Help With Barking

[Leelaa17]

Max barks at neighbours when they're too close to our side fence. They're building a pool right now and always there. When I am home i have no problem with max barking and can easily get him to stop, but when im not home... my dad can also get them to stop but when he goes away no one is home during the day and i think my neighbours are starting to get sick of it. I was looking at barking collars.

Please, i really need help. It's only when no one is home that the barking is a problem.

Any suggestions on anti barling collars?

[LizT]

Max barks at neighbours when they're too close to our side fence. They're building a pool right now and always there. When I am home i have no problem with max barking and can easily get him to stop, but when im not home... my dad can also get them to stop but when he goes away no one is home during the day and i think my neighbours are starting to get sick of it. I was looking at barking collars.

Please, i really need help. It's only when no one is home that the barking is a problem.

Any suggestions on anti barling collars?

I've had to use an electronic bark collar on our GSD. He rarely needs it now at age 6 but it was a godsend at 2 years of age. I heard him bark but when I was away from home (worked nightshift) he barked incessently according to our neighbour who wrote me a note. So I felt I needed to do something quickly, as my OH and kids slept through it but it kept my poor neigbour awake.

You could do a search as there are a few threads on this subject on file. :)

[Leelaa17]

Max barks at neighbours when they're too close to our side fence. They're building a pool right now and always there. When I am home i have no problem with max barking and can easily get him to stop, but when im not home... my dad can also get them to stop but when he goes away no one is home during the day and i think my neighbours are starting to get sick of it. I was looking at barking collars.

Please, i really need help. It's only when no one is home that the barking is a problem.

Any suggestions on anti barling collars?

I've had to use an electronic bark collar on our GSD. He rarely needs it now at age 6 but it was a godsend at 2 years of age. I heard him bark but when I was away from home (worked nightshift) he barked incessently according to our neighbour who wrote me a note. So I felt I needed to do something quickly, as my OH and kids slept through it but it kept my poor neigbour awake.

You could do a search as there are a few threads on this subject on file. :)

I did do a search and found some topics on the forum but a lot of them were for puppies and max is 2. Another difference was that the dogs seemed to be barking while people were home.

Max does bark sometimes when I'm at home but it is extremely easy for me to get him quiet and very quickly as well.

I have been hearing mixed responses about citronella spray - that it IS tocix, that the amount that is sprayed ISN'T toxic so I'm not sure and I think that would work the best because I know he hates citronella spray. I spray them with citronella on hot days to keep the flies away and he hates it so I think a collar with citronella would work but I am hesitant because I don't know whether it is actually toxic or not and I don't want to come home one day and find him poisoned.

[Everythings Shiny]

Citronella colour would be fine to use, I never had any success with one (my dogs love the smell), but you might.

[Meea]

Citronella collaes hv alwsys worked for me but I use them immediately the dog comes into my home. Seems they may not be as useful (reading others threads) for digs which are already habitual barkers. Also if he us already motivated and keen to bark at something maybe not as effective? My 2 year old stills wears his at night so I dont get a note from THAT neighbour. Mostly I dont bother switching it on!! I hv used them on 5 dogs now.

Meea

Ps much cheaper to buy direct fr aboiststop, hoppers crossing

[LizT]

Max barks at neighbours when they're too close to our side fence. They're building a pool right now and always there. When I am home i have no problem with max barking and can easily get him to stop, but when im not home... my dad can also get them to stop but when he goes away no one is home during the day and i think my neighbours are starting to get sick of it. I was looking at barking collars.

Please, i really need help. It's only when no one is home that the barking is a problem.

Any suggestions on anti barling collars?

I've had to use an electronic bark collar on our GSD. He rarely needs it now at age 6 but it was a godsend at 2 years of age. I heard him bark but when I was away from home (worked nightshift) he barked incessently according to our neighbour who wrote me a note. So I felt I needed to do something quickly, as my OH and kids slept through it but it kept my poor neigbour awake.

You could do a search as there are a few threads on this subject on file. :)

I did do a search and found some topics on the forum but a lot of them were for puppies and max is 2. Another difference was that the dogs seemed to be barking while people were home.

Max does bark sometimes when I'm at home but it is extremely easy for me to get him quiet and very quickly as well.

I have been hearing mixed responses about citronella spray - that it IS tocix, that the amount that is sprayed ISN'T toxic so I'm not sure and I think that would work the best because I know he hates citronella spray. I spray them with citronella on hot days to keep the flies away and he hates it so I think a collar with citronella would work but I am hesitant because I don't know whether it is actually toxic or not and I don't want to come home one day and find him poisoned.

I had the same problem in that Clancy was also grown and his barking was not a problem when I was home. Once I started working nightshift no one bothered to reassure him when he barked so he kept it up (they say they didn't hear him and slep through it ???!!!). WHen I was home I used to go out and say "Show me" and acknowledge that he was a good boy in alerting me to the fact that a Possum had farted, tell him to "hush" and it was all good.

We use the muscle stimulation collar that has six levels of strength but an override for "alert barking" where if it get frenzied it will shut off. I found it worked in the first 24 hours.

I later tried the citronella but it had no effect on him whatsoever. He didn't care less about the smell etc. The 'small thump' he received with the other collar on was enough for him to be destracted and the barking stopped immediately. I used to put it on overnight and take it off in the morning. Rarely used these days, but on occasssions.

[Leelaa17]

Thanks so much for replying guys. I am glad to know that some have used the citronella collars and they haven't caused harm to their dogs. I honestly think it will work on Max because he really really hates the smell. And if it doesn't then I will spend the extra money on getting a muscle stimulant one. Money really doesn't bother me at the moment as I am so paranoid one of the neighbours is going to snap and hurt my baby/babies. they are just very territorial. When I am home, they know I am boss and I am looking after the house. But the minute I leave I think Max feels like HE is now in charge of looking after the house. jenna couldn't care less - she just barks because Max does. lol

I think I will try the cirtonella collar and see how it goes and I will let you guys know.

Should I be looking for a particular one that sprays a specific amount of citronella? Like is there some millilitre to spray ratio or something I need to know or are they all roughly the same?

And is there a brand I should be looking at?

Thank you all again. I really appreciate your time.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

You can rent citronella collars which might help.

Buy Muscoban to spray the dogs - it's a brilliant fly repellent specially made for animals.

[Odin-Genie]

There are also some spray collars which spray water instead of citronella. If your dog doesn't like water sprayed in his face, those might be a safer option. I have a citronella collar which I used once in a while while I was home to see if it works. Once my dog saw a cat and started barking a lot. The citronella collar sprayed a few bursts and then continued to spray even though he had stopped barking. I immediately took it off. But it continued to spray till the container was empty. Since then I have never used it.

[huski]

Citronella collars have a much lower level of success than electric collars. The aversive (the smell of citronella) also Stays on the dogs coat long after it has stopped barking which IMO is not fair and not as effective. Personally I wouldn't bother with one and I also would prefer not to use citronella at all.

Edited March 14, 2012 by huski