Can anyone offer advice on the use of anti bark collars (scented, non-scented) in the context of attempting to cure a barker in a household of three dogs? Would he need to wear it all the time, what experiences have you had (good or bad)? and is there anything else recommended for a dog that goes nuts with the mailman and window cleaner? Once again, thanking you all in anticipation of the usual excellent advice.

With more than one dog, it generally does NOT work. If another dog barks nearby it will set the collar off. Also a lot of dogs  quickly learn that they can either bark and bark until the collar is empty (and the refills are very expensive!), or they kick the collar so that the spray ends up not hitting the face as the container will no longer be sitting under the neck but at the side. Tried it with two dogs (a couple of years apart), same results both times, will never bother again. Also it can distress a sensitive dog a lot so much caution needed.

I wouldnt know about using one within a pack? I have a citronella one which did work for us. He needed to wear it temporarily, once his barking habit was gone we would put the collar on him without the spray in it. I still have it for sale if your interested?

misswager, I would be interested but can you pm me with the brand please? The advice seems to be that I would need to get a collar that can only be activated by the dog wearing it, otherwise if the other two bark he gets the blast.

I don't think such a collar exists unless you get a remote controlled one and control it yourself. I watched my dog get squirted many a time whilst being totally quiet, due to the other dogs barking. My collar was an Aboistop.

Hi Jay,this is what you are looking for-http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/INNOTEK-SPRAY-ANTI-BARK-STOP-BARKING-DOG-PUPPY-COLLAR_W0QQitemZ150392293612QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs?hash=item23041448ec

It works only if the dog wearing it barks,its not triggered off by other dogs barking.It does come with a citronella canister which I'm not keen on as I don't think its fair for the dog to still smell the citronella when its not barking but it works fine with the unscented refills as well.

Hi MarianneB, did your barker improve with this collar or was he just confused by getting squirted?

It worked for about two days then he learnt to move the collar around so the squirt didn't hit him.

Yes, I can see something similar happening with Diesel, he is a very smart cookie :-)

> is there anything else recommended for a dog that goes nuts with the mailman and window cleaner?

Rather than focusing on trying to stop the dog barking, you could focus on stopping it wanting to bark in the first place, ie. positive association tot he triggers. You know that window cleaners and the postie start the dog barking so you can set up these things in order to instill a positive association, once learnt, the dog wont bark and will be quite happy in not barking (rather than simply supressing it's bark to stave off an aversive).

here's a link to a video that may help, I haven't watched it all, but it starts with clicker training to get a dog to associate a washing machine with treats (previously it would bark at the washing machine).

the aboistop collar can go off if mobile phones are in close proximity...

Rather than the collar, I'd be interested in knowing whether anyone has tried the Bark buster that you fix to the fence and sets off a high pitched noise activated by dogs barking.  Apparently it deters both your own and neighbours dog from barking. http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/prodinfo.asp?number=BARKBUSTER&variation=

We have a problem with neighbours dog setting off mine and visa versa and wondered if this might help both.

bark buster is absolute rubbish, those garden things didnt work at all

i find them good things as we have one on our dog, only problem being he has to wear it ALL the time as it hasnt stopped him from barking ive also found that we he shakes himself (as dogs tend to do) it sprays then so not great overall but a worth while invest hope this helps

Someone I know has a chronic barker so she bought one of the collars but it didn't work. The first time the dog stopped, I think it was suprise but then realising the spray didn't actually hurt her, she just barked right through the spray. The air was thick with cironella but the dog was still barking :)

If it hasn't stopped him barking why did you carry on using it?