I love my dog.
He is most definitely a part of my family.
He's a very energetic two year old mixed breed who is the sweetest animal you will ever meet...
until someone walks down the street.
That's when the trouble starts.
He thinks it is his job to bark at every person, dog and car that travels in front of the house.
Trying to find a way to stop his barking became a priority after a visit from the local police department.
It seems as if there is a barking dog ordinance and my precious mutt was in violation of it! Can you imagine...
my sweet angel a wanted criminal! All joking aside, this was a very serious matter.
After my first warning visit there would be a fine if the police were called to my house again.
I had to try to find a way to stop this barking dog.
First I tried to train him using the "be quiet" command.
I would distract him with a treat when he started to bark (because a dog can't bark and eat at the same time) and then when he stopped barking to eat the treat I would say "be quiet.
" Then you try to give him the be quiet command without the treat.
Great in theory, horrible in practice.
Needless to say this didn't work to help stop my barking dog.
Next I tried a device that emits a high frequency when he barked.
The frequency is so high that only dogs can hear it, not humans.
I bought this device that you place on a table (or in my case, the front window) near where the dog does the most barking.
It is supposed to pick up the sound of the dog's bark and then emit the tone.
The nasty tone is supposed to serve as a negative reinforcement for the dog.
He is supposed to begin to associate barking with the painful tone and this association causes him to stop the barking.
This sounded so good to me.
It was a humane way to try to quiet the barking.
Unfortunately it didn't work either.
My next step in attempting to control my dog's barking was to purchase a citronella spray collar.
Supposedly dogs hate the smell of citronella.
You place the collar on the dog's neck and there is a sensor that picks up the vibration from the bark.
The collar gives off a puff of citronella spray into the face of the dog.
The dog begins to associate this negative consequence with the activity of barking and will stop barking.
I have to admit this worked for a while for us, but if the dog was upset or really agitated he would bark right through the spray.
It was yet another failure in my attempt to train my dog to stop barking.
Finally I had to purchase an electronic bark collar (aka shock collar) for the dog.
It killed me to do this, but if I didn't get the barking under control I was looking at having to get rid of him.
Fortunately my dog is smart enough now to associate barking with the shock of the collar.
It only took a few shocks and then he realized what would happen if he barked while wearing the collar.
I decided to try to put on the collar without turning it on to see what would happen and that action is enough to control his barking.
He doesn't want to risk getting shocked so his barking is controlled.
I also came to the realization that you will never completely stop a dog from barking, and that there are times you want him to bark (as in warning of an intruder on your property).
I only use the collar when he absolutely needs to be under control, and as he is getting older this is becoming less frequent.
If you have a dog that barks you understand what I have gone through.
I hated the choice of using a bark collar but my only other option would be getting rid of the dog.
I adopted him from a shelter and there's no way I would send him back if I didn't have to do so.
He is most definitely a part of my family.
He's a very energetic two year old mixed breed who is the sweetest animal you will ever meet...
until someone walks down the street.
That's when the trouble starts.
He thinks it is his job to bark at every person, dog and car that travels in front of the house.
Trying to find a way to stop his barking became a priority after a visit from the local police department.
It seems as if there is a barking dog ordinance and my precious mutt was in violation of it! Can you imagine...
my sweet angel a wanted criminal! All joking aside, this was a very serious matter.
After my first warning visit there would be a fine if the police were called to my house again.
I had to try to find a way to stop this barking dog.
First I tried to train him using the "be quiet" command.
I would distract him with a treat when he started to bark (because a dog can't bark and eat at the same time) and then when he stopped barking to eat the treat I would say "be quiet.
" Then you try to give him the be quiet command without the treat.
Great in theory, horrible in practice.
Needless to say this didn't work to help stop my barking dog.
Next I tried a device that emits a high frequency when he barked.
The frequency is so high that only dogs can hear it, not humans.
I bought this device that you place on a table (or in my case, the front window) near where the dog does the most barking.
It is supposed to pick up the sound of the dog's bark and then emit the tone.
The nasty tone is supposed to serve as a negative reinforcement for the dog.
He is supposed to begin to associate barking with the painful tone and this association causes him to stop the barking.
This sounded so good to me.
It was a humane way to try to quiet the barking.
Unfortunately it didn't work either.
My next step in attempting to control my dog's barking was to purchase a citronella spray collar.
Supposedly dogs hate the smell of citronella.
You place the collar on the dog's neck and there is a sensor that picks up the vibration from the bark.
The collar gives off a puff of citronella spray into the face of the dog.
The dog begins to associate this negative consequence with the activity of barking and will stop barking.
I have to admit this worked for a while for us, but if the dog was upset or really agitated he would bark right through the spray.
It was yet another failure in my attempt to train my dog to stop barking.
Finally I had to purchase an electronic bark collar (aka shock collar) for the dog.
It killed me to do this, but if I didn't get the barking under control I was looking at having to get rid of him.
Fortunately my dog is smart enough now to associate barking with the shock of the collar.
It only took a few shocks and then he realized what would happen if he barked while wearing the collar.
I decided to try to put on the collar without turning it on to see what would happen and that action is enough to control his barking.
He doesn't want to risk getting shocked so his barking is controlled.
I also came to the realization that you will never completely stop a dog from barking, and that there are times you want him to bark (as in warning of an intruder on your property).
I only use the collar when he absolutely needs to be under control, and as he is getting older this is becoming less frequent.
If you have a dog that barks you understand what I have gone through.
I hated the choice of using a bark collar but my only other option would be getting rid of the dog.
I adopted him from a shelter and there's no way I would send him back if I didn't have to do so.