What strange things do your shelties bark at?

[elaine2004]

Kia will bark when she hears snow falling off the roof, The smoke alarm well that petrifies her! She wants out of the house and does not want to come back in. We are working on this one, doing much better, so at this point we have her just hiding behind my chair. She barks atthe blender, My neighbor, this is done just so Mary knows Kia has arrived an spotted her. Anything she notices that appears new or out of place.

 

[Justicemom]

Ember has a new one, she is barking at the water bowl. I have one of those bowls with a 1/2 gallon jug that dispenses water as needed. Ember was drinking out of it the other night and it bubbled with a big glub,glub and Ember jumped back and started barking. Now she will stand there staring at the bowl, take a drink(one lap) and stand back waiting for it to bubble, if it does she goes crazy.

I had to put out a regular bowl because she won't drink more than one lap at a time unless Justice is drinking with her. Poor thing.

 

[Mally's Mom]

Bailey goes nuts when I clean the floor. Like if I spill something and use a paper towel to clean it up. She goes nuts and tries to attack the towel.

I had forgotten about that. When Mally was a puppy he did the same exact thing trying to attack the paper towel. Now that he is 4 almost 5 paper towels do no phase him in the least. Funny how they out grow some things that bother them and hold on to others through their lifetime.

 

[Mally's Mom]

Rennie barks at most of the things Shelties bark at---which is amost everythng, as others have said. But there are a few things that are particularly funny:

She barks entusiastically when...

... people applaud.
... a group of people sing "Happy Birthday." (She doesn't bark at choral singing generally, just at the song "Happy Birathday." I think it's because when we sing it for her birthday, she gets "cake.")
...she hears us say one of the "happy" words in her vocabulary--like walk, out, hike, tug, chase, breakfast, dinner, etc.

She barks fussily at...
...things that don't "belong" on the lawn--like a red gas can, left out after mowing, or a plastic bag caught in a shrub.
...animals on the TV that are vocalizing or running. (Of course those are things she barks at in real life, too. But oddly she doesn't bark at cars on TV.)
...her own reflection in the oven door.

She'll quiet if we tell her to: it is, after all, the Sheltie way to do what one is told to do, no? But mostly we let her speak her mind.

I like the way you broke down the types of barks. That is true. Mally has different barks for different words and situations. Very good points you made.

 

[Mally's Mom]

Barkley does the same thing. He barks when the phone rings. He barks when it doesn't ring, but I make a call and start talking, and he barks when I'm at the end of my conversation. If it's been a long conversation, he must get bored and nap between my opening and closing!

I think it's the tone of your voice rather than what you say that sets them off. I've found my voice settles into a pattern in the middle, but is probably more animated at the beginning and end. Don't ask me how to change this ... I have no idea! Although I fear behavior modification for ME would be easier than breaking Barkley of this!

We had a cockatiel that would say, " HELLO" each and every time the phone rang. We called him our hello-bird. I always thought that was smart and cute.
Sorry, that had nothing to do with shelties though.