Hi all -- I recently relocated to another city and now live in a house with
considerably more foot and vehicle traffic passing by than where I lived
before. Consequently, my dogs (male Pointer and female Walker Coonhound)
have a lot more to bark at than they used to, and I'm concerned about
pissing off the neighbors. I've never considered a no-bark collar before,
but they bark so much now when they're outside that I'm wondering if I
should give it a try. Has anyone here ever used one before? Do they hurt
the dog or just surprise them? If you have feedback or experiences with
these collars, please reply and let me know what you know. We haved a great
yard now and my dogs love to be outside, but I want to be a good neighbor
and not annoy everyone around us. Thanks in advance for the information.

Rhonda
Richmond, VA



******************
It's a rave, darling, a mad rave!

The most important thing to remember is that the anti-bark collar is a
*training-aid* not a training solution. If your dog responds to it, it
gives you an opportunity to reward the quiet and teach the dog what good
backyard manners are.

That said, here are some of the pros and cons of the collars, based on my
own experience:

The Citronella Collar: Has a small container that you "charge" with
Citronella Spray from a pressurized can. Sound activated, it will spray a
brief shot of Citronella up towards the dog's snout when it barks. The dog
is not supposed to like this smell, and is thus startled and distracted from
barking, you then can step in with praise for quieting and/or another
command to keep the dog distracted. Most brands of collars that I've seen
boast about "immediate results" and "99% effectiveness." I guess my dog is
*special*. First off, the smell never seemed to bother her. Second, the
collar we had only held enough spray for about fifteen squirts; or about 10
seconds of continous barking. Macula would drain the collar and continue
barking unabated. I also question whether she was even capable of smelling
the spray after the first one or two squirts, or if the smell merely
overpowered her offactory system and she smelled nothing at all. On the
plus side, when Macula wasn't quieter, she did smell lemony-fresh and was
not bothered by mosquitoes. :-}

The other collar we tried had 3 settings: an audible buzz, a cironella
squirt and a mild electrical shock. It was operated by a remote held by the
trainer. The idea was, when she did something undesirable you'd "buzz" her.
If she responded to the audio cue, she would be rewarded. If she didn't
you'd try the citronella and if that didn't work you'd try getting her
attention with a mild shock. The biggest problem we had with this collar
was that sometimes our reactions weren't fast enough, and/or there was a lag
time between our pressing a button and the collar's response. This meant
that many times the reprimand would come to late: Macula would hear/feel it
*after* she had already stopped.

Both collars are expensive, but we found that many dog-trainers/obedience
schools had some that they would lend/rent to their students.

HTH

Marie

"Natty_Dread" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all -- I recently relocated to another city and now live in a house
with
considerably more foot and vehicle traffic passing by than where I lived
before. Consequently, my dogs (male Pointer and female Walker Coonhound)
have a lot more to bark at than they used to, and I'm concerned about
pissing off the neighbors. I've never considered a no-bark collar before,
but they bark so much now when they're outside that I'm wondering if I
should give it a try. Has anyone here ever used one before? Do they hurt
the dog or just surprise them? If you have feedback or experiences with
these collars, please reply and let me know what you know. We haved a
great
yard now and my dogs love to be outside, but I want to be a good neighbor
and not annoy everyone around us. Thanks in advance for the information.

Rhonda
Richmond, VA



******************
It's a rave, darling, a mad rave!

My dogs are outside ONLY when I'm home. If I am home and they bark, if it
is more than an alert bark, then I bring them inside. My neighbors hear
this process, and at least know that I am aware of the dogs and their
actions. I also occasionally ask my neighbors if they have any complaints
about my noises..(dogs, tools,etc., cutting grass at certain times..to me it
makes for good neighbor relations)
New neighbors moved in across the street after that area had always been
vacant, it took the dogs a while to relax about them...and company that
comes to visit them. Mostly they just alert bark (a woof or two).
School just let out, so there are more kids in the area. So for a few days,
there was more to bark at. Mostly, I go outside, assess the level of
imminent danger, and tell the dogs "uh, it's ok, thank you very much". If
they are barking and for whatever reason it is a nuisance bark, then they
get called inside.
I have one dog who has an irritating pitch to her bark. For me, it just
grates on my ears. My other dog has a gruff bark, and it's not so
bothersome. I considered a bark collar for the shrill barker, but with
persistance, bringing them in...she's not nearly as offensive as before.
My neighbor has cockatiels and puts them outside...the birds actually make
more noise than my dogs. And at least the dogs bark at *something*.
Perry

"marie" wrote in message
...
The most important thing to remember is that the anti-bark collar is a
*training-aid* not a training solution. If your dog responds to it, it
gives you an opportunity to reward the quiet and teach the dog what good
backyard manners are.

That said, here are some of the pros and cons of the collars, based on my
own experience:

The Citronella Collar: Has a small container that you "charge" with
Citronella Spray from a pressurized can. Sound activated, it will spray a
brief shot of Citronella up towards the dog's snout when it barks. The
dog is not supposed to like this smell, and is thus startled and
distracted from barking, you then can step in with praise for quieting
and/or another command to keep the dog distracted. Most brands of collars
that I've seen boast about "immediate results" and "99% effectiveness." I
guess my dog is *special*. First off, the smell never seemed to bother
her. Second, the collar we had only held enough spray for about fifteen
squirts; or about 10 seconds of continous barking. Macula would drain the
collar and continue barking unabated. I also question whether she was
even capable of smelling the spray after the first one or two squirts, or
if the smell merely overpowered her offactory system and she smelled
nothing at all. On the plus side, when Macula wasn't quieter, she did
smell lemony-fresh and was not bothered by mosquitoes. :-}

The other collar we tried had 3 settings: an audible buzz, a cironella
squirt and a mild electrical shock. It was operated by a remote held by
the trainer. The idea was, when she did something undesirable you'd
"buzz" her. If she responded to the audio cue, she would be rewarded. If
she didn't you'd try the citronella and if that didn't work you'd try
getting her attention with a mild shock. The biggest problem we had with
this collar was that sometimes our reactions weren't fast enough, and/or
there was a lag time between our pressing a button and the collar's
response. This meant that many times the reprimand would come to late:
Macula would hear/feel it *after* she had already stopped.

