Bark Collars
 

We have a dog that barks when we are out in public. Otherwise he is a sweet boy. We've taken him to obedience class and he did really well. He is part border collie and gets focused on someone or something in a heartbeat and is almost impossible to redirect. He want to take him on vacations with us but his barking is a roadblock for us. My DH thinks we should try a bark collar (static collar) but I'm a little hesitant. Do any of you have any experience with these collars - pros or cons? Thanks

Stick it on your own wrist and zap yourself. Then decide. Some are pretty painful.

I'm so happy you asked before purchasing an anti-bark collar. It shows that you are a loving, caring pet owner! I train using positive reinforcement techniques and I can tell you first hand that these collars (that zap and spray) are far more harmful to your dog that you can possibly believe. The best way to get your dog to stop barking is through counter-conditioning. It's not hard at all, but it will take some time. Most likely your dog is barking because he is stressed. But even if it is because he is super excited and happy, the same training applies.

Here is a forum for positive training http://positively.com/forum/index.php

Go there and post your situation with your dog and you will get positive, very helpful advice, I promise! The more details you put into your post (dogs age, food fed, daily schedule including meals, exercise and training, exactly what makes him bark when out (people, dogs, squirrels, etc.) the better. Several of the ladies there are positive behaviorists/trainers as a career and they will offer you excellent advice and direction.

And please let me add, I'm sure some folks will respond that they had success with punishment techniques and collars, but trust me, there is a better way that does NOT hurt, scare or stress your beloved dog. Good luck and I know you will find the answers you need on the forum I linked to. :)

Try drsfostersmith.com or your local pet store they have options that won't zap/shock your dog. They use a citronella spray, vibration or ultrasonic tones to interrupt barking.

I have never used one.

We have a shock/warning collar for our bichon. It's manually controlled. When she barks, we push the button that provides a warning ringing then tell her to stop. No shock necessary. You have to stay with it, but now all we have to do is show her the handheld, TV remote or phone and she obeys.

Worth the time to read:

http://kb.rspca.org.au/Should-I-use-...oblem_446.html

(The RSPCA is the Australian Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.)

Worth the time to read:

Should I use an anti-barking collar to treat my dog's barking problem?

http://kb.rspca.org.au/Should-I-use-...oblem_446.html

(The RSPCA is the Australian Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.)

Good advice!

I am not going to get into right or wrong but we used one to get our beagle to learn quiet command. We zapped ourselves on the lowest number and it wasn't bad. We actually never had to shock her since the beep worked perfect. I believe it surprised her and she would look at us. We are fine with her barking to protect her domain but when we give the command quiet especially at o'dark thirty, we expect her to listen. We put it on her for about a week and everything was resolved in that amt of time. It was expensive but worth it. If the neighbors had complained, she could get in trouble.

I am sorry to hear your Border Collie has issues with barking.... I do not think a bark collar will be a good choice for a Border Collie. I have 2 BC's and from my experience with them they are highly intelligent and very sensitive to pleasing you. Like other suggestions I would stay with positive reinforcement. I know this can be frustrating because I have been there with one of my BC she is not a barker but she was destroying things and I finally found out what she was needing and it so happens she has strong herding tendency so after buying her some chickens the destroying habit stopped and now she happily takes care of her chickens and is a very good herder and I never taught her how. So I think if you can figure out why she/he is acting this way you will be able to solve the problem. Wishing you and your BC the best.

ha, ha. you bought your dog some chickens. I love it!!

Yes, Border collies are herding dogs, in the working class. They need a job to do. Herding cattle or sheep is what they are meant to do. Sounds like chickens work too.
We had a bark collar for an outside dog. He barked at everything, even leaves falling. It did not spray anything. When he would bark a neighbor would throw rocks another would throw apples at him. I threw back at their back door, he stopped. He was only outside during the day when we were home. It worked at first then he got use to it. We were finally able to get him to stop. He would always bark at these two guys. Dog is dead now and no more outside dogs. Just our experience with the no bark collar.

We have a barker and decided to get one of those collars (after much deliberation). We kept it on the lowest setting and that poor dog barked herself into a frenzy when the collar went off. NOT the desired effect. She got to the point to where she peed herself when she only saw it so we got rid of it. Her barking is being managed with patience, consistency, and the occasional water spray. I would not get one of those collars - ever again!

I saw that you posted over on the dog forum I suggested, good for you and your dog! I knew some folks would chime in that cintronella and shock collars worked for them, but trust me, it is a terrible way to go. There are much, much more humane ways to deal with this issue (and from your post over on the dog forum, I realize that your dog was abused (before coming to you) and is already a very stressed animal. To add to that by zapping him or spraying him would make his situation a thousand times worse). So again, good for you for asking the question in the first place and then taking the time to learn techniques to actually help your dog by dealing with the root cause of his stress barking and not resorting to shocking or spraying him which do absolutely nothing to deal with why he is barking. You are a thoughtful, caring person and your dog is lucky to have found a home with you! :)

We have a dog that was dropped off at our house a few years ago. She was probably abused before coming to us because everytime she comes in the house, she goes into a total meltdown. So she stays outside and is very happy there as long as she is free to run around. No fences for Missy - she climbs over, digs under, and has learned to open doors. We have 20 acres of land but she will not stay on our land - she wants to go and play with the neighbor's horses. He's a very mean man and has sent her to doggy jail -- even lied to me when I asked if he had seen her. So in order to keep her safe, we use a wireless collar. It operates just like the bark collar. It works very well for her. She gets a beep before she gets a shock. The beep is about 10' before the border. She turns around and comes running back. It only took being shocked once to teach her!!

