Can you recommend an anti-bark collar that works for high pitched barks?

November 8, 2007 9:30 PM

Can you recommend an anti-bark collar that works for a dog with high pitched barks?

I have a small dog with a barking problem. I bought an anti-bark collar, but the next time she barked, she didn't react to it at all. Trying it out on my own neck, I discovered that it only shocked me when I made a low-pitched barking noise, but not when I made one that approximated the pitch of my dog's barks.

So, I have to return the one I bought, but can you guys recommend a model that might work for a dog with a higher-pitched bark? The one I tried was the "Deluxe little dog bark control" collar made by PetSafe.

posted by clarahamster to pets & animals (5 comments total)

The right people are going to scream at you for your audacity to use a shocking collar, especially an "automatic" one. Whatever. I use zap collars too, but always ones with a remote. I bought mine from cabellas. I like the remote because I use it for one behavior at a time as a simple "no" reenforcement. "BARK" "NO" "BARK" "ZAP". Rinse repeat.

The thing is that you need to know why your dog is barking...if it's a fear response or a dominance response, you might very well be provoking your dog to bite by using an automatic zapping collar or even zapping for barking at all.
posted by TomMelee at 4:55 AM on November 9, 2007

The barking typically happens when she's "defending" the condo, whether from something she saw outside, or a neighbor walking down the hallway. The neighbors in the hallway one is the big problem -- someone is upset.

I've tried various other appoaches and they haven't really made a dent in the barking. It's as much of a problem on days when she's had lots of exercise as days where she hasn't had much.
posted by clarahamster at 7:04 AM on November 9, 2007

I think a better solution maybe than the bark collar is training (recreate the situation over and over and over with correction until the dog learns it's no big deal...I can give more info on that if you'd like) and a crate. I'm a big fan of on-the-leash-inside-the-house-while-we-work-on-your-attitude training too. I think all those things could work together pretty quickly and might be a better answer than a bark collar.
posted by TomMelee at 7:35 AM on November 9, 2007

Could you try a spray bottle? Most dogs hate it or get distracted by it. There is a citronella collar that recreates the effect, but some dogs learn to avoid the spray. If you're around her for enough barking time, maybe she'll get the picture.
posted by walla at 8:49 AM on November 9, 2007

"anti-bark collar that works"

Does not exist.
posted by bunnycup at 10:16 AM on November 9, 2007