Question:  My Sheltie goes nuts barking at squirrels. How can I stop that?

Suggestion: Whe I consider a dog behavior problem, I ask myself, "What is stimulating and maintaining this behavior?  What does the dog derive from this behavior that has caused it to increase, become stronger, be exhibited more frequently?"

I do that to determine what function the behavior seems to be serving for the dog. I say "seems to be serving" because we do not know for certain;  the dog cannot tell us. Some behaviors serve an adaptive function in nature, helping the dog to adapt to its environment. If so, then those adaptive behaviors will be positively reinforced in helping the animal to get what it wants, such as food, shelter. 

In trying to determine what function the behavior serves, we look at the immediate circumstances, such as "What happened just before the dog started to bark?"

Barking arises from many different circumstances, thus providing differing benefits to the same dog or dogs. 

For dogs such as Shelties, barking at environmental distractions such as squirrels is a SELF-REWARDING behavior. It's very common. Dogs do it for the simple fun of
barking itself. Shelties are sometimes called recreational barkers.  The squirrels were merely the provocative stimulus. But if there had been no squirrels in its yard that day, the Sheltie would probably have barked at something else in its immediate environment.                                             

For some other breeds of dogs who exhibit this yard barking behavior,  we may need to observe to learn more about the circumstances. What do we see exactly? Is the dog behind a yard fence? Is the yard fence an open fence through which it can see the neighborhood? From that position, does the dog begin to bark at people passing by? at children playing within the dog's sight and hearing?  If so, then that barking behavior arises from the combination of attractive stimulus plus barrier frustration, something preventing the dog from free access to the stimuli it wishes to approach.

What could one do?  First: Interrupt, intervene. Do not let the dog continue yard barking. Second: Change the setting; remove the dog from the opportunity for this particular dog to practice this behavior, and third: Provide other ways to meet the dog's social needs.

Example: Instead of letting dog outdoors into the fenced yard by itself, change your own behavior. Take the dog outdoors with you on leash.

Using your peripheral vision, observe what occurs. If dog barks at bus passing by on the road, then immediately, without a word, with hand on leash take dog directly indoors; then place dog in utility room, close door behind you. Wait 1 to 2 full minutes. Then get dog from utility room, leash dog again. Go outdoors with dog. When or if dog barks at first car passing by, repeat this section from above:

[ Immediately, without a word, take dog directly indoors, then place dog in utility room, close door behind you. Wait 1 to 2 full minutes. Get dog from utility room, leash dog again. Go outdoors with dog on leash again.]

This time, take a plastic Baggie with some highly palatable doggy tidbits with you in your jacket pocket. You may spot an Other Person or Other Dog in the distance coming this way. If so, then immediately, within 1.5 seconds, begin to hand feed dog some of the high-powered but tiny tidbit treats. Keep dog on leash back from the sidewalk at least 30 to 40 feet, if possible, which would be down the driveway to your back yard, but where you may still view what is passing by. Stop the hand feeding as soon as the person has passed by.

That part is called Classical Conditioning, the pairing of two things to help build an association between those two things in the subject dog's mind. [Seeing or Hearing Friendly Stranger or Unknown Dog paired with Being Hand Fed Tasty Food Tidbits]   Repeat that part every day one or two times, if possible, but at least once a day. The objective is to help the dog form a new emotional response to Other Person. Each session need last only a few seconds, say 5 to 8 seconds the first few times, then gradually increase each session to 8 to 12 seconds. After a day or two, increase each session to 15 to 20 seconds.

About squirrels in general: Dog naturally bark at squirrels. Try very hard not to bark yourself as in giving a spoken reprimand, for they, the spoken reprimands, are next to useless in this situation. The dog won't heed the spoken reprimand when its excited/aroused; will not change its behavior in response. So please don't yell at dog. Don't do it. You'd only frustrate yourself and confuse your dog.

Instead, you could try to redirect dog to walk with you in a different direction. If necessary, use a very high-powered big treat -- such as by waving a chicken wing in front of dog's nose as a lure to get it to walk away from squirrel in the direction you choose. Over coming days, begin to replace the chicken wing with something else the dog really loves, such as a turkey hotdog or a tug toy, whatever the dog finds really interesting and enticing. 

After such practice sessions and within days, dog will most likely begin to change its behavior in this way: Look at squirrel, bark one to three small yips at squirrel without chasing it, then turn to look at you to see what better thing *you* -- the source of all good things for dogs -- have to offer. Yay! That means definite progress. Keep it up.

Copyright December 25, 2011, Barbara D. Brill, Reward Training for Dogs, North Chili, NY.  All rights preserved. No further reproduction permitted without express written consent from the author. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it