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Shock Collar Help :(


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The short question: can you recommend a good shock collar for teaching a dog not to bark? We want to be as humane as possible, but still effective. We don’t know anything about shock collars so we need advice.

 

The long story is this.

 

We have a big dog. She is friendly and sweet. She does bark when people walk by (which doesn’t happen often), when a dog across the neighborhood barks, or when a critter wanders into the yard and she wants to play chase.

 

She does not bark all the time, or even the majority of the time. But we have a neighbor who thinks otherwise. They complained to the police. They say our dog barks all night. We bring her in at night and she doesn’t bark at all then, but if neighbor complains again we’ll get a summons.

 

We have our suspicions of who the neighbor is. We are new to the neighborhood. We have met many neighbors, and even discussed our dog with them to make sure things are okay. Most people on this street have dogs. Many of them bark. Many of them even roam free (ours is behind a fence). Ours is the only dog getting complaints. We have one neighbor across the street who we haven’t met yet, who owns two yappy little dogs. When they get yapping, our dog barks back. When this neighbor has very loud conversations on her porch, our dog barks. It seems like this would be the neighbor who would call the police, but we can’t be sure. Whoever it is, we wish they would’ve talked to us instead of the police. We do want to be good neighbors.

 

But the police say we need to get a shock collar that teaches a dog not to bark. So get one we will. Please help us find the right one.

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Would it be okay if you used a spray collar instead? Here are some examples:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=20473

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=728

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Gentle-Spray-Anti-Bark-Collar/dp/B0002D31QU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444612069&sr=8-1&keywords=gentle+trainer+citronella

 

I found them to be fairly effective when used occasionally. They were a big help when we had to leave our dog in a hotel room for the day, for example.

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We first had an expensive shock collar from our trainer and then a cheapy one after the first got lost. They seemed to work the same. One nice feature to get is just one that you can choose to vibrate if you are worried about the shock.

 

The thing about the shock is that each dog is very different in its perception of it, according to our trainer. You can have a tiny dog that needs a higher level and a big dog that reacts to the smallest zing. 

 

Our dog responded amazingly well with the shock collar. After one visit with the trainer using it, it helped her pay attention to our commands so she learned quickly. We really only needed it for training a short while. Before that she would play out of control, and we were worried about safety. Now dh only puts it on if he's taking her out to a place where he can have her off leash, where she could roam, to make sure he can call her back. By just putting it on like that, the dog knows to pay attention and he hardly ever needs to use it. If the dog is in our front yard and if we ever fear he might dash off after another dog, littlest dd will just pick up the remote and the dog will know not to run to them...even though she doesn't have the collar on. It's really been a great tool, without actually having to use it very much at all.

 

ETA: I think there are collars that shock when the dog barks but I think it's better to work with the dog so that the dog understands and can learn what's appropriate, rather than just getting zapped. Our trainer (we used Sit Means Sit) used the command "off" to tell the dog to stop doing something it shouldn't. Using the collar short term while teaching that command will allow you to teach the dog to respond to your command and not to bark, so you may not have to use the collar long-term. 

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I'm kind of surprised by your story.  Your dog is inside at night and they are still complaining she barks?

 

We had a neighbor whose dog would get right up under our bedroom window (on her side of the fence, but about 4 feet away) and bark, literally, all night.  We would have been in heaven if she would have taken the dog inside.

 

ETA or are you getting the shock collar so you CAN leave her outside?

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The short question: can you recommend a good shock collar for teaching a dog not to bark? We want to be as humane as possible, but still effective. We don’t know anything about shock collars so we need advice.

 

The long story is this.

 

We have a big dog. She is friendly and sweet. She does bark when people walk by (which doesn’t happen often), when a dog across the neighborhood barks, or when a critter wanders into the yard and she wants to play chase.

 

She does not bark all the time, or even the majority of the time. But we have a neighbor who thinks otherwise. They complained to the police. They say our dog barks all night. We bring her in at night and she doesn’t bark at all then, but if neighbor complains again we’ll get a summons.

 

We have our suspicions of who the neighbor is. We are new to the neighborhood. We have met many neighbors, and even discussed our dog with them to make sure things are okay. Most people on this street have dogs. Many of them bark. Many of them even roam free (ours is behind a fence). Ours is the only dog getting complaints. We have one neighbor across the street who we haven’t met yet, who owns two yappy little dogs. When they get yapping, our dog barks back. When this neighbor has very loud conversations on her porch, our dog barks. It seems like this would be the neighbor who would call the police, but we can’t be sure. Whoever it is, we wish they would’ve talked to us instead of the police. We do want to be good neighbors.

 

But the police say we need to get a shock collar that teaches a dog not to bark. So get one we will. Please help us find the right one.

