excessive barking ultra sonic bark collar

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Thanks for all the advice. I'm prob making him sound worse than he is. If hes outside he doesn't bark at every little thing. I don't care if he barks at a squirrl or when I throw the ball and hes having fun he will bark when playing with the other dogs.

He will bark at people walking by which I know hes just defending what is his. Like I said if I can catch him before he sees the people and have him focus on me why they pass and I will throw him treats he will focus on me but if he sees them before me I can't break his focus of him charging the fence.

In the future I hope to get a privacy fence but then he will still be able to hear just not see so I'm not really sure if that would help or make it worse.

In the house even with the blinds closed he still must hear stuff outside. I of course don't hear anything lol and he will just jump off the couch and run and actually part the curtains to look out.

For example right now hes sleeping on the couch perfect little angle mode he can go from being like this to just jumping up and barking.

I'm going to look into a behaviorist to at least help me as she can come here and see him in action.

I really think he got bad from living with my inlaws they were always yelling at him for the barking and I really think they did more damage to him. I wasn't home I was at work then I would hear it when I got home that he would bark everytime they went down or up the stairs. I finally had to take him to work with me everyday.

Thanks again for everyones help.
 
BarbV said:
Again, the problem here is that it presupposes that you are right beside your dog when the barking starts. How do you control it when you are out of the house or the dogs are in the backyard and a squirrel runs by?
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I recommend reading the links

I don't believe you can nor should combine punitive with positive enforcement, ever. It's good practice to make a decision and set training criteria up front
 
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bibluegirl said:
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I'm going to look into a behaviorist to at least help me as she can come here and see him in action.

I really think he got bad from living with my inlaws they were always yelling at him for the barking and I really think they did more damage to him. I wasn't home I was at work then I would hear it when I got home that he would bark everytime they went down or up the stairs. I finally had to take him to work with me everyday.

Thanks again for everyones help.
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Oh I think there is definitely a clue in there. If they were yelling for barking it would have increased his anxiety... so a running up and down the stairs for him meant higher arousal and more trouble so more prolonged barking
 
Toffee's Mom said:
Oh I think there is definitely a clue in there. If they were yelling for barking it would have increased his anxiety... so a running up and down the stairs for him meant higher arousal and more trouble so more prolonged barking
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I totally agree and I didn't even think about that being an issue as we moved out a year ago but I'm sure that played a big part. He really is a sweet heart.
 
Hello All,

Great thread.

I'm here b/c I, too, have a serious barker. I've had Shelties since 1961, and Sully is very very barky, the barkiest of any dog I've had. He's not fearful or timid or anxious or OCD: He's a play barker, inside and out. What's especially a problem for us (and our neighbors) is that we're on a corner, hence our fenced yard runs along the sidewalk and street -- and Sully LOVES to fence-run w/cars, barking merrily the whole time.

And then he likes to bark at the neighborhood cats, the dog across the street, his herding ball, the flower pots, etc. When he plays, he barks. I've yelled at him, telling him "Quiet" and then quickly rewarding him verbally and w/treats when he stops barking, but the quiet is always short-lived if there is stimulation, and we can't completely remove all the stimulation. The only really effective means to keep him from raising he!! outside is to keep him inside . . . thereby denying him the activities he really enjoys.

So BarbV, I'm glad you mentioned the vibrating collar, as I'm going to give that a try. That seems less aggressive than a static collar.

I don't want to emotionally shut him down, but I don't want to risk some ticked off neighbor feeding Sully an anti-freeze laced biscuit, either.

Thanks!

-- mk --
 
Wow this is quite the thread. I really resent someone's statement that OCD is from poor breeding. Our girl comes from an excellent breeder and none of her littermates exhibit her behavior. We adopted her at 8 months. She came from the country to the city which for her personality was not the best move. She does bark at most things usual and unusual, I.e. when I take the comforter off the bed. No one has figured that one out. We have tried all kinds of anti-bark devices, water pistols, whistles, these all would work for maybe a week and then back to barking. We went to a homeopath, behaviorlist, tried anti-depressants (made her worse). We work with her constantly but we have come to the conclusion there is just no training that will work and now strickly do management. She is the sweetest, most loving girl but she has this quirck that no amount of training can cure so we use positive, calm assertiveness and plenty of treats and this helps us get through our days.
 
