You’re losing sleep, the neighbors are complaining, no one in your house can watch TV or talk on the phone without headphones, trucks on the way home or friends at the front door bring a furious barking blast your way. usually a mild-mannered family dog. Are you disappointed?
You would do anything to stop the barking. You see an online ad that promises success, you impulsively order a device, you can’t wait for it to arrive. You have hope. You can stop barking.
The device arrives. (If you ordered from a country you don’t live in, the device arrives months after you’ve completely given up hope.) The instructions aren’t easy to understand.
You know enough to charge it. Then you use the device.
The device does not seem to work.
You’re not sure exactly what it’s supposed to do. You read the instructions again. Unintelligible. You remember one assurance from online advertising. device will stop your dog from barking… forever.
No.
Now the dog is behaving strangely.
You’re not sure why?
You don’t know what to do next.
Try again?
I have installed. “When flood control devices don’t stop a dog’s barking, what went wrong?”
I asked dog experts and dog groomers to answer that question.
Lynn Brezina (Illinois) Failure to address the underlying problem, which is not always easy to identify.
Photo by Abigail Whittower
Denise Nuttall (United Kingdom) Motive for barking not identified. Barking is multi-functional. Dogs bark because they are scared, lonely, sad, angry, happy, bored, deaf, or because they are responding socially to another dog. None of these factors will be addressed with an anti-cortical collar. I once worked with someone who used one because their dog would bark when they went outside. The dog found out that when the owners went out, they got tremors in the neck. This made them more anxious, resulting in even more barking even though they were being “punished” for it. Barking can be easily resolved by dealing with the underlying causes.
Julie Ellingson (California) I had a similar experience with a client who left a bark collar on her dog at a grooming salon. The dog barked, yelped as he was shocked, shocked to yell, and then started screaming in pain and fear and was shocked the whole time. We couldn’t get the damn thing off fast enough. That poor dog. This was many years ago. I still hate them.
Don Hanson (Maine) If the barking is intolerable to a human, then you have to ask why they have a dog.
Christine Hale Vertucci (Illinois) It’s often unbearable for neighbors, especially those who live in apartment buildings. While I was working at the shelter, we had so many dogs that were surrendered or at risk of being surrendered [for barking].
Jeanne Brennan (California) Everyone I’ve ever met who tried bark collars (shock or citrus spray) did so because of complaints from neighbors.
Connie Sagona Petit (New Hampshire) I didn’t know. I have never used a device. I have trained my dogs to stop barking when I say “No barking”.
Beth Fable (Washington) For what it’s worth, I was saying that. Then I got Jasper and despite extensive training, he’s a really good dog, happy full life etc, he’s still the barkiest dog I’ve ever met. He reacts and barks at the TV, disturbances he sees outside, his little brother when they start playing, anything. If I lived in an apartment, I would probably get evicted.
Connie Sagona Petit Admittedly, Dexter (the current dog) is only a year and a half old and is a slower learner than his predecessors. Last night the TV doorbell made him lose his marbles, and this morning the snowplow did the same. He’s a work in progress, but he’s getting there. Now, when I say, “No barking,” he runs to stuff his mouth with his favorite ball so he can’t bark.
Timothy Page (Oregon) I have taught Chiquis to obey the command “shut up” with real training. Lalo learned the rote command by osmosis with Chikis. Somehow, the hush command was one of the few commands Coco came up with. The first time I said “shut up” he shut up immediately. For Chikis, he boxed on flyballs, but when he was in the box, he barked. As soon as he was silent for a second, I went to treat him. I began to wait longer in silence before treatment. When I added the word “quiet” to the process, he learned and eventually didn’t need to be treated anymore. Sometimes, much later, when he sat at the window and watched passers-by tell me to “shut up,” he would mutter in the voice of a dog: “But I want to bark.” It really sounded like it. She was such a sweet princess.
Glenda Lee (Maine) lack of training. The dog is constantly barking upstairs. And then he shouts. At 13, he’s not likely to stop, but if he’d been taught from the start, he wouldn’t bark every time a dog within a two-mile radius scratches his ear.
Christine Hale Vertucci (Illinois) Dog becomes collar wise. Does not bark when the collar is on, but does bark when it is off. Or, with progressive collars, the dog finds out how many times it can bark until the collar reaches a level that the dog is punishing.
Tom Robinson (Washington) My former neighbors had two dogs that were rescued and not trained at all. When I was in my yard, they wouldn’t stop barking at me. The treats only stopped them when the treats were present, then they went back to barking non-stop. I tried several cheap handheld high frequency bark stoppers and every single one of them made the dog nod and move away. Everyone [the devices] died just a few weeks later. Bad quality.
Annie Zeck (Washington) You say, well, all of a sudden I’m shaking and hurting my dog and waiting for him to shut up. It hurts amazingly you silent? Then why…?
Dia Barney Nonaka (Arizona) When trying to teach a dog something goes wrong, people often ask what went wrong. What happened to the dog? The equipment. The answer to the question “What went wrong?” it is almost always “man”. The most common threat with these devices is humans. In general, people do not want to hurt their dog. These devices try to stop barking by responding to barking with something unpleasant. It has to be unpleasant to work. People don’t want to cause their dogs trouble, yet they put them to the lowest possible level. While annoying, it’s not enough to stop the barking. So the barking goes on. People increase the intensity while the dog gets more and more used to it. Now you have a person who has caused their dog the very distress they were trying to avoid… and: barking dog People want it to work without harming the dog. But it has to hurt them or at least annoy them enough to work.
Nan Ken Arthur (Arizona) The dog developed a fear of anything that makes a sound because the collar beeps before it is shocked. I’ve had a few clients like that. Sound signals from televisions, alarms, and telephones will unsettle these dogs, and one will urinate when sounds are heard. It is much better to find out why the dog is barking and help them than to hurt them.
Mikha Mikhlevich (Maryland) Dogs bark. This is one of their limited vocalizations as a species. For humans, a species that talks a lot more, we have a very low tolerance for any barking. These collars do not work on anything but the most superficial level because they do not address the underlying causes of the barking. Dogs have needs and wants that aren’t being met other than normal, healthy barking. Separation anxiety, boredom from lack of stimulation, overstimulation due to too much stress placed on them, fear, anxiety, needing to use the bathroom, etc. All these needs must be addressed. Everyday, normal barking responds better to simply teaching the “Quiet” signal (wait quietly, put the word and reward), or teach them to bark at a lower volume (wait for quieter barks, put the cue word). to it and rewarding). No need for a collar. They are not constructive.
What are you doing now?
Try to get your money back. If the device doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work. Good luck.
Comment on the seller’s ad online, especially if you have gone through the formal process of claiming compensation. (That gives you more credibility, I think, for comment readers.)
Submit complaints to state bodies if the device vendor is located in the US
Complain about social media sites that accept ads from the seller.
Don’t pass the anti-bark device on to a friend or donate it to a charity shop. Trash it. That’s all it’s worth.
From an online ad for an anti-aging device. “You deserve peace and quiet.”
I had to add one more question. “What does yours do?” a dog earn?”
Ask yourself that.
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