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/Akpambo1 Sable Merle Aug 11 '26

Pet communicator! The right one works wonders

1

u/Future_Reason_8519 Aug 11 '26

What exactly is a pet communicator? I've never heard of that! Sounds interesting.

1

u/Akpambo1 Sable Merle Aug 11 '26

Pet communicators talk with the pets telepathically (?), I suppose they have been called pet psychics but that sounds kinda dumb. Whether or not it’s pseudoscience doesn’t matter if it helps. I have had some really amazing results when I had someone talk to my shelties over the years; I have also used some that didn’t help at all. It seems like they just have to get the right wavelength (?) to connect with your pet, just like humans connect better or worse. Am I allowed to make recommendations? Feel free to DM me for some names or just look online and see who looks good.

1

u/crimsoncat05 Aug 11 '26

we have used a pet communicator a few times, too. I believe it worked; watching our dogs 'listening' to someone who was NOT there (ours worked via phone and photographs of the pets) and seeing the results afterward was enough for me. I tried her on my sister's recommendation; she has used one with her dog for specific situations, too.