Does anyone have any first hand experience on the effectiveness on these anti barking collars.
I am thinking about buying one for two of my dogs but dont want to waste my money if they are just another gimmick. I can rent one but its just as cheap to buy one in the long term.
Sandie.

Sandie,

You'll get differing responses on here, but I'll put in a vote 'FOR' - my younger girl, who is very fond of the sound of her own voice, stops immediately it goes on.  She had it on initially for a couple of weeks, and we use it as a refresher occasionally for a couple of hours if she gets noisy, so I would definitely buy rather than rent.

Would also make sure you buy the Aboistop, as other people I know have found that the others don't sit right on the dog's neck and aren't so effective.

I find mine a GODSEND!!

M.

Another FOR here ;-)  I use them for 2 of my dogs and they really do work. Worth every penny! 

im against. a friend used a bark collar on their dog and it just caused him to bark more :|  i think every dog is different though.  And this was one of those anti bark collars that made a horrible high pitched noise whenever he barked.  And they kept it on him all day!

so it may well work for u. good luck

Have you tried behavioural modification first?

i don't have anything against the ones that emit a puff of air or water, I have grave reservations about those that squirt citronella or mustard up the dog's nose, considering what a sensitive organ it is................

We have tried everything in the book, the abiostop is our last resort.
Sandie.

I agree it should be used as  a last resort because whilst some dogs ignore it, others are petrified of it. Take for example my friend's situation; one flatcoat and one golden retriever who barked a bit and annoyed the neighbours. The flatcoat was not at first bothered by the aboistop, and partially stopped barking. She then graduated on to a MasterPlus for other training, and he was not too bothered, but after a while he did start to show some upset so she stopped using it.

Her golden retriever on the other hand was terrified and ran into his basket and lay there shivering and refusing to come out for 10 minutes. He was also very jittery for a few days after in a general sense.

Both dogs are much better now re. barking due to the fact that they are settled more in the house (long story).

If you do decide to try it, my suggestion would be to let it spray near the dog first to gauge the reaction; also, i believe they can be activated by other dogs and by other noises. It may be an idea to hang it say, near the door or window as it would then spray as they barked and may still do the job.

Have you tried a DAP? It does have a great calming effect (good for anxiety etc and fireworks, chewing etc) and i would say takes a good edge off behaviour, but not sure how it would work with other situations where adrenalin may be pumping. YOu could ring the makers and see what they say ...?

Hth
Lindsay
X

Have you adressed why your dog is barking in the first place? Do you know the reason?

A customer next to me in the pet shop was asking about such a collar(my pet shop refuses to sell them) she said her golden retriever was barking all day long WHILE THEY WERE AT WORK and the neighbours were complaining,i would have thought the solution was obvious???

These collars may temporarily stop the barking,but they will not get rid of the reason of why the dog is barking in the first place,they are just a band aid :(

First hand experience: My ex neighbour used one on his dog,this poor dog is now a blithering mess,he pee's himself at any loudish noise,he is a shadow of what he used to be. The citronella types?? I would be paranoid that it would destroy one of the the most important parts of a dogs anatomy...their sent receptors???

I know someone whose dog just closed it's eyes and barked non stop till the collar was empty :D- hav'nt used one personally though so can't say how effective they are

Was that a BSD? :D

Lindsay
X

One owner told me her dog buried his head in a cushion and barked until it was emptied.

I think it was a bull terrier.

Dogs are so clever .

Lindsay
X

YES ! :p

I knew it LOL ;)

Lindsay
X

I personally havent had to use one, and dontknow anyone hwo has. But if my dog did bark all day, and I had tried everything else, I would use one of the ones that use a puff of air, or water as thome said. :)

wispa was clever when she had the collar on she would but her head to the side a bark so the spary didnt go up her face.but i only got to get it out and show her the collar she run away.

I bought an abiostop.. sadly I do not have anything positive to say about it... yet I have heard it does work for some. I put the abiostop on my female who "learnt to bark once, it would spray bark again and so on... til it was empty. Then she would bark all the while it was empty, making her barking far worse than without it :-( I tired different "flavours" and still that did did not work.
I would suggest behaviour modification, a behaviourist may be of some help.
If you do decided to buy a abiostop, definatley check out many sellers as they have  a vast price range from £50-90 depending where you get them form. PM me if you are thinking of buying one, I got mine for £52.

Good luck,

Des

We use one successfully with our one girl.  She needs a refresher every so often, but it's been a lifesaver.  I borrowed one first so that we could try it out just in case it didn't work - but within a couple of days it was totally working so we bought one.

We sold that one on and bought a different style as they started making them smaller and I didn't like the big one on her neck, but that's the only reason we got rid of our first one.

But yes - you'll find they work really well for some dogs and other dogs will figure out how to work around them.  If you can borrow or rent one (there is a site online that rents them by the week) you may be better off.

Wendy