ACD barks at people entering room/house
My ~6 year old red heeler erupts in a short fit of barking/howling whenever someone arrives at or enters the house. Sometimes she even does this when someone leaves and re-enters the room she’s in. This happens not only in our house, but also when she’s in someone else’s house, or even outside sometimes if someone appears unexpectedly.
It also doesn’t really matter who the person is, or if she can even see them. It could be me, a family member, a stranger, a knock at the door, or someone coming into the house, heard from another room.
Overall, she’s not a super anxious dog, but the barking does seem to be out of temporary fear/surprise. It‘s always a loud fast bark that often turns into more of a howl, like the dog equivalent of “OMG OMG AHHHHH OMG”. It happens regardless of whether she’s got a lot of pent up energy or she’s completely wiped out from a full day of activity.
She approaches whoever is entering somewhat timidly with her spine hairs raised, while howl barking, but almost always ends up happily greeting the person and then running to find a toy to bring them. She‘s never been aggressive towards someone entering, past barking at them in a defensive way temporarily.
She’s a very smart dog, and pretty easily trained when it comes to doing something on command, but teaching her not to do something has proven much more difficult. Not sure where to even start with training her out of this. I’ve tried redirecting her to a toy or treat, but she refuses to acknowledge the distraction till she’s fully completed her barking fit, and then it feels like I’m just rewarding her for barking a bunch and then coming to me.
I‘d greatly appreciate any advice from more knowledgeable dog trainers.