Using A No-bark Collar.

[supercharged]

Problem I had with the zapper collars was running another dog, the dog would bark get zapped and then attack the other dog because she thought he had nipped her!

Never worked like I had planned and when she really got riled up she just barked through the zaps, working breeds

[armahani]

Given you live in Victoria, might be a good idea to keep in mind the law is a little bit more strict than in other places in using those kinds of collars .

Info here: http://www.land.vic.gov.au/dpi/nrenfa.nsf/...20anti-bark.pdf

[corvus]

I keep getting told to train him to bark on command and then teach him when to not bark also..

Yeah, that doesn't seem to work for a dedicated barker. And why should it? If barking is rewarding, then making it more rewarding in certain circumstances is probably not going to make it less rewarding in the original circumstances. The only use I've found for teaching a bark on command is that it's easy to go from there to quiet on command, which at least gives you a means to tell your dog to be quiet if you're there. But if in their mind there is a good reason to bark, where's the incentive to obey? Based on that, I tried with Erik only asking for quiet when I was able to reward it big. That didn't work real well, either. I wasn't very dedicated to it and while it was useful for just random vocalising, his worst barking occurs when he gets aroused and it did nothing for that. He only has to be a little more aroused than usual to become very sensitive with alert barking. :D To date, I've had the best success trying to treat the arousal. Sometimes he just hasn't had enough exercise, so I go play with him and then we do a calming routine afterwards. That usually gets him relaxed for the rest of the day. Other times I give him some help calming down with massages and giving him a place to lie that he associates with quiet, calming activities.

When I'm not at home he is inside. He can hold it for a full working day, although I don't often stay out that long at the moment.

Good luck with the collar. Hope it works out.

[Flaves]

Given you live in Victoria, might be a good idea to keep in mind the law is a little bit more strict than in other places in using those kinds of collars .

Info here: http://www.land.vic.gov.au/dpi/nrenfa.nsf/...20anti-bark.pdf

I know my council hires them out for problem barkers....shame the neighbours havent hired one lol

I got mine because my dog was being blamed. Funnily enough since the council knows i have one, no complaints although the dogs barking certainly still bark all the time lol

[Erny]

Problem I had with the zapper collars was running another dog, the dog would bark get zapped and then attack the other dog because she thought he had nipped her!

Never worked like I had planned and when she really got riled up she just barked through the zaps, working breeds

That's because you skipped an important training phase. First teach the dog the stim is about the barking - not about other things/people/dogs in the environment. It's not just about slapping an anti-bark collar on the dog and letting it work it out for itself. Sometimes they do - but as you found out, sometimes it can go wrong.

That's why Victorian law dictates Trainer supervision as one of the two conditions of permitted use for electronic stim collars. The other one is that you need to obtain a letter from a Vet, confirming your dog's health is suitable for electronic collar use.

Edited September 4, 2010 by Erny

[Gayle.]

Good idea to get him to a vet for a check up though the week and get the vets advice. It should be easy enough to isolate him from the other dogs so that he gets the idea that the stim is coming from the barking and not from another dog.

[all that glitters]

I considered a bark collar, then kept my dog indoors. Best solution ever

[Gayle.]

I won't leave 3 Aussies inside when we're at work, that's just a recipe for disaster, especially combined with indoor cats. I do take a bit of pride in my home and I doubt there'd be much to be proud of after a few days of dogs and cats left unattended inside all day.

[Beth.]

Good luck with the collar - My friend also has had alot of success with a barking collar on her dog, and now when they put it on her it's not turned on - she just knows not to bark when she has that collar on ;)

And I agree... three aussies inside would find LOTS of excited and fun things to do during the day in the house

ETA - LOVE the new Sig!!!!!!!!

Edited September 4, 2010 by LuvLottie

[SUGEE76]

hey there

not sure if you are up for this but my Elkhound suddenly went off the rails barking (they are a VERY vocal breed)

I read on the internet that pennies in a jar shaken can be a great deterrant and not harmful for the dog

I spent a weekend with my barked he was allowed two barks any more than two barks and I would shake the tin can full of coins

as soon as he heard the tin can - he stopped barking

now he knows and will stop aftet 2 barks - a week earlier he would work himself up into a frenzy and could not be stopped.

I also increased the length of his walks in case he was understimulated and bored and added more practice to his obedience training

it is like I have a new dog now - and such a relief!

worth at least a try (you have to be consistent and every time the dog starts barking shake the can

once he was quiet he would be rewarded for 'good Quiet' so we could add a positive spin to the training

[Moselle]

I have the innotek variety and they are good although there is a but....they are meant to be worn by the dog for 6 hours and then removed which basically means that as soon as they are off the dog the dog knows it can safely bark AGAIN. If left on for longer they will basically burn holes into the neck region. The ones I use are rechargeable which means that the batteries cannot be removed, I believe there may be types which have replaceable batteries therefore you can remove the batteries and leave the collar on the dog so that it will think that it is going to get zapped if it barks but most dogs will still hazard the occasional bark and that is when they will discover that the collar is dysfunctional, lol, thereby the cycle of barking starts again. The collar is supposed to give the dog the message not to bark but that doesnt work for obvious reasons.

