I used a citronella collar and found it to be very expensive! I had to refill the canister every second day. And then I had to buy a new refill every 2 or 3 weeks. Each refill was about $30. Plus, every month I had to buy a battery.
I paid $200+ for the collar and then, in order to keep it working, I had to pay more and more and more.
I wouldn’t recommend a citronella to anyone.
I hated the thought of using an e-collar, but didn’t have choice. The collar has 7 levels of shock. I tried each of them on myself before I put it on my dog. Level 7 – hurts a bit, level 5 – just pushes you hard, level 3 – ticklish. Level 5 was enough for my dog to stop barking. I don’t remember when I recharged it.