Oh my! I've reread this entire thread!

We surely are an opionated group! :wink2:

I think we can all agree that training and positive reinforcement is the way to go. But I think we can also agree that we can't be with our pups 24 x7 so sometimes pet parents have no choice but to look to other options.

We've discussed alot of those options already. I won't review these again except for one thing.....@mlk43611..... vibrating and static are the same thing.....what you should consider is an ultrasonic collar. No physical sensation but it emits a sound. You can program it be either positive or negative.

@Toffee's Mom...I read the entire thread...not sure what you meant by your comment. about my not having read it. :confused2:

And has far as "punitive" goes...what do you define as punitive? If my dog is barking like crazy and I correct him, is that punitive?

I believe you stop the behaviour and as soon as its stopped you reward. How is that punitive?
 
BarbV said:
....
We've discussed alot of those options already. I won't review these again except for one thing.....@mlk43611..... vibrating and static are the same thing.....what you should consider is an ultrasonic collar. No physical sensation but it emits a sound. You can program it be either positive or negative.

@Toffee's Mom...I read the entire thread...not sure what you meant by your comment. about my not having read it. :confused2:

And has far as "punitive" goes...what do you define as punitive? If my dog is barking like crazy and I correct him, is that punitive?

I believe you stop the behaviour and as soon as its stopped you reward. How is that punitive?
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yes that is punitive! If you are interested in learning more about the science and reasoning that is behind the science of learning I really do recommend reading the links.

Any remote collar is punitive because it corrects physically (sound is still physical aversion, and you can certainly argue painful to a dog...)

You really do have to choose what do you want: Correct or even punish your dog for each unwanted behaviour to teach him what NOT to do and be good at it,with good timing and being consistent OR you want to train your dogs with positive reinforcement... You simply cannot mix BOTH successfully, although there are some on that bandwagon, calling themselves balanced but that is not a recognized scientific approach. (nor common sense imo)
I LOVE the following quote, that is what got me started educating myself a couple of years back and it turned my habits upside down! I NEVER looked back since
I turned my reactive dog around and now successfully enter and participate in dog sports and other places where there are tons of dogs and people and I am simply never worried nor stressed anymore over my dog!! I have the best relationship I have ever had with a dog and I am grateful for it.

"To reward sometimes and punish at others makes the worst of all relationships; one that is psychologically as damaging as a human/human relationship in which the spouse is showered with gifts sometimes, and punched in the face at others. The confused canine will be equally stressed and fearful, will not trust you and behave erratically.

Each time your dog feels threatened, his survival instincts will be strengthened and his reactive behaviors conditioned. Trained fear biters react to more and more non-hazardous situations due to a more and more conditioned fear response. "
http://www.voice4dogs.com/science.html
 
Barb - a vibrating collar is not the same as a static or shock-collar (which are illegal here). Does your phone give you an electric jolt when you have it on vibrate, if it does you should take it back.

Toffee's mum I suggest if you want to talk about the science of learning you should read up about operant conditioning, both in human psychology and how it is used in animal training. Interestingly the most recent research showing children raised on purely positive reinforcement are more likely to turn into bullies because they don't learn boundries and consequence.

As I previously said, I am surprised by what you see as punitive. Over here debarking is considered punitive and an avenue of last resort. Crating is also considered punitive. Why would you leave a dog confined in a small space like that for extended periods, it isn't natural, (dingos and the feral dogs of anheim land don't confine themselves). Behaviorists here recommend often recommend bark collars, and head collars are regularly used. Both deal with behaviours that can have a serious impact on an owner/dog relationship. It's about balance.
 
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