Both collars are expensive, but we found that many dog-trainers/obedience
schools had some that they would lend/rent to their students.

HTH

Marie

"Natty_Dread" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all -- I recently relocated to another city and now live in a house
with
considerably more foot and vehicle traffic passing by than where I lived
before. Consequently, my dogs (male Pointer and female Walker Coonhound)
have a lot more to bark at than they used to, and I'm concerned about
pissing off the neighbors. I've never considered a no-bark collar
before,
but they bark so much now when they're outside that I'm wondering if I
should give it a try. Has anyone here ever used one before? Do they
hurt
the dog or just surprise them? If you have feedback or experiences with
these collars, please reply and let me know what you know. We haved a
great
yard now and my dogs love to be outside, but I want to be a good neighbor
and not annoy everyone around us. Thanks in advance for the information.

Rhonda
Richmond, VA



******************
It's a rave, darling, a mad rave!

Like Marie says they are a great training tool and should be used as such.

I purchased the PetSafe Deluxe Big Dog Trainer at www.petco.com It is not
automatic like some collars that go off when the dog barks. With this there
is a remote that you control. The idea is to give a verbal correction
followed by a tone. If that does not work after you tone the dog once or
twice you then have the option of giving it an stimulation from levels of 1
to 10 depending upon the dogs reaction.

I initially bought it due to her flipping out over a neighbor shoveling
snow. After she was spooked by this she thought that every time she went
out she had to take barking fits regardless of the time of day or night.
Like yourself I don't want my neighbors pissed off at me and with our hours
it's not unusual to take her out at 3 am. I found that in less than 2 days
with a small amount of stimulation she learned what quiet ment.

I also found that her prey drive is high and used the collar to break her of
bunny chasing. The first time she got away from me before I knew what was
going on. The next morning I was waiting for her and she barely got around
the fence and to the back corner before I left her have it at level 10.
This may seem cruel to some people but if it means when I yell stop that she
does it's worth that little bit she had to endure. Just yesterday she
started down my drive way barking at the neighbor. I yelled Lady stop and
back she came. She wasn't even wearing the collar. I rarely put it on her
now.

Celeste




"marie" wrote in message
...
The most important thing to remember is that the anti-bark collar is a
*training-aid* not a training solution. If your dog responds to it, it
gives you an opportunity to reward the quiet and teach the dog what good
backyard manners are.

That said, here are some of the pros and cons of the collars, based on my
own experience:

The Citronella Collar: Has a small container that you "charge" with
Citronella Spray from a pressurized can. Sound activated, it will spray a
brief shot of Citronella up towards the dog's snout when it barks. The
dog
is not supposed to like this smell, and is thus startled and distracted
from
barking, you then can step in with praise for quieting and/or another
command to keep the dog distracted. Most brands of collars that I've seen
boast about "immediate results" and "99% effectiveness." I guess my dog
is
*special*. First off, the smell never seemed to bother her. Second, the
collar we had only held enough spray for about fifteen squirts; or about
10
seconds of continous barking. Macula would drain the collar and continue
barking unabated. I also question whether she was even capable of
smelling
the spray after the first one or two squirts, or if the smell merely
overpowered her offactory system and she smelled nothing at all. On the
plus side, when Macula wasn't quieter, she did smell lemony-fresh and was
not bothered by mosquitoes. :-}

The other collar we tried had 3 settings: an audible buzz, a cironella
squirt and a mild electrical shock. It was operated by a remote held by
the
trainer. The idea was, when she did something undesirable you'd "buzz"
her.
If she responded to the audio cue, she would be rewarded. If she didn't
you'd try the citronella and if that didn't work you'd try getting her
attention with a mild shock. The biggest problem we had with this collar
was that sometimes our reactions weren't fast enough, and/or there was a
lag
time between our pressing a button and the collar's response. This meant
that many times the reprimand would come to late: Macula would hear/feel
it
*after* she had already stopped.

Both collars are expensive, but we found that many dog-trainers/obedience
schools had some that they would lend/rent to their students.

HTH

Marie

"Natty_Dread" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all -- I recently relocated to another city and now live in a house
with
considerably more foot and vehicle traffic passing by than where I lived
before. Consequently, my dogs (male Pointer and female Walker
Coonhound)
have a lot more to bark at than they used to, and I'm concerned about
pissing off the neighbors. I've never considered a no-bark collar
before,
but they bark so much now when they're outside that I'm wondering if I
should give it a try. Has anyone here ever used one before? Do they
hurt
the dog or just surprise them? If you have feedback or experiences with
these collars, please reply and let me know what you know. We haved a
great
yard now and my dogs love to be outside, but I want to be a good
neighbor
and not annoy everyone around us. Thanks in advance for the
information.

Rhonda
Richmond, VA



******************
It's a rave, darling, a mad rave!