Barking - Citronella Collars

[Rana]

I am posting a question for a friend of mine who has a 12 month old golden retriever. He's been in and outside at night since a puppy, but was mainly an inside dog at night for a while. Now they are putting him out at night and he is constantly barking.

They think he is barking at a possum or something that is setting him off. Personally I think he is just wanting to come inside and is trying to get a reaction. But he is their dog and they should know best I suppose.

The question they have is.. They want to use a citronella collar. But the owner is allergic to citronella so they cannot use it. They have stated quite clearly they will not use a "shock" collar.

Is there something else they can put in the collar as an alternative to citronella?

:D

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Why don't they just let the dog back inside? Problem solved.

There are air collars available now that spray a jet of air instead of citronella, but if the dog is barking b/c of separation anxiety these collars are going to do more harm than good. :D

I would encourage your friend to chat with their dog's vet about the issue, and if necessary, get a referral to a behaviourist.

[Cosmolo]

Agree with what LM said- why can't the dog sleep inside? What about a crate inside? They need to be sure as to why the dog is barking before they use any kind of collar because as LM suggested, if it is anxiety related and thats all they do- they will make their problem worse.

[rar]

Hi Rana,

I second what has already being suggested in that they should make sure it isn't a big behavioural/health issue causing this. I did some research on the citronella collars, and apparently the citronella can be quite irritating on their eyes and nose, and not great for them if too much is swallowed- so perhaps look at other options if they want to down the collar route - there are collars available that 'puff' air, and others that make noises. I don't think that this is a total solution though, and they might want to talk to a professional about the best way to go about it- probably worth the money if it is such a big issue.

r

[minnie]

G,day

i used citronella collar on my greyhound, had to damn fruit bats decided to eat the fruit in the tree sheltering the kennel and i had small yard.

It works almost immediately and it changed the whole makeup of my dog, he relaxed, and wasn't a handful. After a while i hung a weight (sinker) off the collar, he was none the wiser and the whole neighbourhood was happy.

[sas]

Bring the dog inside in my opinion....dogs are pack animals that means sleeping in the same Den as one another.

I wouldn't use Citronella, instead I would use the new JetAir collar.

[Kavik]

I agree with the others - if they can bringing him inside should stop the barking. Mine sleep inside so they cannot bark at birds/possums/other dogs etc. They each have their own crate and go in there when I tell them bed time.