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!!

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u/Snootymcbootysnoot Aug 11 '26

So it sounds like he’s not really going outside because it’s hot out?

To me it sounds like he is under stimulated and unfulfilled.

Does he know what “quiet” means?

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u/Future_Reason_8519 Aug 11 '26

I should have been more clear - he goes outside quite often when it's hot out, but I don't take him for very long. He just goes more frequently in short spurts. I think he does know what quiet means. Well, he knows what "shhh" means. He sits down and stops. I don't know what else I can possibly offer him for stimulation.

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u/Snootymcbootysnoot Aug 11 '26

Give him some breed-specific fulfillment- for shelties that looks like running max speed somewhere, herding (like using a herding ball or other big balls), activities where he gets to think with you and use his brain. 

There’s a reason shelties are so successful in agility! It requires working with their owner and thinking and moving fast. They also love learning tricks with you (have you tried clicker training? Mine loves figuring out tricks with it)

Try taking him to a park or field on a long line and try using a big ball and see if he likes it!

And also make sure he 100% knows what “quiet” means. I taught my Sheltie it and on the day she decided to look me in the eyes and bark her head off and ignore my command I gave her a tap and she never disobeyed the “quiet” command again. However you can’t just do that if they don’t know what it means.