How To Choose A Barking Dog Collar

So your dog barks and barks and you simply must have a solution. Have you noticed that we seek fast and easy solutions, but fast and easy solutions often aren't the best solutions? But there is certainly a place for a bark control collar in training a dog to reduce barking. But before you purchase a dog training collar, first try to determine why your dog is barking. Try to determine when and where the excess barking occurs.

If you do decide to purchase a dog training collar you have three options. The first type of collar is the citronella spray collar. The citronella collar sprays a light mist of citronella oil near the dog's nose when the dog barks. To avoid the spray, most dogs will stop barking as long as the collar is on. If you've ever been around citronella oil very much, you know how strong and unpleasant the odor is. It isn't harmful to the dog, but it certainly isn't much fun. The citronella collar is shown by some studies to be twice as effective as the second type of collar, the shock collar.

The shock collar zaps the dog with an electronic impulse whenever the dog starts barking. Usually the barking stops quickly because the dog wants to avoid the pain. And therein is the problem. The electrical jolt can be very painful to the dog, so many people feel these collars are inhumane. Plus, in many cases the bark control only works as long as the collar is on and the batteries are strong. Otherwise it's right back to barking. Also this approach sometimes produces fearful and frustrated dogs. As with any collar, if the underlying cause of the barking isn't dealt with, the collar is only a short-term solution.

A third collar type is the ultrasonic collar. Barking produces a high-pitched noise unpleasant to the dog but not audible to you. These work with some dogs, but not with others. And since you can't hear the noise it's difficult for you to monitor whether it's working or not. Consider using one of these over using a shock collar.

There is certainly a place for dog training collars for controlling excessive barking. Look to the cause of the barking and deal with the cause if possible before resorting to use of a collar. Consider the citronella collar over the shock collar.