Bark Collers

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Just_Another_One

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I was wondering what people thought on bark collers that put out a shock when a dog barks.

For the past 3 months we have been dealing with my 13 year old dog Max excessivly barking at night. He was abused before we rescued him and for some reason he is EXTREMELY frightned of loud/strange noises to where he barks,cries and shakes non stop when he hears them.

This is a old house so it naturally creeks and cracks alot and lately the fridge has been making loud bangs which makes him go ballistic ALL NIGHT LONG.

I'm at a total loss as what to do. I've always thought bark collers were nasty and cruel but we cant go on with no sleep anymore. Right now we have a radio by the fridge and one person is sleeping in the living room with him with the TV on so he wont hear the noises but it hasnt worked at all as he still barks/cries all night.

ANY HELP is appriecated.
 
Well there are other options besides a shock collar. You have citronella spray collars and vibrating collars. I don't have an issue with shock collars as long as they are used correctly. My first choice would be a spray collar, cuz I find them kinda amusing :blush:.
 
I think the sound collar is the best, and most effective. Everytime they bark it lefts off a high screech that is to high pitched for humans to hear, and then they learn everytime they have the collar put on the realise they shoudnt park.

However - If your dog is such stressed out may be these are not a good idea? Loud sounds some create etc. And it could stress the dog out so much that it just decides to pass away :(

- I know thats not what you want to hear but you have to think of all the outcomes.

Have you thought about getting him a dog hot water bottle? I used this for my puppy and it mad him feel more safe and he cuddeled up to it at night and felt more safe...then he got bigger and chewed it up :(

- Or you could let him sleep in your room at night - for the first few nights everytime he crys put a light on near you and the dog so he can see you and you can see him, over a few nights he will realise that your right by his side and feels safe.

Not sure if this helps but good luck :good:
 
One of my GSDs is a persistent barker, and we tried both the spray collar and the noise one, neither worked and were a big waste of money really.
 
I totally disagree with these collars, especially on a scared, 13 year old dog. Sounds like he may suffer from seperation anxiety. Is there anyway he can sleep in your room or if this isn't an option can't he sleep just outside your room, away from the fridge?
 
I don't agree with the electrical shock ones, but for a young dog who is barking for the sake of barking then I see nothing against giving the spray ones a go.

However as lisa said, he's a 13 year old dog who clearly has issues caused by treatment in his past. Please bear in mind, 3 months isn't a long time, and considering his age and past... A quick fix probably wont be achieved.

I'd try googling for some good dog behaviourists and the such. As well as trying to fit some training in where you can. Such as having the house perfectly quiet during the day, and putting him in the lounge like you would at night. See if he reacts... If he does, then work from there.
It might be separation anxiety, but by the sounds of it if he's still doing it when you're in the room then it's more likely that he associates loud noises with bad experiences such as being hit maybe?

I'm not dog behaviourist or trainer etc etc. But 3 months, for a 13 year old dog who has been mis treated.... It's not a long amount of time, and it sounds like you have tried to cope with it as opposed to sort out the under lying problem.

Imagine you were sat in a dark room and you thought someone was coming to get you, and every time you shouted out for help you got shocked. It'd drive you insane! I'm not trying to imply that dogs have thoughts anywhere near as complex as a human, but that sounds like what's going on in his head.
 
I think if he slept in your room he would be fine imo even if you put the cage beside your bed like i suggested and turn a torch onto him so he can see you and you can see him everytime he barks, give it a couple of weeks he should be fine. Well thats what it was like when I got mine.
 
the spray collars work very well (the one's that use citrimnella) they dont harm the dog, the spray scares them and they dont like the smell. a MUCH better alternative to the shock collars
 
He is able to sleep in my room if he wants but my tv stand often makes a loud creeking noise which drives him crazy so he runs out to the living room and barks and cries. Hes always been afraid of loud scary noises for the 6 years we've had him. If we're on a walk and he hears one he turns around and drags me home.

But never before has he barked ALL night because of it. My mom thinks his time is almost up but I dont even want to think of that. Hes still a active healthy mutt who doesn't deserve that.

:(

I think if he slept in your room he would be fine imo even if you put the cage beside your bed like i suggested and turn a torch onto him so he can see you and you can see him everytime he barks, give it a couple of weeks he should be fine. Well thats what it was like when I got mine.


I have also been thinking of having a lamp on to see if that will help because as soon as I turn my lights off and hop into bed he begins his little freak show.

His eyes also appear to be going extremely cloudy which the vet said was just "hardening of the lenses" but I have a feeling he may be going blind and gets scared of the dark.
 
Just want to apologise for mis interpreting your original post then...if you've had him for quite some years then that makes a huge difference. I'm sure you probably have explored other avenues. And if it's only recently that he's started barking all night...perhaps a health check at the vets.
If either his eye sight or hearing is going a bit then this could be causing the additional jumpiness + barking?


Edit: You added to your post as I was posting. Lol. I'd definitely edge towards restricted vision being the problem. Loud noises scare him, he can't see what's going on...it's not that surprising it would lead to him barking. Have you tried getting him a night light of some description so that he can see around the room better?
 
Just want to apologise for mis interpreting your original post then...if you've had him for quite some years then that makes a huge difference. I'm sure you probably have explored other avenues. And if it's only recently that he's started barking all night...perhaps a health check at the vets.
If either his eye sight or hearing is going a bit then this could be causing the additional jumpiness + barking?


Edit: You added to your post as I was posting. Lol. I'd definitely edge towards restricted vision being the problem. Loud noises scare him, he can't see what's going on...it's not that surprising it would lead to him barking. Have you tried getting him a night light of some description so that he can see around the room better?

I havent tried a niight light yet but I will leave the lamp on in my bedroom as well as the radio tonight.

You're right, he probably should get a vet check. Even though he appears healthy and happy other wise there could be something going on inside of him causing pain perhaps. I will make an app't for him for tomarrow :)
 
Have you thought about leaving music on for him? Quiet of course so you can still sleep. :) Perhaps if the house isn't completely silent, those noises may not startle him as much? I did this with one of my dogs when I rescued her. She had a pretty bad case of separation anxiety. She seemed to like Enya - it was very soothing.

Edit: D'oh just saw your post that you were going to leave the radio on. :blush: Apparently it needs to be bed time for me!
 
You wanted to put a collor that shocks and can hurt onto an already scared dog? Thats a bit silly to even think that.

These kind of things dont deal with the problem and usually your dog will get used to it and you will have to turn it up and hurt it even more. Even spray collors are rubbish and wont deal with the root cause.

Deal with the problem, dont punish the behaviour.

When a dog is scared they like to feel safe, does she/he have a house/den type thing she can go into and feel scaure?
 
I have a feeling his time almost up. Have a vet check and just let him sleep with you. It will likely be only for short period of time..couple years maybe. Don't get another dog during this time so you can train the next one to be alright w/out you. And hopefully have better luck.

I would let mine sleep w/me if my dog had such severe issues.
 
you will just have to try all methods mentioned, one of them is bound to the one that works, even if it takes time.

our dogs (one westie, and one scottie) used to bark everytime someone knocked on the door, or closed a kitchen cupboard !!! same sort of noise i suppose, but we just introduced them to the door, with me one side and my dad the other side, i would knock,
and then my dad would have to re-assure them who it was, this worked after about a week or so, maybe two.

although having said that, we had them from puppies, so were never mistreated, i.e. this may not work for you, but
its worth a try, anyway, hope this helps and good luck to helping him through it :good:
 

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