Now I'm going to be honest and admit to using a Abistop bark collar, primarily on Yogi but Revel has worn it too. It sprays either odourless or citrus smelling spray triggered when the dog barks. I bought it some years ago on recommendation.
With Yogi, it didn't really work. He very quickly learned to bark at a lower volume which didn't trigger the spray, but if he was really determined to bark, then he carried on regardless and just ended up smelling like an air freshner! He certainly didn't 'shut down' with it on. In the end, I stopped using it on him as it was rather pointless and my friend's bearded collies didn't like the spray sound.
Revel did respond to the spray, when it was on him, but it only ever went off on a couple of occasions before he got the message. He was put out, rather than terrified by it, but is a very steady, unfazeable dog. After putting it away for a couple of years, I got it out and he certainly remembered it. I only need to put it somewhere visible to get instant quiet. In this way it is useful as I place it on the windowsill when I go out and I think it deters too much window barking. It dosn't acatually have a working battery so it won't ever go off, but the visual reminder seems to be sufficient - for Revel. However, I would NOT ever leave it on an unattended dog and I do think it has limited results. It is also pretty important to understand why the barking is occuring. Yogi's was cocky challenge barking at other dogs, Revel's was mostly excitement or bossy barking. I know of several others who have tried the spray collars with shelties and their experience was similar in that it had no real effect on persistant barkers. The pleasure of barking outweighs the negative experience of the collar. I would never ever contemplate using a shock collar.
Merlin, even at 14, barks manically when the phone rings. This is due to him being conditioned to it being a trigger for great excitement when my Uncle ran a taxi business and everyone ran to answer the phone. Sometimes, reducing the excitement can gradually stop the barking. If they are seeing you cleaning your teeth as a precursor to leaving the house then this could be why it is a triggering a bout of eager barking.
Revel is a 'bossy barker' in that he tries to organise all the other dogs on walks and dosn't like it when he feels they areout of his control (playing). He likes to carry toys in his mouth so I trained him to carry a special sponge ball, which he loved. It muffled rather than stopped the barking entirely but the 'mouth ball' did work for him.
I did manage to get the barking under control, by stage whispering 'quiet' when I saw a likely trigger (such as the postman) approaching, but this only works if the shelties are calm (ish) to begin with.
I hope you manage to find a solution to get them barking less
