Hello,

I have a beagle who is 3 years old, he seems to bark constantly lately and I have had a few complaints in the past- I believe I have tried everything! I have seen this and the reviews seem to be very positive, but I thought Id ask the experts!!

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/deluxe-anti-bark-spray-collar-for-dogs-by-multivet-13727

Its an anti bark collar that sprays when he barks... any experience... please help- its seriously driving me crazy and I love my boy soooo much!!

Thank you

Tell us about the context in which it will be used.

Is it when he is with you or in your absence

If the latter how long he is left for.

What do you give him to do in your absence.

If you leave him for how long?

You need to understand that there are some down sides to using a collar such as this.

The first, and most important one, is if the dog is barking because it is distressed, he will now be distressed and PUNISHED for being distressed;

Another problem is that what happens when the reservoir empties and he keeps barking?

Some dogs learn that if they bark a lot very quickly, the reservoir empties and then they can bark forever........

If he has only started to bark lately after several years, what has triggered this?

Hello,

It is mostly when I leave him- there are other point when he barks alot but those I can deal with and try to train him.
It is for use when I am not here, he barks whenever I leave him and he probably is distressed, I have tried EVERYTHING though and it doesntmatter if he is left for 10 minutes or 2 hours. I now setlle him into his crate when I go out, as if he is going to bed, sometimes it works and he thinks its bed time and is ok- other times he isnt fooled. I have genuinely tried eveerything and while I may be punishing him for being distressed it is a chain reaction from him barking, I really dont know what else to try...

Obviously the first time I put the collar on him, I wont actually leave the house, I'd have to be around to see if he takes to it or not or if it upsets him too much, do youhave any experience of these?

Do you give him a good work out physical and mental before you leave him?

What do you leave in his crate with him to occupy him?

A tug a jug?  Buster Cube? Filled Kong?

You could give him stuff in the crate in your absence that he gets at no other time, even feed him via the buster cube (if you feed dry) instead of free food in a bowl; this will occupy his brain, give him something for that Beagle inquisitiveness to do and go someway to satiating his hunting instinct.

I have tried such a collar on several dogs -back when we had neighbours and a big problem with them. In a nutshell they don't work. The dog either learns to bark until the canister empties (you'd be surprised how quickly that can happen and how much the refills cost!), or they learn to actually kick the little box further up the neck so the spray goes past the ear and don't hit them. Or for a sensitive stressed dog, like Tohme says you will end up with a dog that is even more stressed.

These collars are not suitable for an unattended dog.  They are intended to be a training tool and you need to be there to reinforce the positives.  Additionally you must never leave an unattended dog in a crate wearing a collar - it's far too easy for them to get it stuck and get into serious trouble.  Collars such as these are quite big too and more liable to get caught on the crate.

I've tried one of these collars and it's ok if I'm two steps behind him as he looks at me every time it sprays (which enables me to intervene, distract and reward) but if I was any further away, or in the loo etc, he'd just keep on barking which defeats the object.

It sounds as if you need to deal with his worry or boredom when you leave him.  I'd suggest going back to basics with minutes at a time, or look at some of the reading material on separation anxiety.  If you have neighbour issues can you soundproof his room a bit better whilst you work on the problem?

>The dog either learns to bark until the canister empties (you'd be surprised how quickly that can happen and how much the refills cost!),

A friend of mine used one of these and her girl did the same thing, she was however supervised when it was being worn..
She even used a remote spray collar which worked better, however once the collar was off the dog reverted back again to her ways..

I can only offer sympathy since I have a welsh male voice choir that goes into full volume when the three of them  are left alone, according to my neighbours. I also considered spray collars, DAP diffusers, calming remedies etc, but in the end have decided that they will just accompany me whenever and wherever they can. The worst time is in hot weather, because they have to stay home. Not all my neighbours are understanding or polite and it can get extremely stressful even though I mainly work from home and rarely leave them for any amount of time.The trouble with three is that the howler trained up his colleagues far faster and more effectively than I could untrain him. I would love to hear a suggestion, I am willing to try anything.

For me personally I would advise against using any collar like this if your dog is distressed when you leave him.  I would however book some time off work and go back to basics in training your dog to be happy when left.

I would start by in the daytime when I was around putting him in the area he is to be left in with something really nice - raw marrow bone works well for this.  Leave him for a couple mins and return to him, let him out with a very calm quiet 'good boy'.  Remember not to hype up your returns to him, just calmly release him from where he is.  Continue this throughout the day, every day and then build up to leaving him for longer, you can freeze the marrow bones and take them out for special occasions so it keeps his interest whilst you are not with him.

The trouble with three is that the howler trained up his colleagues far faster and more effectively than I could untrain him

lol lol  i have enough trouble with two but luckily the neighbours are ok. i would suggest moving?