My Oliver is 10 1/2 months old now, and in general is a very quiet sheltie.
He never barks in the house. He never barks when I am alone with him, even when we're practicing agility. He barks a tiny bit out of sheer excitement when he's meeting new people, but is getting better about this (I correct him verbally and with a leash, and praise/treat/pet for being quiet).
He has begun, however, barking NON-STOP when we're in our agility class.
No, that's not true. Once I've put him in a stay at the beginning of a course, he gets quiet. He's a fast, clean, driven, and SILENT dog on course.
But every minute of class where he is not actively thinking about something, he defaults to barking incessently. I would describe it as, he seems so excited that he's short-circuiting.
If I actively engage him in thinking, he's quiet. Unfortunately, I imagine that listening to me run him through his paces nonstop ("sit. down. touch. stand. sit. sit up. touch. touch. down. touch. sit. shake.") is probably fairly annoying to my classmates... and it also prevents me from learning by watching them run their dogs. If I put him in a stay, he'll stay put... barking all the while.
Rewarding him for being quiet does nothing. The barking seems to come as naturally as breathing, and is apparently fun and inherently rewarding. While his verbal correction for barking ("quiet") works in other contexts, it has zero effect in class. A leash correction does nothing. Ignoring him just gives him the opportunity to get wound up about anything and everything around him. Shaking a can of pennies isn't an option in a class setting.
Sometimes the barking is at something (another dog running, someone praising their dog loudly), other times it seems to be just for the sake of barking.
My instructor and classmates assure me they don't mind.
The thing is, I mind!!
:
Any suggestions for quieting him down!? I understand that he IS a sheltie, and really would be okay with *some* barking... it's the unrelenting, mindless barking for the entire hour (or, as the case was while we hung out at run-throughs this morning... 2 1/2 hours!!) that makes me want to tear my hair out. My sanity may be at stake if this becomes a lifelong habit of his.
He never barks in the house. He never barks when I am alone with him, even when we're practicing agility. He barks a tiny bit out of sheer excitement when he's meeting new people, but is getting better about this (I correct him verbally and with a leash, and praise/treat/pet for being quiet).
He has begun, however, barking NON-STOP when we're in our agility class.
No, that's not true. Once I've put him in a stay at the beginning of a course, he gets quiet. He's a fast, clean, driven, and SILENT dog on course.
But every minute of class where he is not actively thinking about something, he defaults to barking incessently. I would describe it as, he seems so excited that he's short-circuiting.
If I actively engage him in thinking, he's quiet. Unfortunately, I imagine that listening to me run him through his paces nonstop ("sit. down. touch. stand. sit. sit up. touch. touch. down. touch. sit. shake.") is probably fairly annoying to my classmates... and it also prevents me from learning by watching them run their dogs. If I put him in a stay, he'll stay put... barking all the while.
Rewarding him for being quiet does nothing. The barking seems to come as naturally as breathing, and is apparently fun and inherently rewarding. While his verbal correction for barking ("quiet") works in other contexts, it has zero effect in class. A leash correction does nothing. Ignoring him just gives him the opportunity to get wound up about anything and everything around him. Shaking a can of pennies isn't an option in a class setting.
Sometimes the barking is at something (another dog running, someone praising their dog loudly), other times it seems to be just for the sake of barking.
My instructor and classmates assure me they don't mind.
The thing is, I mind!!
:Any suggestions for quieting him down!? I understand that he IS a sheltie, and really would be okay with *some* barking... it's the unrelenting, mindless barking for the entire hour (or, as the case was while we hung out at run-throughs this morning... 2 1/2 hours!!) that makes me want to tear my hair out. My sanity may be at stake if this becomes a lifelong habit of his.