 

 

Can you proactively talk to the police to ask them how do you combat being blamed for a barking dog at night if your dog is only in the home at night?

 

We had the exact same problem.  In our neighborhood it didn't matter, you would still be cited.  It was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard.  There was definitely a dog barking at night... Just wasn't ours.  I'm so sorry.  No solutions.

 

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I'm not a huge shock collar fan, but we had a barking situation that called for one. We ordered from Amazon, and I think it was by Dog Widgets. I liked the vibrate option.

 

Use caution. Don't put it on too tightly, and rotate it every few hours. Your dog, ideally, shouldn't sleep in it. If you must leave it on at night - rotate it before bed and in the am. The prongs can rub sores in the dog's skin, which can become infected.

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I would definitely pursue the issue with the police that it is not your dog barking all night since it is inside.  Also, I find it irresponsible that the police would mandate a shock collar.  I do think that there are humane ways to teach a dog to stop barking other than shocking it.  The shock collar, used incorrectly, can backfire and create a more difficult problem to solve.  I would work with a trainer to get a handle on the reactive barking (to at least stop it on command or to give a command to prevent it if you know you are coming up on a situation that would normally trigger a bark.) 

 

I do understand that it is a pain to listen to a noisy dog.  We have a neighbor a block away that lets their very barky dog out at 4 am.  I wake up and then can't go back to sleep, but I am not awake enough to go roaming the neighborhood, looking for the barking dog. 

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Tritronics or Dogtra.

 

I'm not a fan of citronella collars for several reasons --

 

I believe considering how exquisitely sensitive a dog's nose is that they're much more inhumane than a good quality "shock" collar.

They inflict punishment on any other dogs in the same area.

The punishment isn't over and done with in a second.  The smell lingers.  I don't know, but I suspect that confuses many dogs and so causes them to take longer to catch on, thus inflicting more punishment than necessary.

 

Now, all that said -- I wouldn't use a bark collar on a dog if there was any way to avoid it.  Can't you bring her inside more during the day?  Many dogs bark because they're bored out of their minds stuck outside by themselves with no interaction and nothing to do.

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Thanks for the responses.

 

None of the dogs in our neighborhood bark all night. I did hear one bark for about 10 seconds at 10:30pm last night, but that's as close as it gets. I think we have a neighbor who just doesn't like our dog. In the neighbor's defense, we did leave the house Saturday evening. We were back by 8:10pm, but it was already dark, and it's possible the dog barked while we were gone. I don't think that constitutes "all night," but that's just my opinion. I think we have left our dog home alone after dark less than five times total since we moved here in March, and we're always back by a reasonable time as we have five little kids who need to go to bed.

 

The good news is we are renting, and in about a year will probably have enough to buy a lot of land and move to where nobody will hear the dog should she bark.

 

Thanks again for your help.

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I just wanted to say I'm sorry this is happening to you.

My big dogs only barked when dogs are SUPPOSED to bark - weird noises, UPS deliveries, animals on their turf, kids having tantrums...  Now my little yappy dog is a whole other story.  He doesn't bark at those things, but he does bark when he's bored AND when he's excited.  And he's easily excited. Sigh.  But, yeah, dogs are meant to bark.  Heck, we got our big dogs for the purpose of alerting us to people and animals. I would have hated for them to be forced out of that instinct.

 

Your neighbor's a real jerk.

 

Just for the record, having more land doesn't always eliminate a barking nuisance.  Someone in a quarter to half mile radius from us obviously sets their dogs out alone at 6am and 10pm.  It's nothing like having dogs right under your window, but it still travels well enough to bug me every morning and every night.

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ETA or are you getting the shock collar so you CAN leave her outside?

No, we never plan to leave her outside at night. We do leave her outside when we leave the house though.

 

 

If the barking happens every night, I'd send the dog to my parents for a week.  So, when the police show up again I could smile and say the dog hasn't even been home.

 

Maybe the neighbor needs a shock collar........

There is no barking every night in our neighborhood by any dog.

 

 

Now, all that said -- I wouldn't use a bark collar on a dog if there was any way to avoid it.  Can't you bring her inside more during the day?  Many dogs bark because they're bored out of their minds stuck outside by themselves with no interaction and nothing to do.

Whenever we hear her bark at all during the day we bring her in. She is free to come in and out as she pleases when we are home. But when we are not home we leave her outside because she's much happier there than inside. If we're not home we can't bring her in when she barks. We're thinking now that we'll probably have to leave her inside when we leave the house. She won't be happy about it. She loves the outdoors. I just wish whichever neighbor is having problems would have talked to us, so we could find out what exactly their problem is and work on solving it. We really don't want to cause problems for our neighbors.

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No, we never plan to leave her outside at night. We do leave her outside when we leave the house though.

