Preventing a freakout from unexpected noise

[pgwiz1]

I haven't written on the forum in a while. Pebbles is almost 5 now and has been doing well, and has come around to a lot of her training, especially with sitting down when she sees a dog on the other side of the street, vs going crazy at it (she is consistent about 80% of the time). What I don't know how to improve is her going nuts at the front door when she hears unexpected noises. The biggest ones are trash days and mailman/fedex/ups arrival. We try to enforce that if she stops barking, she gets a treat, but I think that is causing her to learn the lesson of : Bark -> Stop Barking -> Treat. Sometimes when I work from home, she's bark, just to run over to get a treat . But even that doesn't work for the biggy ones like the trash truck and the mail. She will jump at the door and just go insane till the noise/smell passes.

Any thoughts from fellow sheltie owners?

[BarbV]

No help from me! My boys are hopeless at the front door

The only thing I can think of is what I should be doing myself, but never think of doing until they start again:

Have someone come to the door that you know. Ring doorbell or just walk by...whatever sets your dogs off. Using treats and praise, put your dogs into a sit/stay. Praise and treat. Open door. Make sure dogs are still in a sit/stay. If they get up, close door and start again. Repeat, repeat, repeat!

By having a friend do this, you are not pressured into just opening the door and kicking the dogs away (which is what I usually have to do), so you actually get a chance to train them.

So yeah, I'm great on theory, execution for me sucks......

[Shelby's mom]

Sorry I have no answers. But Shelby reacts the same if kids are playing basketball in the front of our house or if they are skate boarding. No matter what we do we can't stop her. She doesn't have to see them to react. Just the noise sets her off.

However if she is in her crate she is fine. So we crate her when we are at work all day so we don't have to worry about it. I am afraid she will hurt herself because they can be out there a long time. When we are home we either move to the basement so none of us has to hear them or if I give her her favorite treat (bully stick) she will actually stop carrying on and chews.

If youfigure it out please share.