Great site! Granola, have you had a Sheltie before? They are wonderful dogs..........................but they bark...............A LOT! We had one for many years till she had to be put to sleep, she had gotten quite agressive towards strangers as she got older. We had a book on Shelties, and one line really stood out: If they think they are justified in barking, you can't make them stop. Ours barked at anything, everything and nothing. :shock: Other than that, they are great! Super smart!
Ditto kdc1970. I think they are beautiful, intelligent dogs, but they DO bark; all the time; at anything that moves in an entire neighborhood.
Yeah, Shelties love to bark - which is the main reason they end up in rescue. "A quiet Sheltie is the one who is so intelligent, they wait till they get adopted before they start talking" - was a joke I'd hear in shelters.
Too close to the truth to be funny! Mine used to drive me crazy with it. Wish I'd known about Cesar Milan then. Wonder if he's dealt with any barking Shelties on the show??
Don't know - I now curb my dogs from barking by either doing the 'eeht' sound - like the 'wrong' buzzer on a game show - by telling them Shhhh, like a child BEFORE they start barking - it only works before - when you see that they are going to bark, cause they can't hear me Shhh them if all four are carrying on. . .OR I show them the blue squirt bottle - which seldom squirts - they see me reach for it and immediately cease whatever they were up to. . .cute - they squint their eyes like they can fee it coming - years back, I followed through with a squirt, but since they all figured out what it represents - cease and desist whatever they are doing, there is no need for H2O power. When Quincy is outside, he likes to bark at planes in the sky - I've trained him to grab his tennis ball when he senses a plane approaching, so when he tries to bark with it in his mouth, the sound is very muffled. I had an ultrasonic device and it worked wonders, but an elderly lady was in dire need and couldn't afford one, so I gave her mine.
This may be the reason I LOVE my cats, LOL! They don't bark, heck, one of them is practically mute. We tried many things over the years for the Sheltie, but she was one determined barker. My window sills are still scarred from her claws as she tried to get to whatever was outside. Most times I had no clue what set her off. We got her as an older puppy, I always thought she was somewhat neurotic and probably needed doggy prozac.
Granola, don't let me scare you off, despite the barking, I really loved that crazy dog, one of the smartest critters I've ever been around.
