. He also barks at people when they hug.

Clarice barks when her food is being prepared, or if she thinks she's about to get a treat! She goes crazy over dental treats.

They both bark when we come home, when we leave home, or when we go in and out of rooms where they can't see us. Silly pups! Recently they even started barking when we open the closet door. For some reason they think we're going to disappear.

Helga the chihuahua doesn't really bark. Perhaps if someone knocks on the door or rings the doorbell she will...or if she really has to go potty. That's about it. She's very quiet for her breed.

[VallejoSheltie]

Boots is relatively quiet for a Sheltie I believe.

He rarely barks when he has to go, he just walks back and forth a bit until we notice, then looks at us. We ask him if he has to go potty poo-poo and he'll take half a step back. Ask again and he'll just star, or bark if he really has to go.

However, since my wife is an online shopping fiend, we have UPS/FedEx/DHL/etc ringing the doorbell almost every day, sometimes several. He goes a little nuts with that. And of course, every TV show that has a doorbell ring, same thing...

Somewhat barkable at night when the odd car door closes, but only when we've turned off the tv and are basically falling asleep.

MIL lives with us now, and he can somehow hear her getting out of whomever is dropping her off when she's at the curb. Way before she gets to the gate at the front door.

And of course, when asked if he wants to go on the treadmill, he just goes nuts. He loves it so much that now when we get to it, he jumps straight up off of his 4 legs like a cartoon character. I should get that on his FB page.

Even though he does actually rarely bark, the above not withstanding, I've learned to appreciate it for what it is. He is by nature a herding dog, and being a watchdog is part of the breed. And in life today, its kind of nice having someone actually monitoring my home environment 24x7, while I'm distracted with tv, computer, etc.

[VallejoSheltie]

LOL, we got one of those at Petco a year or two ago when the cleared them out at Christmas, $10!

It actually worked well as a puppy pull stopper, as it attaches to the leach with a strain guage, and has buttons for training.

Now though, he seems to love it too death. He comes running no matter what and wants to see it, lick it, and almost play with it if I set it down.

I had fun at the dog park recently pulling a juvenile prank.
I have a shock collar which helped me train him to total recall in 15 minutes humanely, (http://www.loucastle.com/articles/myths), and I can get him to recall even when a dog fight is going on 100 yards away.
While I've gotten lots of kudo's for how well trained he is, I've been known to use the ultrasonic in my pocket while barely saying "Boots, Heir" at a conversational level when he is on the far side of a 100 yard noisy, windy dog park...
I know, I'm a bit strange. However I prefer to think of it as 'networking' in the event I ever lose my job and decide to get into the dog training business. I'll have good word of mouth recognition.

Originally Posted by BarbV

p.s. tried a remote ultrasonic trainer on Indy when he barks at the printer. It's not a collar but just a remote handheld device. It freakin' works! It only took a couple of hits, and then big praise when he stopped barking. It stops him in his tracks, completely.

Now when the printer starts to go, I only have to say his name in a growly voice and he stops immediately.

So now I'm going to start using the remote trainer in other problem areas.

p.s. the remote trainer does not work on Bacca at all. He doesn't even seem to sense it. So maybe my poor boy is deaf as well as all his other issues.