Bark Busters - really as harmless as they say?

heartbreak_star

Hi all,

My mum gave me a Bark Buster device for our dog a few months ago, but I'm a little wary of using it. Basically when the dog barks, it chirps a high frequency noise to put them off.

Apparently they're harmless and break barking habits because the dog finds the noise unpleasant. Is this true, and can I use it without upsetting my dog?

HBS x

PudseyDB

Are there any other pets in the house? They'll hear it too!

heartbreak_star

Nope, just the crazy hound

HBS x

gettingready

Had one of those - no effect on MY dog whatsoever but the cats were terrified, they obviously heard it.. so packed it away

Wellyboots6

I got given one the other day to try (my night time barking thread).

I haven't dared use it yet either!

My worry is that it will either make him even more stressed and cause him to show it in other ways, or it just won't work at all and he will bark even louder to drown it out!

Trying to exhaust all other options first.

Is your dog constant barking, or just at certain things? In what situations in the barking happening?

heartbreak_star

People walking up the road can trigger it. In fact, anything can trigger it *sigh*

HBS x

krlyr

The problem with aversives (unpleasant or punishing stimulus) is that they have the potential to go wrong and cause even more problems in the future. You're purposely creating a negative association - if all goes as plans, it will be with the barking, but it just takes a bit of mistiming to create a negative association with something else - it could be with people, if the collar goes off when the dog sees someone, with another dog/animal in the house, with vehicles, the postman, etc.
Start causing a fearful reaction in a dog, tied to a trigger that they may see daily, and you could have a bigger problem on your hands than a bit of nuisance barking.

heartbreak_star

Hmm. I shall put my thinking cap on again then as she simply doesn't respond to distraction or positive reinforcement.

Thank you

HBS x

pawsies

People have said you can train a dog to go from a bark to a whine so shape it out gradually

Or just live with it, I have a barky breed- she barks when I try teaching her things so in training her not to bark she barks!

aileth

Have always wondered about this. Our pup is very barky. He barks when someone knocks on the door, when doorbell rings, when next door are banging about, any bangs outside. He barks at the TV (He hates horses & cows). He barks when he's in the back garden and he can hear children.

We always tell him 'No' or 'No bark'. He knows it is wrong because he gets that guilty look and starts whining instead of barking, but then will bark again if something sets him off. Have tried cuddling him when there's banging to try and comfort him that that's okay (We think it's because he gets anxious or scared) but he desperately tries to escape to go investigate!

Am I doing something wrong, or is it worth trying some of these so called bark busters, or is he just barky, or is there something we could enforce?

Raksha

Try catching the split second between the stimulus (noise) and the dog barking, give a command -sshhhhh - if you time it right and the dog doesn't make a noise, praise and reward. By using this technique I have got my labradoodle down from a full on demanding bark to a small woof (if he woofs, he doesnt get his reward, but we're still working on it)