It’s a device that gives the dog annoying audio feedback, which may or may not be audible to humans depending on the setting. This thing.
Has anybody used it? Did it work? If so, how long did it take?
Let me elaborate a bit. My dog, who is a year-old Border collie mix, barks. A lot.
However, we live next door to a dachshund who barks all the time, that is, from the moment her owners leave in the morning until they get home at night, but she’s not loud. On the other side, there is a large dog with a loud bark. Some days he barks a lot, some days not so much.
I will let my dog out, and if large dog barks, my dog will bark. He will bark if I’m out there with him. He will run around the yard trying to find out what large dog is barking at, and in the process, if he happens to run to the side of the yard which abuts dachshund’s yard, he will bark along with her for awhile.
There is a house a couple of blocks away that has a permit for up to 9 dogs–some kind of kennel. It’s a holiday weekend, the kennel is full, and I can hear those dogs barking, and so can my dog. His response? Barkity bark bark bark.
He is driving me crazy with this. It would be one thing if I left him in the yard by himself and he was bored. I don’t do that. I let him out to do his stuff, and he’s not out there 30 seconds before he starts barking. He will bark while peeing and in mid-squat. Usually when he barks I bring him right in, but obviously I have to let him out at some point.
I have been very patiently saying “Hush,” and stuffing treats in his mouth, and it just hasn’t worked. Some barking has abated (when he’s inside–he used to bark a lot then, too). But he’s not getting it about outside barking, and he’s about that close to getting a shock collar (which I am opposed to, but my husband isn’t).
As a possible extra bonus, this device says it can work on your neighbor’s dogs, too!
I’d have killed for something like this when I was growing up across the street from asshole dog owners.
Lots of people probably would–which is what makes me wonder if it really works. Or is it like those “ultrasonic” things that you hang on your doorknob to chase spiders and mice out of your house? Those things are snake oil. At least, they had no effect on my spiders.
I very much doubt this works at all. “Unpleasant” noises won’t make a dog stop barking.
There are alternatives to electric “shock” collars; like ones that squirt citrus oil in the dog’s face. With any sort of a good collar you can set it to allow the dog to bark a few times - a normal dog thing, after all - before the aversive correction.
I taught a barky dog not to bark by teaching her to bark on command. After three woofs, I’d tell her thanks, good dog, settle. After a while that became her default - something would set her off, she’d bark a few times then come to me for approval and quiet down.
Border collies are extremely high-energy, noisy working dogs prone to neurotic and bothersome behaviour if they don’t get their ya-yas out every day. If your BC mix has a typical BC temperament he needs more daily physical (and mental) exercise than going out in the yard to do his business…if that’s all he gets, remember the saying “a tired dog is a good dog.” 
Anytime you google “is ‘x’ a scam” and you get covered up with sites purporting to be skeptical review sites that found it works just fine, you can be pretty well assured you have a scammy scam on your hands.
Not too impressive.
This is what I wanted to say. I know you said he’s just a border collie mix, but still… border collies are not lap dogs or indoor dogs. They **will **bark and fuss and chew up your shit if you don’t provide them with sufficient mental and physical stimulation. That means tons of exercise and games, and preferably anywhere from an acre of land to an entire farm to run around on. If you want a quiet obedient indoor dog, there are much more suitable breeds than border collies.
Ugfh. At a year old, your dog may not have the maturity yet to ignore them. This one may take a while.
What would happen if you offered to take the neighbor’s dogs along when you walk your dog? Some extra exercise might help them calm down. If they make friends with your boy, they might bark at each other less too.
Seriously - what does any normal dog do when he hears an annoying sound? He barks AT it!
The underlying assumption is that the “high pitched sound” hurts the dog’s ears so it makes the connection and stops barking. One, I think the connection (if true which I doubt) is too attenuated to work. Two, I don’t see how subjecting a dog to noise bad enough to make its ears hurt - and to unilaterlly decide to subject other people’s dogs to that - is any better than a mild buzz from a bark collar. Which btw don’t work for every dog either.
Yes, tried it. It didn’t work.
This is anecdotal, but I guess it functioned, at least as far as it emitted a high pitched sound when my dog barked (or after any other loud noise)… My dog ignored the sound, and kept barking. Also, my wife and I could both hear the noise. I could barely hear it, but my wife claims it was quite loud and irritating. So not only did it not work, it irritated my wife.
I have since tried an electric bark collar. It worked/works great! I was very reluctant to try it, but I am glad I did. The one I bought has several programs and 10 levels of ‘correction’. The program I use, starts at level 1 and increases each time until the barking stops. It then remembers that level and starts there if the dog barks again within a couple hours.
Just read the directions. Don’t leave it on the dog’s neck for extended periods of time (Mine says you should remove the collar after 12 hours). And take it off you’re playing. My dog has not needed to be corrected by the collar in several months, because she has learned that when she is wearing it that it is quiet time. She still barks when she’s not wearing it, which is what I wanted. I like that she barks at people coming to the door when I am not home (she’s and inside dog). She can be intimidating to those that do not know her true sweet nature.
ETA: Also, it only corrects her when she barks… It has to hear the noise and sense the bark motion. So another barking dog, or loud noise will not set it off… She can sneeze and whimper for example without getting shocked. A good rechargeable collar will run you around $90, tho.
Tried both the electric zap collar and the noise-emitting one on my hyper-barker.
Unfortunately, the zap collar had no effect, and the noise-emitting one had the unfortunate side effect of causing my other, very quiet dog, to tremble and pee wherever he was— indoors and out. It was pitiful. And messy.
In desperation, I bought the citrus-spray collar and started using it every time the dog went outside. It worked like a charm. Now, all I have to do is pick it up off the shelf by the back door. No need to actually put it on the dog. No more barking. Neighbors are happy, I’m happy.
Tried the ultrasonic device on my incorrigible barker, a female Corgi. When she barked, she heard the sound from the device and it startled her. For some reason, she thought the strange noise was coming from her butt. She’d whirl around trying to get a good look at her butt, with the funniest expression on her face.
That was good for a few laughs, then she got used to the sound coming from her butt and didn’t care any more.
Moved on from there to a bark collar. At the lowest shock setting, she got zapped two or three times and no longer stands in the room just barking nonstop. Now she never needs the bark collar and simply showing it to her will make her stop barking.
I’m philosophically against using aversive punishment to deter natural behaviors. Shock collars and the like might even work sometimes, but so does waterboarding.
Border Collies need physical exercise, mental stimulation, and a “job.” You can at least start out with lots of walking/running followed by short training sessions – it’s important to combine the physical with the mental if you want to mellow out the dog properly. Many people have reported that endless running never seems to tire out their dog, but some running and just a few minutes of sit-stay-come-rollover work knocks their pooch right out.
We thought of getting one of those for our dog, who hasn’t stopped barking since we got her, but knowing her, it just might make it worse.
Also, if you have other pets, like cats, wouldn’t it also bother them? I’d be afraid that mine would freak out, especially Buffy.
My snowbird neighbor had one last year for her dog, Wynd…I get woken up every morning at 5 am like clockwork by his barking when he comes out front for his constitutional, then at 6.30 am when she picks up the newspaper…Did not work a lick…really considering giving him peanut butter to glue his mouth shut in the early mornings…