training, Excesive Barking Options

[alfie4472]

We adopted Pearl, our 5 yrs old Maltese female from Posh Pets last October. At first, she was very shy and hardly made a sound in a few a weeks. After a month, she started slowly barking at other dogs, runners, people in general on the street at the same time, she does it also when she hears voices, footsteps in the hall(we live in an apt) Her behaviour has gotten worse

Lately, she tends to bark more often when we take her out "to go the bathroom". I notice she gets very anxious even before when we're putting her harness on and attach the leash. The moment we step out of the apt, she starts barking at us and down the stairs at every dog or eprson we run into. Out in the street, she can smell a dogs miles away and will freeze for a little while looking in tehir direction and then starts barking and standing in her hind paws. We think she just gets over excited and she just wants to play but she ends up scaring other dogs and people.

We have tried interuupting her barking but saying "no' or "bad" in many ways, getting in betwwen her and the dog/person. We even tried getting her into the submission possition by making her lay down on her side while we hold gently her head and neck down and also her right/left hip down. We saw this in one of the "Dog Whisperer" TV episodes

We also praise her when she passes by a person and doesn't bark.

I even tried taking her upsstairs/downstairs differentt ways, elevator, carrying her up/down the stairs

She can also bark a bit when she is asking for attention, food, water, belly rubs but nothing even closer to when she goes out.

Alfredo

Any advide, please, before we start consideing getting a dog trainer?