Are there any effective alternatives to bark collars?
Our dogs have barked nonstop the past few days... Not sure what to do to get them to stop. We verbal correct them, redirect, and that stops them for a moment.
They had bark collars but one dog still refused to stop barking and we felt like she was getting shocked too much. She just never made the connection that oh I'm barking and then I get zapped or just didn't care.
kiwi / 711 posts
I haven't personally used this but have heard about it. It is still a bark collar, it just doesn't electronically shock them when they bark. Instead it sprays them with citronella.
http://www.amazon.com/Petsafe-Premier-GentleSpray-Citronella-Anti-Bark/dp/B0002D31QU
ETA: have you tried spraying your dog with a spray bottle when she barks?
papaya / 10570 posts
Tell me a little bit more about the barking..... what are they barking at and when are they barking - what is causing the barking? Did they bark previously or is this a new phenomena - and of it's new, what has changed?
clementine / 838 posts
We used a spray bottle with vinegar and water in it. We would squirt our old dog for barking, or whatever behaviour we did not want and she would instantly stop. We soon had to just lean towards the spray bottle and she would stop!!
But as Cherrybee said, why is the dog barking, it is there way of communicating.
grapefruit / 4079 posts
@MrsScottish: We do the spray bottle too. Our dog barks to communicate but he is sooooo bossy and sometimes it really is not needed as I am already doing what he wants! He is no longer afraid of the water bottle so maybe I'll try adding vinegar!
nectarine / 2127 posts
The mutt barks at everything. If you walk down the hall and the floorboard squeaks, she barks. If you open or close a door (like the bathroom door because you need to pee!) she barks. If you walk into the room, she barks. She is a small, yippy dog.
The basset barks because the mutt barks, it's a chain reaction.
They also bark at the mailman, the neighbors, the garbage truck, etc.
And the most ridiculous, if a doorbell sound is on the tv, they bark.
nectarine / 2127 posts
I'm rarely in the same room when they bark (they aren't usually in the nursery, they're not forbidden, they just don't hang out in there) so the spray bottle probably wouldn't work 
grapefruit / 4136 posts
@septemberlove: our dogs bark for the same darn reasons. When I'm watching tv at someone else's house my heart skips a beat when a doorbell rings bc I'm waiting for the dogs to go bananas!
watermelon / 14206 posts
@septemberlove: re: the doorbell on TV. My golden barks when someone knocks or rings the bell, and pizza commercials are our least favorite thing. There was a DiGiorno commercial about a year ago that was over played and drove us nuts.
I just tell my dog thanks for letting me know and pat him on the head and say enough now. But he's a real people pleaser and doesn't like to get yelled at. Our other dog only barks when someone he doesn't know is at the door. Maybe try that? Some dogs only get worse if you're yelling at them to quit it, cause they don't actually understand your words, just your tone and actions. It's kind of an attention thing.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
We have used the spray bottle and when she really gets going and won't listen she gets the muzzle.
cantaloupe / 6800 posts
We have a "training" collar, the remote has two buttons. One is an alarm so if you press it the dog hears "BEEEEEEP." and the other button is a shock.
So what we do is whenever the dog is doing something bad, we beep it and if she continues we give her a quick shock. After the first couple times she understood what was happening..Now all we have to do is beep it and she stops immediately. She doesn't even have to be wearing it. I can just beep it while shes outside and I have the collar with me on the back porch and she stops what shes's doing just because of the sound. It worked really well for us.
I think something like that might work for you?
papaya / 10570 posts
@septemberlove: I had a feeling the small yippy dog you mentioned in previous posts may have been the one who starts off the barking!! One unbalanced dog can easily cause the dogs around it to be unbalanced.
Okay.... so dogs bark to communicate. So if the postman walks down the path, the dogs will bark to alert you to their presence. That is standard dog behaviour and isn't in itself a sign of a problem. They also bark our of fear/nervousness - so a dog with excessive anxiety may bark a lot (it's like "woof, woof, I'm the big man, don't come near me, raa"). Dogs also bark out of excitement. These kinds of barking, if excessive, can be classified as problem barking.
