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Re: Anti Bark Collar

At 02:22 PM 1/5/02 -0800, you wrote:

So here is a question from my parents. They are in their mid 70s, and 8
months ago brought home a new toy poodle. "Gabby" (appropriately named) is
10 months now, weighs 6.5 pounds, and generates more noise then any 10
Golden Retrievers I know.  They are desperate; you cannot even have a phone
conversation with my parents without going nuts.

So, they asked what we know about anti bark collars. Renee and I are
clueless, but perhaps some of you can offer some advice, cautions, or other
pearls of wisdom.

Thanks a bunch!
Lbs

Hi Leigh,

This is a toy breed problem, Trypod is living proof though he is not as bad as "Gabby" so it sounds. Bark collars do work, but the only ones that really work are the ones that shock at the first bark. There are some that will allow barking for 30 seconds then reset and if the dog is good for 1 minute will go back to the first setting. The dogs learn too fast that they get what ever time they get to bark and learn to keep quiet for the one minute to get that 30 seconds back.

The big problem with bark collars with toy breeds is the weight around the neck, as all collars use batteries. Some call for a 9 volt battery, never weighed one but I don't think I would hang a 9 volt battery around Trypods neck, he weighs 7 pounds, and expect it to hold up for long orthopedically his neck that is...

De barking is not usually a good viable option either as all that does is make the noise quieter and actually in my opinion even more offensive, they still bark and the noise is raspy...

My opinion would be to find a trainer someone knowledgeable who could work with your parents on behavior modification. Also if this dog is not crate trained, crate train it! Toy breeds do not know they are small and will often be more assertive because of this. Does this dog have a breeder? Maybe the breeder can shed some light on training...

I am sure you did a web search and have found the various companies... I did one and did not find any I thought were small enough to work with a toy...

Gina