Audrey, you are doing a great job with Jo and it is very apparent how much you love her. You have one advantage to training her that I didn't when I started out and that is a group of people on Pet Talk willing to offer suggestions and help and to gather from their past experiences. And please realize that I am learning all the time too!

Why do you think Jo understands that barking is bad? This is where I think the confusion is. How can she understand that a basic instinct to protect her territory (especially if she is an alpha bitch) is bad? I personally don't think she has a clue or she would listen because she wants to please you. And I don't mean you can not have an authoritative voice in getting her to realize you are not happy with her. However, making her have a time out in her spot when she doesn't understand is basically like discipling the dog just because. It serves no purpose.

The time to be positive is in the training phase. Not during the problem time. You need to set her up for situations where you can correct her in a controlled environment. Then work on the Quiet or stop command. Repetition is the key to getting her to understand.

Can you get Jo so excited in speaking that she will continue. I can get my guys fired up with toys and a invitation to play. I use the game of tug to get them going sometimes too. I do not play tug of war with them. I play tug. They are allowed to tug as long as it is controlled and when I say STOP they release.

Invite a friend over and have Jo outside and when the friend arrives see if you can get her to start barking. Then offer the quiet or stop and perhaps show her the treat to start with. Make it something she absolutely loves. I use chicken with my guys. The best thing to do is lure her until she understands the behavior and fade the lure once she catches on.

There is so much to this that it is kind of hard to explain it all in one post. Let's take it one step at a time. Start by working on controlling her barking and teaching the stop command. Work on this several times a day. When she will consistently stop when you are in the house then move onto the next step and move the situation to where the distractions are a little greater. One of my favorite places to fine tune behaviors before going into the obedience ring is at the pet store where there are tons of distractions. I know if I can get the dogs to keep attention on me and what I am teaching them, they will do fine in the ring.

Please let me know if any of this doesn't make sense. I want to see you and Jo succeed!