The only ONLY thing that really works is DEBARKING!

[Nekhbet]

The Innotek one stopped my Malinois in her tracks. I love it, rechargable too (well I HAD two but they got CHEWED grrrr)

I found after a few good stims the dogs learn to self regulate thier barking. You can up the starting stim level. THen just get a collar and fit a little box on it like a dummy

[Gayle.]

We got the anti-barking collar today when we collected the mail, so tried it out this afternoon.

It works. It is fantastic. I now have a lovely quiet boy who barked once, looked a bit surprised, barked again a while later and looked surprised again and has barely uttered a sound since.

Not barking while I was putting the chooks away was hard for him, cos that's when he does his best "bark, run at the fence, bark, bark, bark, god this is fun" and drives me absolutely crazy. But he rang along the fence and didn't utter a sound. Lovely. The chookies and I appreciated the silence.

And because he isn't barking and sending himself into a frenzy, he has been much calmer this afternoon.

[smooch]

I had a dog that would start to bark as soon as you took the static bark collar off her so I than decided on one of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Ultrasonic-Bark-Sto...=item4a9c218edb

Pretty useless as a bark collar but the dog thought the other collar was on and it did the job.

[Nekhbet]

If left on for longer they will basically burn holes into the neck region.

they dont burn holes. If they are too tight they can rub against the skin and wear away the hair. There was supposed reports of 'burning' but it turned out the owners had left it tight on the dog for months and it simply rubbed holes into the skin like any pressure point would.

like I said just get a replacement collar similar and put a little weight on it or box to simulate if he's outside at night so he thinks its on his neck all the time

[Erny]

If left on for longer they will basically burn holes into the neck region.

they dont burn holes. If they are too tight they can rub against the skin and wear away the hair. There was supposed reports of 'burning' but it turned out the owners had left it tight on the dog for months and it simply rubbed holes into the skin like any pressure point would.

like I said just get a replacement collar similar and put a little weight on it or box to simulate if he's outside at night so he thinks its on his neck all the time

Agree with Nekhbet. They don't "burn holes" (although that's what the RSPCA tried .... and failed - after fabricating evidence no less, to prove). The marks that can occur is the same as the occurrence of bed sores. It is where there is a constant pressure and, because of the lack of air flow, a build up of bacteria. This is why the collars should not be left on the dog for more than the hours recommended by the collar manufacturer. I also recommend people wipe the collar down with anti-bacterial wash after each use and even give the dog's neck a bit of a wipe with suitable anti-bacterial wash as well.

[ash&elar]

Glad things worked out!! My Poodle is begining to give me the poo's atm, here we have a min of 10 ppl, also 4 dogs and other animals, all the dogs are allowed inside but julie I want outside for most of the day (Fez is made to go outside as well) she is a high energy dog and i dont want her sleeping her days away inside (plus if she is out during the day she sleeps better at night and as she sleeps right next my partner and my bed she is annoying if she decides to wonder about) but once she decides its enough she runs around in circles (she always runs circles if she is can no matter what she is doing that also drives me nutty) howling this ridiculour howl or yapping, Its just not workable for her to be in the house all day as the kids run a muck then get the dogs excited and i end up with a zoo running laps. She didnt have any basic training when i got her and i have got her coming to her name and a good recall going even fromt the other side of our 10acre paddock but if i stick my head out the door and tell her to shut up i just get this blank stupid look and a slow high tail wag she has no idea what im on about and she dont care as she got my attention!!! she gets planty of exercise out here, she has kids, dogs, cats, me and my partner to play with stuff to chew things to watch it all, now she has started barking at the cats as well, I know its just because she wants to be in and i know thats because of the type of dog she is but really she is negleted and she would go out of her mind if cooped inside all day and so would i, so yeah i have been contemplating the collor just not sure its what i need and i want to be fair on the dog.

[Bilbo Baggins]

I had a dog that would start to bark as soon as you took the static bark collar off her so I than decided on one of these.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Ultrasonic-Bark-Sto...=item4a9c218edb

Pretty useless as a bark collar but the dog thought the other collar was on and it did the job.

:happydance: :) :p I had one of those works well when chewed. ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

[Gayle.]

Benson only has his collar on when he's outside and he has this huge, thick ruff of hair about his neck so I can't see it's even going to rub at all.

This morning, he was in the rumpus room when I got up and I picked up his collar and showed it to him then called him to me to put it on, he stood there with his head forward so I could fasten it, so it clearly doesn't bother him at all, either that or he's too dumb to associate the tickle on his throat with the collar.

But he gets a handful of treats when I put the collar on, so his tummy probably over-rides his brain.

It's very peaceful here now. Stopping him barking means we basically don't have any barking dogs at all because the others are no longer being incited to follow Bensons lead.

[Isabel964]

Glad its working and not bothering Benson. He sounds like a very loving and sweet boy. Its been great reading this thread - barking is just a hell of a problem. I found it funny how 'chatty' he is LOL