I'm about to tell you something you might not want to hear (or you might - if you want the problem barking to stop!!). The problem here is your husband. Yeah, your husband! 
I think (from what you've said) that the root cause of the barking problem is that your little yappy dog is unbalanced. You've said before how your husband babies her and she clings to him, snapping at anyone who comes near her. Your husband's reaction is to baby her more. He doesn't give her rules and discipline. This leads your little dog into thinking that she is the pack leader in your house. She doesn't want or enjoy this role - she isn't up to it! The pack leader is supposed to keep the other family members in check - so she will bark and snap and growl at you all, trying to keep you all in line and yet you all still do what you please - this causes her extreme levels of anxiety and makes her behaviour worse! I'll bet you when you try to leave the room sometimes, she will bark/growl and try to stop you - but you do it anyway! This sends her into a spin (she said NO!) and she then barks and barks (driven by her anxiety) to make you come back!
When someone comes to your door, it is the pack leader's job to deal with them. But she is the pack leader - she she barks and barks ("go away Postman, raa!). When you go to deal with it (ie open the door), she barks at you, barks at him, barks wildly because SHE is supposed to deal with intruders, SHE is the pack leader.
The ONLY way to deal with this dog is for you and your husband to step up, put some rules in place and start being this dog's pack leader. It's not fair to her keeping her at this level of anxiety by letting her "rule", it's not fair to you to have to listen to her and deal with her and it's not fair to your baby - as she will snap at him too. No sleeping on the bed, no snapping/growling at people (as soon as she does, your husband is to say "no" loudly, put her down and DO NOT stroke her, even look at her until she is submissive). In fact, please please buy a book on dog behaviour (Ceasar Milan's stuff is excellent) and follow it to the letter. Your husband has to see that his molly coddling this dog is bad for everyone.
The other thing that will help is exercise. How often are the dogs walked? Excessive energy can also cause pent up frustration and barking behaviours. She needs to have her energy drained!
There are no magic cures you can buy to change this behaiour. Bark collars, E-collars, citronalla spray - they are all tools that can be used to support training but they will not work alone, they will not stop this dog from barking because she is a very fearful, unbalanced dog.
I really hope this helps you. We have two tiny dogs who are wonderfully behaved because we worked with them (one was a puppy farm rescue), please feel free to chat about it any time you want to.
nectarine / 2127 posts
@MrsTiz: I'll look into that, thanks!!
I feel like its gotten worse since we brought LO home. They're not getting the attention they're used to so I'm sure that's exacerbating the situation.
I sat down on the couch with my basset and he climbed into my lap, he's a 55 pound dog who has never climbed into my lap lol, I think he wanted to be sure I wasn't going anywhere!
nectarine / 2127 posts
@Cherrybee: wow, thank you for taking the time to explain that. It really fits her to a T. I think now is a really great opportunity to revisit the dog discussion with DH because he's fed up with her and open to exploring some solutions. I'm going to show him your post, I think he will agree that that's exactly her issue. Since LO has been home, DH has been pretty direct with her, firm verbal corrections, not allowing her into his lap or the bed, which has probably worsened the situation because of all the turmoil of us bringing LO home, us being home all the time, them being outside way more (it's been 80 and sunny and breezy so they've spent a lot of time running around the yard). But understanding where she's coming from really helps, I think your post is going to be a great way to start an effective discussion with DH. Thank you again, I really appreciate it!
papaya / 10570 posts
@septemberlove: You're very welcome - any time. Bear in mind as well that dogs pick up on the way their owners are feeling and you and your DH have had so much going on lately, so much to be stressed and scared about, that your dogs are bound to have picked up on some of that fearful energy. When dealing with your dogs, try to be firm yet calm (which is easier said than done when they're barking and you're tired!!) - be consistent and follow through. No means no. Down means down. YOU are the pack leaders, not her. Honestly, get some of Ceasar's books (I bought them all when I dealt with my crazy dogs!) I promise you if you put the work in you will reap the rewards. Maybe you might even start liking her?!!
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