Dog Barks Excessively When Owner Gets Home

[k-9fanatic]

My grandmother lives alone in a house and she has a Shetland Sheepdog that spends its time in the fenced-in backyard. Her garage is in the front and when she pulls into the driveway, her Sheltie Captain, he starts barking and doesn't stop until he hears her go in the house. She loves Captain but is very annoyed with this behavior for safety reasons. She doesn't live in the best neighborhood and she doesn't want people to realize that Captain barking means she just came home and is probably fumbling with her keys right now. I currently am helping her train him on basic obedience commands but I'm stumped on this one especially since I am not there every time she comes home to tell her what to do or do it myself. Please help. Thanks!

[Deuce]

Wow, good question. Does she pay attention to the dog shortly after coming home? If so, that would be where I would start. Making coming home not such a big deal could help. This can be done by a) ignoring the dog for a while after her return and b) making a few extra trips in and out of the driveway that don't result in anything happening (i.e. drive in, park, and then start the car and leave) - this is similar to dogs that are reactive to the doorbell. If they get it in their heads that a ringing doorbell doesn't always mean attention and something happening, then many stop the zealous response.

If neither works, she may have to consider a bark collar that kicks out a sonic sound or spray that is unpleasant. Shelties make noise and this one is signally mom's return home. The collar can be a painless way to help her learn to bark less, though it will make her susceptible to sprays and sounds from barking by nearby dogs, so good judgment is needed on its usefulness.

[melody]

And don't forget the treat if you manage to make him quiet Do this over and over again until the length of time he manages to be sit still and be quiet increases. That is one of the basic steps of the Quiet Command on training a dog on barking.