Bark Collar

[Tara aka Harry & Wally's Mom]

Anyone ever use a Bark collar? Any reccomendations? I am considering using one on my 12 week old puppy that is very loud.

[Kyoko]

I am wondering if you can reward Harry when he is not barking, instead of correcting him when he is barking?

[Lynne B]

Puppies bark to communicate with you, I wouldn't punish for it. If you can ignore him when he barks, I mean completely ignore him- turn your back walk away look up in the air, etc. Then the second he stops barking turn around and praise him and give him a treat he will make an association that barking yields absolutely no results but being quiet works really well. The mistake most people make is that since barking is annoying they will continually try to quiet the dog- i.e. 'hush, be quiet, shut up, stop' The puppy doesn't know those words but knows that when he barks you respond which is exactly what he wanted in the first place

[Kathy Wilson]

Lynne, I SO agree with you. I saw this recently on the Animal Planet's It's Me Or the Dog program. I've heard recently of a breeder using this awful collar on one of his dogs who barks 'excessively'. I realize that when one has several dogs barking may be a bigger problem, but gosh, the breeder mentioned that this is a shy dog. I can't see where using a bark collar would help her shyness.....I'm thinking it would only make it worse. I'm late in this discussion because I have been troubled for this dog and came here this morning to search of a discussion on bark collars.
I LOVE the ignore technique. The trainer on It's Me Or the Dog had the people take the dog out of the room as soon as it barked, then when he stopped, he was brought back in. This was repeated until the barking stopped. He was rewarded with praise and a treat each time, if I recall. It takes some work and patience, but our beloved fur babies are soooo worth it!

[Meg (Murphy's Mom)]

At about 12 to 16 weeks I thought that my dog had a barking problem. He is now 18 months old and I very rarely hear him bark. Now that I look back on that time I think he was trying to figure out how to communicate with me and trying out his bark. It was very annoying at the time. I remember thinking about a bark collar. I used the words "No Bark" a lot.

[Bev and WILLY]

I have used the water spray bottle on Willy when he would demand bark, and it has been the best solution with him. My little Shih Tzu was also a demand barker, mainly while I watched TV, and I would stand up wherever I was, and leave the room for a few seconds. My husband asked me why I kept hopping up, and I told him it would make the dog stop barking. And it did. After just 2 evenings of this, she no longer barked. I guess you will have to try different methods, they are all so different.