This neighbor threatened to shoot her if she ever set paw on his property again. I have no doubt this has kept her safe from him!!!

My daughter has boxers and uses the shock collar to keep them from jumping on people. Again, once was all it took. The collars don't even work anymore they put them on the dogs when I come for a visit and they do not jump on me. They are so sweet and just walk up and sit and wait to be petted.

We've had very good experiences with these.

Citronella and shock collars do NOT take the place of training. Dogs can easily (and humanely) be taught not to jump on people without sending a jolt of electricity through their necks or sending a foul spray into their eyes, nose and mouth.

We bring dogs into our lives to be our loving companions. Would you spray or shock your kids when they were doing something you didn't want them to do? No, you would teach them the right way to do things in a loving, caring manner. Yet some folks think it's okay to do these things to their dogs. I will never understand that. If you don't want to take the time to train your dog in a loving, humane way, please, please do not get a dog.

To be perfectly honest, sprays, shock collars, prong collars, etc. are all the lazy way out for people who do not truly have the dog's best interest at heart. Afterall, it's pretty easy to just toss a collar on the dog and start zapping away than to actually take time to educate yourself on positive training methods that take a bit more time, effort and energy right? If you choose to be that person, then that is for you to live with. But please don't promote it to others as the "right" way or a "good" way to train dogs. It simply is not. Because in reality, no training is going on at all with these methods.

I have a Barker-Breaker. I beep it with my finger. Nothing painful for the dog, EVER! Edie

Try a squirt bottle of water. When he barks say,"ssssst" and then squirt him, preferably in the face. Usually works if you keep at it. I hate the thought of shock collars. In my opinion they are inhumane. There are better ways. Contact your local vet or dog trainer if you need advice. Another trick is to make some little bags with gravel, beans, or rice in them, about 3-4 inches square, trimming corners. When the dog barks throw one at it. They don't really hurt but redirects the dog's attention. Then say "ssst" so he knows you don't want him to do that again. The trick is to stay at it until the dog gets the message that you will react EVERY time he does it.

you are so write Suzette316. I knew a guy who used one while his dog was out in the rain. All it took was for that dog to see that the owner had the remote in his hands. After that the dog would growl at anyone including the owner who had anything that look like that remote. The owner's little girl was attacked because she picked up the television remote and the dog was standing between her and the remote. The little girl was in a hospital for 2 days and buried 3 days after that and the dog was killed by the owner right after the attack. As a precaution they put the dogs sister down because of bad blood lines. These dogs were Irish Setters. The owners went after the breeders. It wasn't fair to the breeders when I saw the problem from the beginning. Eventually, the owners were charged with cruelty to animals and nothing in regards to the death of their 3 year old daughter. The judge felt the parents had suffered enough with her passing. The couple was ordered to give up all their pets because of the animal cruelty charge. The other children were upset because they had to give up their cats and small puppy they only had for a few months. The Irish Setters were only 3 years old.

Please don't torture your dog with one of those devices. Dogs bark for different reasons. He is probably defending his family.

I would not use anything that is punishment. We had a Siberian Husky that was fear aggressive. I had a trainer come and try to correct the behavior. That was the worst thing I could have done. He used punishment instead of rewards. I never did get the behavior corrected. I think it just made it worse.

There are different types of collars. There is one that we have used on our Lab, it does not shock or anything else that is hurtful. It emits a high pitch noise that dogs can hear that they find irritating, it emits when they are 'nuisance' barking, not alarm barking. When we bought ours (about 5 years ago) they were about $10. I think it might of been from Carol Wright but not positive.

My dog loved to herd our ducks and sometimes would get into the neighbors yard and herd his 4 cows. It kept her happy.

We have a beagle too that has a bit of a barking problem. The best option we found was a citronella collar. It does not hurt, but he doesn't like it at all. All we have to say is "Do you want your collar?" and he knows to stop barking. If he really can't resist, usually just showing it to him is enough to stop him. If he's really determined, we put it on and it works. Again, it does not hurt.....it deters. Lots of mixed opinions out there, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I might add, we love our dog enormously......and tried the squirt bottle, advice from the vet, beans in tin cans, and anything else we heard before resorting to the citronella, which interestingly enough, was one of the first suggestions we were given by our vet. Had we tried it much, much earlier, it would have been better overall for him and he never would have developed a "problem" in the first place. I can't imagine loving this dog any more than we do, but we had to do what worked......just like any form of appropriate human discipline....

Beautifully said, and I totally agree!