Bark Collars

Bark collars are one of a special class of collars to help you get along with your dogs. They work in a similar fashion to an Ecollar except that they're triggered by the dog's barking, rather than by you pushing the button on a transmitter. Their timing is always perfect and they're consistent. As long as you follow the simple instructions and keep the batteries in good shape, they'll give a stim anytime your dog barks.

They're not meant to teach your dog never to bark, only to teach him not to bark when the collar is worn. This allows you to teach your dog to bark on command or during an exercise but still keep him from barking when it's not desirable, such as when he's home alone.

Before you spend your money I'd suggest that you try a few other methods that don't involve the expense of purchasing the bark collar and often work. Try giving your dog a Kong filled with peanut butter. Some people freeze this overnight to make it last longer. Try leaving a radio on a talk radio station, or some "soft" rock. Try giving your dog some extra exercise to help wear him out. If you haven't done any OB training with him, do some. Often just doing this solves the problem.

There were problems with older models of these collars. Some of them could be activated by the barking of nearby dogs or even by jiggling your house keys. But those problems have been solved with modern versions of the tool. Today many forward thinking boarding kennels have all the dogs wearing bark collars, so that the dogs can get their rest. In kennels that don't do this, if one dog barks, they all start barking.

There is some discussion on the Net about a potential problem that can arise if two dogs are in close proximity and one of them is new to bark collars. That discussion centers around comments from those who oppose bark collars and Ecollars. They say that a dog who's new to bark collars may think that the other dog "got him" and become aggressive towards that dog. A dog that is very new to bark collars doesn't know that his bark is what caused the stim. It will take a few barks for him to figure out what's causing it. I recommend that you separate any dogs that you have, if you're introducing the bark collar, until they figure it out. The other dog will be a distraction and you want to introduce new training in a distraction-free environment as is practical.

I've never heard of this actually happening and I know of thousands of dogs that have worn bark collars. There are a couple of urban legends floating around the Internet about this happening but not one of them has ever been verified. Not one of the four major manufacturers of bark collars thinks this is serious enough an issue to put a warning about it in their instructions. In the theory it allows that if you don't follow the instructions and set the collar on a very high level of stim this might occur. But if you follow the instructions, it's all but impossible. Once the dog wearing the bark collar knows that it's his barking that causes the stim, you can put the dogs together again.

Those opposed to the bark collar rarely mention that if this can even occur (and it's quite doubtful that it can) it's also a problem with all models of bark collars including the citronella ones, air spray models, water spray models and those that make a noise. Those folks think that those collars are "more humane" but they don't want to make any statements that might have people shy away from them and go towards the bark collar.

There are some stories on the Net that I do believe. In one of them two dogs, one of them wearing a bark collar, were playing. One dog started barking at the other and after this happened several times, became aggressive towards the other dog. In this case, each time the dog wearing the bark collar barked, he also yelped! This is a clear indication that the stim level is set too high. After this occurred several times, the obvious display of aggression became an attack.

There were several obvious warning signals that should have been seen, even by a novice pet owner. First was the vocalization with every stim. If your dog vocalizes, except for the first few stims he gets, the stim level is set too high. He may vocalize a few times out of a startle response but that should soon stop. If it doesn't, reduce the level of stim.

Another warning was the growling at the other dog after a few stims. This is an obvious display of aggression and the dogs should have been separated.

But the most important thing in this situation was the stim level. Had it been set properly this attack never would have occurred. Dogs don't become aggressive when they feel low level stims. They sometimes DO become aggressive when they feel high levels of stim. This is a theme that you will find runs throughout this site.

This may have been a case of misplaced aggression, where a dog is showing aggression towards something but "takes it out" on another, nearby object, or it may have been a case of the dog just becoming frustrated because he was being stimmed for barking. Either way, it could have easily been prevented, first by proper selection of the stim level and second by separating the dogs as soon as the display of aggression started.

I recommend that you remove the bark collar if you're going to play with your dog or if he's going to play with another dog. Remember that bark collars are intended to stop barking when you're not present, when the dog is left alone. If you ARE present, you should teach the dog to stop barking on command. If you have more than one dog and are leaving them alone together, make certain that the stim level has been properly set. But you should be doing this in any case.

I said on the Articles Page that in order to use this site If you're a beginner, this is very much a "read and follow the instructions carefully and closely" situation.

Some people NEED the tag on the electric cord for their hair dryer that says "WARNING: Do not use in the shower." If you're one of those folks, please, don't bother using an Ecollar or a bark collar. Sell your dog and get a fish.

One problem that used to occur was that if the stim was set too high or the dog was surprised by the stim, he'd yip, tripping the stim again; then he'd yip again. Yip-stim-yip-stim, well you get the picture. Some modern versions of the tool have a delay before they'll stim again, so the dog does not get punished for an involuntary yip.

Dogs bark for many reasons; boredom, to "answer" another dog that's barking, to reunite the pack, to drive off an intruder, or loneliness are among them.

How effective a bark collar is at stopping the barking depends on several factors. One is how long the dog has been barking before the cure has been attempted. The sooner you attack the problem, the better your chances of stopping it. Other factors are; why the dog is barking and how driven he is to bark.

You should remove other collars the dog is wearing, particularly hard ones, such as any metal collar. They can bump against the bark collar and activate it.

As with the Ecollar you'll have to determine what the proper level of stim is for your dog unless you get one that is automatic. With these, when the dog barks they give a very low level stim. If he barks again, they ramp up the stim level a bit. This will continue until a level is reached and the dog stops barking. Better ones "remember" the last stim level and when you turn them off and then back on, will set directly to that level again. the idea is that the dog selects the level of stim that he needs to get him to stop barking.

I'm not a fan of these automatic types of bark collars. Sometimes it's desirable for a dog to bark, even though he's wearing the bark collar. An example might be if someone tried to break into your home. You want your dog to bark in that situation to drive the crook off and attract your neighbor's attention; but you still want to stop the "bored barking" or territory guarding (from other dogs) barking. The collars that have you selecting the setting will allow you to choose a setting that will stop the random barking but allow for barking that comes with the heightened excitement that a break-in will bring. At that time the dog will be distracted and probably won't even feel the stim. But because the automatic ones will keep ramping up the stim, they may rise above the dog's excitement level and he'll stop barking completely.

With manual models (which I recommend as they're simpler and less likely to have problems of reliability) start with it set at the lowest level on the collar and put your dog into the situation where he normally barks. DO NOT give him a command to bark while he's wearing the bark collar! If you do that and he gets stimmed for it, he may never bark on command again, and I wouldn't blame him.

If he barks and continues to bark, for a prolonged period of time, say 30 minutes, turn it up one level. If his bark sounds different to you, that's an indication that he's feeling the stim. Leave it on that setting for a day or so. If he continues to bark, turn it up one level. It may take him several episodes before he realizes that it's his barking that brings the stim.

One of the problems with a bark collar, because they're sometimes worn for long periods of time, is skin irritation from the pressure of the contact points against the dog's skin. Do not leave the bark collar on for longer than 10 hours at a time. If the dog gets wet it may make him more susceptible to sores from the contact points.

Bark collars are among the easiest to use of electronic training devices. As with training collars, stick to the top brands, TriTronics or Dogtra. The instructions that come with quality bark collars are quite good. Follow them carefully and you won't have any problems.

Choose a model that has at least 5 levels of stim. One brand advertises that it has four "settings." They are "on" and "off" and "low" and "high." In reality, they only offer two levels of stim, "low" and "high." Some models are operated by user replaceable batteries and others by rechargeable batteries. You'll have to decide which is best for you.

 

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© 2007 Lou Castle