Anti Bark Collars

[chubbypup]

Just wondered if anyone has used one of the anti bark collars that spray citronella spray. Not the shock ones as i dont like the thought of that. Just that Metz' barking is sometimes too much?

[kayharley]

I just can't put that collar on my girls even though they can be a bit too much in the barking department. I use a water bottle sometimes to shock them into listening.

[Milopup]

I wish the water trick worked on my pup, but he loves water.

I have a citronella collar, which I never put on him. I show it to him, he quiets down for a few minutes, and then starts up again. I need to find another way for him to keep quiet - the neightbors in London will not be tolerant of the barking.

BTW - my pup has lived with us for 8 months. I have tried training, but he is still a barker.

[MikeC]

Duffy is a barker too! The one thing that I have had some success with in getting him to stop is my mason jar full of pennies. Most of the time a few good shakes on that will get him to stop barking. He is also starting to learn that excessive barking will get him "time out" time in his crate. I am finding however that as he gets older and more settled down, the barking fits are getting fewer and farther between. Try a mason jar full of change and see if that works. Can't hurt :!:

MikeC

[fancypants]

My Emma (who is definitely *not* a barker) has been barking the last few days and I'm sure it's because the front window air-conditioner isn't working and so we have the window open. Now she can smell and hear the people and dogs and raccoons and cats going by and it seems to inspire barking.

[Milopup]

MikeC,

At what age did your pup start maturing? Mine is 10 months, and loves water (squirt gun out), and doesn't seem too bothered with pennies in a soda can.

Thanks.

[Eliz222]

My 2 year old, Scout, is not a barker...not even when someone rings the doorbell! Well...the puppy, Finch, has made up for it! She barks at every single sound! I'm using the word 'quiet" to try to get her to stop. She listens to me, but doesn't always stop.

Does anyone else have a dog that growls alot?? Finch runs out the back door (to go potty) and starts barking and growling at NOTHING!! It's like she is trying to take on the world and we all better watch out! I'm not sure what to make of this, or if she is just doing this as part of her barking. Finch is 5 months old.

[CathyAnn]

I have two very barky kids!

My oldest girl has always been a barker at EVERYTHING! If it weren't for her, I believe the younger one would have remained fairly quiet. But.....she taught him everything she knows!!

Shoe...my little guy does that growling thing as he heads out the door sometimes, too. He thinks he is so t-o-u-g-h!

Cathy

[Guest Guest]

My dog responds very well to the word NO! He barks when he is trying to tell me to play or go out, but I only have to let him know I don't want to hear it anymore by saying NO! or ENOUGH! and he stops right away. It sounds like I might be lucky, but I would say try getting them to understand you mean business first before using a collar or spray.

[CallisMom]

My dog understood the word "No" once upon a time. She still does - but I don't really think she cares. Even if she knows I do mean business!! I have tried rewarding her good behavior and ignoring her not so good behavior! She doesn't really care about the reward (even if it is cheese) so that doesn't work too well.

I hate to use her crate as a punishment because it is her home! But there are times where that is the only choice. Calli didn't bark at all for a month. Started to bark a little bit for another month. And then she started barking incessantly, high pitched, joltingly loud - even at 11:00pm when she went out for her last potty break! I was going out of my mind! I started putting her in her crate when she didn't respond to "no" or "shhh" - but I would take her bed out and cover the front so that she knew the difference between "time out" and regular crating. But I would only crate her like that for about 5 minutes (or until the barking subsided and she calmed down). If I took her out and she started again, back in she would go. I would do this even if we were outside. We have a huge yard with woods behind us and our neighbors are pretty far away - we can just see their houses through the trees - but I didn't care - this barking had to stop. Some people may find me cruel. Well - I do the same thing with my 4 year-old (minus the crate- although sometimes I wish that I DID have a crate for her). Well - she doesn't bark a lot anymore! We can go outside now, every once in awhile - normal times - when she hears a big truck go by she'll bark for a few seconds and then stop type thing. But that barking constantly has subsided.

Milopup - Calli loves water too, so the water thing doesn't work well for her either. Honestly - I'm not sure the citronella spray would work with her either! These cairns are something else - aren't they? They are so darn independent - the one thing I HAVE learned about them is that they all respond so differently to things! It is a constant trial and error! I LOVE the mason jar thing - I can just see it - LOL - of course Calli wouldn't even notice it (- she doesn't even notice the treat jar being shaken or the cheese bag being shaken . . . )! But it certainly can't hurt to try it!

[MikeC]

Milopup,

Duffy's barking started to subside at around 8 months. By then, he had gotten used to the various everyday sounds that caused him to bark and those became a non-issue. Outside voices are a different story however. He still goes berserk when he hears them so we are still working on that. I am really trying to avoid "the collar" and would consider using it only if all else failed.

MikeC

[Milopup]

Thanks MikeC. My pup is getting used to outside noise as well, but cars and people walking by really set him off. And he absolutely hates noisy motorcycles or noisy sportscars.

[kayharley]

CathyAnn, I'm in the same boat as you. Winnie, my 11 year old was a constant barker, at everything, even the things she was used to.Then we got Madison and she was on the quiet side (not mellow, just quiet) But she learned from her mentor and now she's as bad as Winnie.

Funny thing is that they have such different barks. Winnies is more of a one pitch bark, Madison hits the entire range and then some. She almost sounds like a hound at times. As frustrated as I get with them, absolutely no one in our neighborhood has to worry about people getting into their yards, sheds or cars without a warning.