 

 

There is no barking every night in our neighborhood by any dog.

 

Whenever we hear her bark at all during the day we bring her in. She is free to come in and out as she pleases when we are home. But when we are not home we leave her outside because she's much happier there than inside. If we're not home we can't bring her in when she barks. We're thinking now that we'll probably have to leave her inside when we leave the house. She won't be happy about it. She loves the outdoors. I just wish whichever neighbor is having problems would have talked to us, so we could find out what exactly their problem is and work on solving it. We really don't want to cause problems for our neighbors.

 

 

This is most likely what is causing the problem.  When dogs are outside they are on alert all. the. time.  Their numero uno job is to protect their territory and their people- and when the people are away that job amplifies until their people come home again.  So leaving the dog outside when you are away is a double whammy, and you actually have no idea how much barking is going on when you're not home.  I would put the dog in the house every single time you need to leave- even for just a few minutes. 

 

If I were one of your neighbors, average dog barking would not bother me.  It happens, dogs bark.  I would also appreciate a dog owner who is proactive and at least attempting to stop the barking.  What would frost my cookie would be the exact situation you describe- a dog owner drives away, leaving the dog in the yard, and then the dog barks at every leaf, stick, car and squirrel with no one there to tell it to be quiet.  A dog left alone in a yard is going to be hyper-vigilant at making sure absolutely nothing gets to their property and family under their watch. 

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Sorry about that.  That reminds me of a dog we had once.  He really wasn't much of a barker unless something came up.  And then we would bring him inside (if it was more than just a few little barks.)   So if your neighbor is talking loudly on her porch and your dog begins barking as a result, bring him inside.  We would never leave him outside when we weren't home.  If you're worried about him having an accident while inside alone, leave him in the kitchen. 

 

I think that would be the responsible way of handling it.

 

We did have another dog, a collie, who barked constantly, almost frantically, every single time he was outside.  He never was quiet.  We would bring him in immediately of course, but often that didn't even give him time to go to the bathroom.  For that dog, we finally got a shock collar.  I remember the first one didn't work, but the second one did.  I can't remember why. I think it first vibrated and then shocked, so he actually had time between the vibration and the shock to stop barking, and then it wouldn't shock.  It worked like a charm. 

 

But it sounds like your dog is more like our first dog, so I might first try just bringing him inside more.  Maybe you can take him on a daily walk around the block or something?

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Can you leave the dog inside when you're not home? I think that's the problem, too, leaving her/him outside when you leave. You could get a crate and crate train. A shock collar won't be effective if you're leaving your dog outside alone. I think it would actually be confusing.

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Bark collars are different than the e-collars some people use with hunting dogs (and others) that work off a transmitter. Bark collars sense sounds and/or vibrations made by barking. The best one requires sensing both the sound and the vibration of a "bark" before it triggers.

 

I'm loathe to suggest a bark collar (understatement), but *if* one is driven to using one, one should get the best one. The best, because it will not trigger when another dog barks (like cheap ones that operate on sound only and will trigger when another dog barks). Also the best because it has a progressive mode that re-sets, allowing a dog to have a few barks (spaced out) with little to no electronic response, but a steadily increasing if the barking is incessant.

 

So if you must use one then the SportDog 10R is the way to go. A dumb bark collar is not humane. This one is at least a smart(er) bark collar.

 

http://www.gundogsupply.com/sportdog-no-bark-collar-10r.html

 

Bill

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  • 2 years later...
Guest Mike Sims

Before resorting to a bark collar you do need to consider WHY the dog is barking- if the dog is barking due to lack of exercise or because he's chained up in the backyard or he has separation anxiety, try fixing the actual problem instead. No-bark collars are incredibly cruel if used to "cover up" the fact the dog lives in intolerable circumstances.

If the dog's lifestyle is corrected, and the dog continues to bark unacceptably, then a no-bark collar is probably your next best option. 

here are some reviews and selection of GOOD brands. You don't want to buy a cheap brand that may malfunction. All of the ones sold by this company are reputable:

https://dogcollarreviews.com

I've used the dogtra YS300 No Bark Collar  myself with good success.

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On 10/12/2015 at 9:07 AM, Lady Marmalade said:

 

 

 

If I were one of your neighbors, average dog barking would not bother me.  It happens, dogs bark.  I would also appreciate a dog owner who is proactive and at least attempting to stop the barking.  What would frost my cookie would be the exact situation you describe- a dog owner drives away, leaving the dog in the yard, and then the dog barks at every leaf, stick, car and squirrel with no one there to tell it to be quiet.  A dog left alone in a yard is going to be hyper-vigilant at making sure absolutely nothing gets to their property and family under their watch. 

nm

Edited by Joules
Oops! Zombie thread!
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