Citronella Dog Collars - Anti-Bark

[Catty1]

I just heard about these today. A woman in my walking group uses them, and swears by them. Also, she didn't need to use hers after a while - the dog would see the collar and stop barking.

Safer than the shock!

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751019

[Sowa]

I was actually thinking of this too and talked my trainer. Here is the message she sent me:

"I don’t like them much at all, although sometimes if it’s a family being evicted due to barking problems, or taking the dog to the shelter, I’ll sometimes recommend giving one a shot if it is in dire circumstances and it will keep the dog and family in its home. They don’t cause pain, in the way that a shock collar does, but they DO cause a dog to be uncomfortable by spraying a burst of citronella oil into the dog’s face, nose, and sometimes eyes. Many people think they are less aversive than shock collars, because they don’t use electricity, but what a lot of folks don’t consider is how important a dog’s nose is to their world, and how dogs understand scent. Knowing about how much better a dog’s sense of smell is than ours, and how important it is, it may even be more aversive (it doesn’t have to be painful to be aversive!) than a momentary shock because of how long the oil sticks to the nasal passages, hair, etc.

The secondary problem that they come with is the same with the shock collars – once you start using it, if it is effective, you’ll probably be reliant upon it for life, because dogs become very knowledgable about when the collar is on versus off. Most dogs who need to use these collars cannot be weaned off of them, and once you do, the behaviours come back quite quickly. This is because the dog has learned by context, and the behaviour depends on the presence of the collar.

That being said, of course dogs who are trained using food rewards will always need random rewards for good behaviour throughout its life (as any behaviour will only persist as long as it is either reinforced once in a while, or punished for lack of compliance). The learning component is no different. But personally, I would much rather use rewards for good behaviour, over the life of the dog, than punishments for unwanted behaviour, for the life of the dog. "


Not sure if this is useful, but it made me rethink this collar.

[Catty1]

In the case of the woman I mentioned, her husband was concerned about the shock collar. Apparently he put it on his arm and it sent him "halfway across the room".

With either collar the point is that the dog will be conditioned to stop barking, and as in the case above, no longer need the collar. I don't know if the 'dosage' can be adjusted up or down.

Another case mentioned in the discussion is a family who leaves their little dog in the house from the time they leave in the morning til about noon. This little thing barks and barks and barks. Now there are probably a couple of things the family can do - but a collar of some type would seem to be necessary. Crate training would be another solution perhaps.

Again the best thing about either collar is that at some point they won't be needed.


I also heard about an aerosol can that makes a weird sound when used and interrupts the dog barking. Apparently this works well. In the case of the dog alone mentioned above, that wouldn't work so well.

[wishbone]

Not all dogs need it, there are dogs needs to be constantly trained in more often manner and with proper use of this kind of corrective device with proper supervision, it will surely effective. Trainer advice is needed too before buying and using it.

[Freedom]

Positive reinforcement is always a much better training method.

Personally I think stuff like this should be illegal.

[snakemama]

Jasper turned his head and barked off to the side so the spray didn't bother him. :rolleyes:

The thing about he shock collar is....it doesn't hurt him, becuase he doesn't bark when it's on. It took him exactly two barks to catch on, and now he just knows that when it's on he is quiet.

I can't find it offhand, but I read a study about dogs who wear bark collars, and it turns out that over time the level of cortisol (the stress hormone) present in their blood decreases. Dogs who bark wind themselves up by barking and tend to have constant high levels of cortisol. Dogs who don't wind themselves up by barking are calmer and less stressed over time.

I've certainly noticed a positive change in Jasper's behavior since we started using the shock collar. He used to pant and bark and drool and bark and scratch the front of his kennel and chew up his beds and bark and bark. Now he still pants a little, but he doesn't scratch at the kennel, drool giant puddles onto his bed, or bark. He also hasn't eaten a bed since we started.

We also tried a vibrating collar, which gave Jasper a full on panic attack.

They're certainly not the right solution for every dog, but they are an excellent solution for some.

[Vette]

If i lived somewhere in town or a city i would have to invest in one of those kind of collars. my brother has informed me that Kirby barks his head off whether hes in his crate or left lose in the house when ever i leave. id love to take him with me but thats not a wise idea with the worry of a hot or freezing car depending on what time of year it is always in question. luckily with 17achers an no neighbors in earshot enough to complain i dont to have worry about it aside from a few unhappy family residents LOL

i think the collars are better then dog/s being uprooted from their family an taken to the shelter an then a chance of not being adopted out is better then that. or at least worth a try

[Alysser]

I was on the verge of trying this with Mikey. He drove me crazy barking at dogs when I took him hiking or for walks around the neighborhood. I eventually settled for a cheaper method of spraying him with a water bottle whenever he started his uncontrollable barking. It worked brilliantly. Sometimes he just needs me to say NO and he stops. It has even helped me with the chasing cars problem. Maybe I am just cheap LOL but I wouldn't spend $70 + on that.

I read reviews and studies on the issues Citronella collars have. I read the scent is left on the dogs fur and it confuses them on what they actually did wrong. I also read some other things I can't exactly remember but they seemed to be more trouble than they were worth. I wouldn't use them based on what I have read AND the price.

[bckrazy]

Sowa, your trainer is AWESOME!!! That is exactly how I feel.

To assault a dog's nose and eyes is to take away survival tools. It is shocking and scary to them, not exactly in the painful way that shock collars are, but it's still a harsh aversive. I agree that I would use a citronella collar as a last resort (NEVER a shock collar... it's never worth risking your dog's safety, and possibly making them very aggressive), but it's much better to actually WORK with your dog! I'd honestly rather get my dog de-barked, if it came to that, than hurt and confuse them with correction collars. What people don't get is that dogs are adapted for survival and for quick assocations - you can't plainly tell them in English, "look, buddy, if you bark I'm going to shock/citronella you". To them, they're thinking "ok, so when I see another dog/person walking by and I get scared, I experience pain and discomfort. those dogs/people are even scarier than I thought!"

Dogs don't bark incessantly just because. The majority of the time, dogs who bark have fear/aggression issues as well. They bark because they're scared. By not addressing the issue and working only to extinguish the symptom, you're getting nowhere but at best you'll get a really shut down unhappy dog. Shock and citronella collars only exacerbate the fear. Most obsessive barkers are also very underexercised and unsocialized - a tired dog will be cuddling with you, chewing on a bone, or napping - not spazzing out barking. Get out and socialize your dog, make his experiences with other dogs and people rewarding and positive, and tire them out so they aren't letting out their pent up energy with guarding behaviors.

Fozzie, being a Corgi x Husky, was naturally a barker when I got him. I don't tolerate unnecessary barking, so I addressed it immediately. My trainer told me to restrict his access to the front windows of the house, but that's unrealistic and just avoiding the issue imo. I kept a squirt bottle, clicker and treats in the living room/kitchen for a few weeks. When he started barking, I would "shhh" and squirt him to interrupt, he'd be called over and lots of click/treats then walked to the front window to LOOK AT the dogs and people walking by, and lots of click/treats to associate that stimulus with good things. On walks and hanging out in the front yard, I'd tell him to look at passing dogs and people, then click/treat repeatedly. This conditioning process made him see other dogs and people passing by the house as a wonderful thing that brought happiness instead of stress and overexcitement. Yelling at a dog only increases stress, and it's basically you joining your dog in the bark-fest.