[deonk1]

I've been working on Harley's barking cause he barks at birds, leaves, runners, large dogs and growls at children.

SO.... the problem actually started for me at obedience classes so I had the instructor to help. Form a body block infront of what ever they are barking at. Do not let them go forward unless they stop barking (ie your first walk doing this could not go very far). Forward movement is a reward for them. Have a ton of rewards with you either a favorite toy or food in tiny pieces and reward every time a stressor goes by that she doesn't bark.... in class I'd have Harley lie on his mat and if he even twitched an ear at the big dogs without taking off I'd give him a treat. Then eventually work to waiting for him to look at the dogs, and now when we're up walking by. It is key to not distract them from the object, but to reward them for looking at it without throwing a fit. The only thing I don't follow this method for is children cause Harley is scared of them, I simply pick him up.

It's key to make sure you know that anything can be a reward for a dog, so if you are giving them attention when they bark they may find that rewarding, if you let them pull and keep walking they may never learn to heel. If you shout or wave your hands, they may think it's a game so think long and hard about what they get as a reward for barking and stop doing it. that way you'll decrease the likelihood of the behavior getting worse.

Hope that helps, also HARNESS all the time, I don't even clip his tags on him cause he's microchipped I have his tags on my key ring I know of a small dog that got his tags stuck on his neck and almost slit his throat with a collar... so they scare me. I only use a collar for decoration during photo shoots.