If you think your dog barks excessively sometimes when it is absolutely unnecessary, like barking when there is a mild wind or when he sees another pet. Then getting an anti-barking device could really help.
There are a variety of brands out there and of course, the highly recommended ones and the not so popular ones. You can buy one for your furry pet and have quiet times return again.
What Is An Anti Barking Device?
Simple, it’s a device design to stop your dog from excessive barking or barking when it’s not necessary.
Take note here, this device is not meant to stop your dog from barking at all as that does not even make sense to start with. It only comes in when your dog’s barking has become excessive and unbearable.
The anti-barking device is of different types. Some make use of citronella smell to stop the dog every time he barks. Another uses ultrasonic sound to stop the dog and another method uses shocks that comes from a device around your dog’s neck just like a collar when he barks.
How To Use Anti Barking Device?
After getting the device you don’t want to use it wrongly on your pet. Using it wrong can be harmful and may betray the whole essence of using the device.
The anti-barking device sometimes is placed around the dog’s neck others are handheld while others are placed somewhere in the yard.
Of course, every anti-barking device comes with a manual, showing you how it should be used.
Also, getting expert advice if there is anything you are not clear with is a good thing to do as it will really help.
Most importantly, you shouldn’t rush to use the device on your dog. In fact, in the first few weeks, the device should be used sparingly, skipping days. This should allow you to monitor how the dog responds to the device and will determine if you should continue.
Understanding how the device works can also help you know when the device will not work. Like in the case of the ultrasonic anti-barking device. It has a coverage of 50ft, meaning if your dog goes beyond this boundary, the device won’t work. Also, around bends, it can also reduce the effectiveness of this device.
So choosing a location for the device is also important as this will determine if your dog is covered most times.
Now, to the shock anti-barking device. This device has a knob where the shock intensity is controlled.
You can reduce the shock to the minimum as you don’t want your little puppy suffering from the device.
How Anti Barking Device Work?
The concept will be different depending on the type. The idea is to trigger something that interferes with the dog’s senses anytime he barks. In the forms of smell, sound or shock.
The Ultrasonic Anti Barking Device:
Ultrasonic barking device mostly comes in birdhouse shape or any shape where the dog does not suspect anything. It stops the dog from barking excessively by emitting high pitch sound anytime it sense that the dog is barking.
The sound interferes with the dog’s hearing and causes it to stop barking.
This device increases the sound’s pitch if the dog continues to bark until he stops.
If it is working, you should find it emitting light when the dog barks.
The Shock Anti Barking Device:
This device comes in the form of collar placed around the dog’s neck. It senses when the dog starts barking and releases a shock to stop him from barking.
The level of the shock is safe but it should be used under close supervision to see how the dog reacts to it afterwards. If it makes the dog fearful then it should be taken off for a while and later re-introduced.
The Spray Anti Barking Device
This device works by sprinkling citronella on the dog’s face. Dogs’ noses smell things 25 times better than humans. No wonder dogs perceive the smell that comes out of citronella when humans barely perceive anything.
This smell makes the dog stop barking.
How To Set Up Anti Barking Device:
Not paying attention to which anti-barking devices is best for your dog can cause him great discomfort at the end of the day.
Some anti-barking device fits an older dog of 6 months or older.
Before setting up the anti-barking device for your dog do well to understand how it works. Understanding how the devices work can help in making the decision which device will fit your dog.
It is also important that you read the instruction that comes with it and tries as much as possible to follow it. A lot of us do many things without having to look at the manual. In this case, it might be costly if we make any mistake considering our pet’s life.
Troubleshooting Problem In Anti Barking Device:
Just in case the anti-barking device stops working or does not work as expected. You could check what the problem is by following the few steps below:
1) Check if the battery is still charged.
2) In the case that you are using the ultrasonic device, your dog might be out of range.
3) For the collar anti-barking device. The dog might have damaged the device may be by hitting it on something while running. It might need a replacement.
Is Anti Banking Device Safe?
This will largely depend on how you use the device. In the case where you skip the manual and set the shock to the maximum when you have only started using it. It can really be harmful and scary to your dog.
There is a debate as to whether the anti-barking device should be used at all considering the safety of our dogs. Depending on our view, it could be seen as getting rid of unwanted behaviour from our dogs.
We love our dogs and wouldn’t want to hurt them but sometimes their barking can be excessive for no reason and we don’t like that. The device can be seen as a treatment to help them get rid of the behaviour.
Some anti-barking device can have more effect than others, like the shocking collar. So, we need to be careful about how we introduce it to our dogs.
No matter the anti barking device we have decided to use, we should not rush into the full application but we should take it slow and skip days in the beginning.
We should also use depending on how our dog barking situation is. If it is not that serious then we should also take it gently with them.
Also seeking experts advise before using this device on your dog is also advisable.
Should Anti Barking Device Be Used On Our Neighbour’s Dog?
The need to buy the device might not be for your dog but due to your neighbour’s dog who hardly allows you to hear anything but his barking sound when you are in the yard.
In this case, you will go for the ultrasonic anti-barking device. But before going ahead to talk about whether it’s proper to use it on your neighbour’s dog, let’s first check the alternative as doing this should be the last resort.
You could speak to your neighbour about how the dog’s excessive barking affects you. Tell him to do something about it.
Now back to the question. Assuming you were unable to reach an agreement with your neighbour who owns the dog and you’ve finally resorted to using the device. You should contact the authority to get permission before actually doing so.
Final Words
If the motive is to stop our dogs from excessive barking, then we could be forgiven for trying to curtail the means our dogs interact with the environment.
Where we need to pay attention most is how we use it. Make sure it does not affect the dog’s well-being in any way and everything should be fine.