Anti bark collars...which one..??

Hyak2

If I were you I would not the collar . All you would really be training the dog to do is not bark while the collar is on. It doesn't actually get rid of the problem you are trying eliminate at its root cause. As someone who trains animals for a living perhaps I can offer a couple of things which might help you more permenantly.

2 fundamental things which are probably the ones to look for are changing the motivation for the bark or putting the behaviour on cue. If there is an obvious cause why he dog is barking then remove that cause if you can. Secondly putting the behaviour on cue is EXTREMELY effective. I would then use the cue a few times a day and reward the dog heavily for barking ONLY WHEN GIVEN THE SIGNAL. Ignore (as in do not react and don't even ..look at him) at all other times with no reward when it barks. This sounds back to front but I assure you it does work. This is a quick method of getting rid of annoying behaviours in my show animals. No reward in the offering = no point in barking. You can then reduce the amount of times you ask for the dog to 'speak' and use it as you want as a party trick!

And as this is mse, training it to be on cue is also loads cheaper!

ihateyes

Anti bark collars are a disgrace....

cruel

mountainofdebt

Are they illegal in Wales?

Not that this affects the OP though

krlyr

No, only shock collars (unfortunately)

slimthinker

Many thanx for all your replies...I have decided not ot go down the collar road due to all your opinions..:A

Heres my story any advice taken on board...
We have 2 Toy Poodles (due to allergies these are perfect ) They are my world. But I suffer mental health problems and spend a lot of the time during the day with no TV or radio etc so the house is very quiet. One of our boys insists on barking at every little sound he hears..evey movement he sees in the garden or street and makes us jump out of our skin everytime he does it...He barks consistently for around 2 mins each time..

Our other boy is no problem in the house but when out walking he barks at other dogs like a wild animal...!!! He doesnt want to fight he just wants to say hello but it is totally embarassing and the other dog thinks he wants to fight so automatically puts up his defences then wants to fight our dog...

Help me pleeeeeeeeeease ;-))

cheepskate_2

On the walking one: you need to walk the dogs separately until you get the barking one sorted, Its difficult to deal with a problem when you have the 2 on a lead. Socialization classes would be good for him..

As for the barking in the house, that is generally easy to stop as they are in a controlled environment. It just needs constant work , Distraction is usually better than constantly telling them off.
I am sure someone will be around to help how to do it, my brain is just not in place at monemt

Fosterdog

Well done on choosing to stay away from the collars.

As above walk them both separately for now.

If you can find someone with a laid back dog who is willing to help then it will be easier to train. Start at quite a distance, let your dog see the other dog, if he barks ignore him and walk him in the other direction until he has stopped barking/pulling. Walk back towards the other dog, keep repeating the above until he can see the dog from a distance with no barking. Then make a big fuss and treat him/play with him whatever reward he will react best to.

Keep doing the above gradually getting closer to the other dog, if he barks he's walked away, if he's calm he gets rewarded. It's important to not use any punishment, all this will do is teach him that other dogs mean he gets punished and will make the problem worse.

You may find he doesn't bark at all if he is walked without the other one, a lot of dogs react completely differently when they are alone compared to being with others.

It won't be a quick fix but in the long run you should be able to calmly walk past other dogs with no reaction. Then you can work on training him to greet other dogs nicely.

As for the one barking at home, first you need to teach him to bark "speak" on command. To do this just use a noise that you know will set him off barking then treat and use the command "speak" or whatever other word you choose and reward him.

It won't take long and you won't have to use a noise to make him "speak" but the command alone will make him bark.

Once he is trained to speak you can reverse the training, you make him speak then as soon as he stops use "quiet" or again whatever command you want to teach. Say this as soon as he stops barking and reward him, repeat this and eventually he will stop barking on command.

As with all training just training initially will only work long term if you keep up with it. Even if they seem to get the training within days you will need to follow thorough with the reward for a while otherwise they get more satisfaction from ignoring you than listening. You need to make your commands the best thing in the world to them.

Once they have the training you don'e have to reward every single time but still reward on an ad hoc basis to keep it ingrained in them.

Another bit of training that may help is to teach both of them a good "leave it" or "watch me" command. Anything that gets their focus away from what they are doing and in to you.

Good luck with this and I'm sure krlyr (she gives the best advice on here) and others will be along with more tips soon

krlyr

Posting on my phone so apologies for keeping it short. Fosterdog has covered it well. If you look in the Kikopup channel on YouTube, there are videos for stopping barking, so worth checking out - http://www.youtube.com/kikopup
Casper initally barked at a lot of the background noise here when we moved as he wasn't used to the regular noises like cars passing by, people walking past, etc. so I tried to nip him in the bud and give lots of praise in those few seconds he noticed the noise but didn't bark. If he did bark, I'd tell him "that's enough" as an interupter and praise him when he stopped. It becomes a cue almost as if you're thanking the dog for bringing it to your attention, but you don't need to keep being told!

If he seems to be on edge constantly it may be worth a vet trip to rule out a medical cause, anxiety can have a health cause that may need treatment. You might want to consider some calmative products to help relax him too, e.g. Adaptil, Pet Remedy, Zylkene, Calmex, a Thundershirt to name just a few options.

slimthinker

Thanx again folks....
OK which clicker..??

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DOG-TRAINING-CLICKER-TRAINER-TEACHING-TOOL-DOGS-PUPPY-/111000162029?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&hash=item19d8200eed

This one looks like the one used in the videos ;-)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clicker-for-Dog-Training-from-Melian-/160645789551?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&hash=item25673c376f

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dog-Pet-Cat-Puppy-Button-Click-Clicker-Training-Trainer-Aid-Wrist-Strap-Guide-/330828537402?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&var=&hash=item4d06eade3a

:beer:

GRM

krlyr wrote: »

You say you "use" it, as in you still have to keep it on the dog? .

Yes. He barks constantly without the collar. He worked out a low frequency growl that doesn't trigger the device when he wants to 'bark' at birds, horses, walkers etc.