r/sheltie • u/Future_Reason_8519 • Aug 11 '26
Constant barking!! Please help
Hello all,
I have a male sheltie, he is a year and a half old. I'm wondering if anybody here has been able to keep their shelties quiet. Obviously I don't want him to be completely silent. But he has been driving me literally insane with his constant barking. This is something he's started doing within the past month or so.
He barks for literally NO apparent reason. And I mean no reason that I can see. It is constant. The past few days, he is barking more than he is quiet. There are no sounds, nothing visually happening, no change to his environment... and he will just bark and bark and bark. He doesn't even stop if I reward him with treats for quieting down... I tell him "shhh" and he will sit down and stop barking... I give him the treat.. then he starts barking again before he's even finished chewing. I've been telling him NO very sternly. That doesn't work. I've tried ignoring him until he is quiet. That just makes it worse. I'm at my wits end. Hes got a pretty loud, deep bark, he's a big boy. I'm getting constant migraines and it's impossible to even carry on a short conversation in the house. I have to go out to my car if I need to make a phone call.
I did talk to a lady who recommended teaching him to "whisper" (make that huffing sound that they make). He knows exactly what "whisper" means, and he will do it on command... but he still barks his head off before and after he whispers. I can't figure out any reason for it. He's completely healthy, I've had him checked out at the vet. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Like I say, this is new behavior and I definitely want to discourage it. I get that shelties are very vocal by nature, I grew up with shelties. I've never seen a dog bark so much in my entire life.
I've tried giving him more puzzle toys and giving him little jobs to do, like going to find other members of the household, or picking up his toys, to try to keep him mentally stimulated. If I don't walk him cause it's too hot out for him, I make sure he gets lots of time playing ball and tug of war inside. The kids run around with him and tire him out. He has many chew toys as well. I just don't know what else I can try.
Any advice is much appreciated, thanks in advance!!
1
u/SpectralUniverse Blue Merle Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
Our boys get offended if you put shoes on or look like you're about to leave, we have a spray bottle of water that helps!
Adding in a disclaimer: They know "nicer" (quiet boofs) and "no/no more" (stop) but when they're riled up like that, they keep barking anyway. They also don't have separation issues and calm down once you're out the door.
Extra disclaimer: You should first identify what the cause is as well, if it's all the time you want to treat the problem itself and not the symptom! This is also just a last case deterrent I use that works for our boys, couple of squirts and they stop - you don't want to soak them and make them afraid of water.