Execive barking- how to choose and use the right anti bark collar for your dog
March 8, 2010 by Dog Trainer Filed under Barking Dogs
A dogs bark is a natural form of communication, however, when a dog barks excessively it is usually a symptom of an underlying problem. Let us look now at some of the more common reasons for excessive dog barking, and consider what may be the cause of your dogs barking.
Are your dogs physical needs being properly met, for example, does he have enough food water, adequate shelter and so on. If not, he may be trying to communicate his discomfort to you through his obsessive barking behaviour.
Does your dog receive adequate daily exercise that is adequate for his breed type and plenty of mental stimulation, or does he spend his hours in the garden with no contact from you or your family. If this is the case with your dog, Boredom may be the cause of his unwanted barking.
Does your dog spend much of the day alone at home while you are at work. If the answer is yes, his problem barking may stem from an exaggerated reaction to being left alone or what is referred to as separation anxiety.
Many dogs who bark constantly and unnecessarily are what you could describe as stimulus barkers. These dogs bark obsessively in response to the telephone or doorbell ringing. Is this your Dog?
Do you own a breed who is quite naturally possessive and protective of it’s owners? If the answer is yes, his barking may be due to him having become overprotective.
What about your dogs individual personality, could this be a factor in his obsessive barking? Dogs who have highly strung or nervous personalities can sometimes develop obsessive defensive barking behviour.
Finally, another common cause of excessive and unwanted barking is due to dogs manipulating theor owners. This type of behaviour is more common with smaller dogs, howerver, big dogs can be just adept at barking constantly to get what they want.
Has your dog visited it’s vet recently and been given a clean bill of health? If not, you might consider that poor or failing health may be the root cause of his constant barking. Consider having your dogs health checked before you eliminate poor health as being a reason for your dogs barking.
Now that you have determined the underlying cause of your dogs excessive barking behaviour, you next need to consider whether using an anti bark collar would be the best method in helping him or her overcome this unwanted behaviour. Please remember that when using this type of device, in most cases you are administering a punisher to your dog, therefore, for obvious reasons, it would be ufair to use such a device on a dog who’s barking is a result of separation anxiety or fear for example.
Have you tried any other conventional training methods to put an end to your dogs obsessive barking? If you haven’t tried to tackle the problem in this way, then you might consider this as an option before moving on to using an anti bark collar.
Let us assume then you have tried other forms of training and your dog is still a hard core barker. Let also assume you have decided your dogs motivation for barking warrants the use of an anti barking collar. What is the correct collar for the job? Well, there are basically three types of devices available. Let us look at them individually.
Sonic collar
The Sonic type of collar can be fitted to the dog and left, as it is triggered by movement in the dogs throat. When triggered the collar emits a high pitched sound that is inaudible to the human ear. The high pitched tone is meant to interrupt the dog from barking, whereupon the dogs owner can intervene with positive reinforcement.
Spray collars
This type of anti bark collar commonly emits a squirt of citronella spray at the dogs snout. Again this can be done automatically; or via a remote control. The only possible problem one could imagine to be related to this kind of collar is the use of citronella; dogs have what is called a Vomeronasal organ situated in the roof of the mouth that forms part of the olfactory system and this allows them to taste certain smells if you will. Scent molecules rest on this bonny plate, so as the dog can analyses them. As cironella has a strong lemony smell, this could remain on the vomeronasal organ for some time, therefore when the dog has received a squirt of citronella for barking (a punisher) and stops at once because of the obnoxious smell, the scent or punisher may still remain on the vomeronasal organ for some time after.
An alternative to this this type of collar is a device similar which sprays plain water along with a blast of compressed air.
Ecollar or shock collar
This type of collar is often used when training dogs in the military or police service, where there is a very high degree of complience required from the dog. Unfortunately however, they have recently become popular training devices generally.
The more commonly used type is triggered by a sensor. This kind of collar emits a bleeping sound, that acts as a warning to let the dog know if it persists a punishment will follow.
The second type of electronic collar is operated via a remote control. Different levels of shock are available to the trainer; from low to high and anywhere in between.This collar should never be used other than by a professional who has experience of such devices, and when all other methods of retraining the dog have been exhausted. Using one of these devices correctly, requires exact timing along side positive reinforcement training techniques.
Ivan Ojounru has been training dogs in the UK since the late 1908′s. He now lives in France where he continues to train dogs and write about dog related behaviour care and trainig topics. He is passionate about giving dog owners the skills, knowledge and confidence to enable them to train their own dogs successfully. For further information visit http://www.dogtrainingcareadvice.blogspot.com
