Dog Guidance Blog

How to Choose the Most Effective Dog Barking Collars
By Jake Perry

With some dogs, there comes a time when their barking goes from reasonable to intolerable. It’s difficult to sleep, perhaps. Or, maybe the neighbors are staring you down when they see you. Even worse, maybe you are considering another home for your dog due to the incessant disturbances. It doesn’t matter what degree of barking is occurring, the light at the end of the tunnel is that it can be stopped. Dog barking collars are wonderful devices that are not only easy on the budget, they actually make life better! A quiet living environment promotes restful sleep, increases focus, and gives a happier demeanor to everyone. If you’re considering a drastic measure to end your dog’s nuisance behavior, first take a closer look at the various types of corrective barking collars on the market.

The most popular choice for correction in a bark collar is static shock, or electro shock. It may sound like a cruel tool of punishment, but it is only a mild half-second of pain to get the dog’s attention. This short burst of correction is enough to break the dog out of their current state of mind. The pain sensation teaches them that negative consequences come from barking excessively. It is a very mild sensation, but can be adjusted up or down depending upon your dog’s response. If you have a timid dog, a lower correction level would be sufficient whereas with a more stubborn dog, a higher level would be ideal.

If you have a dog that is also a guard for your home, bark collars can still be used effectively. In this case, you would need to look for a collar that offers a microchip inside that can learn the difference between guarding and being a nuisance. The chip will measure the vibration, tone, and volume of your dog’s bark and will not correct for guarding. The excessive barking that has different tone, vibration, and volume will be handled by the correction mode on the collar. Some collars can even learn when your dog is changing his behavior for the worse or the better and adjust accordingly.

Alternative choices to electro shock dog barking collars include sprays, vibrating collars, and sound-based correction. The spray collar has a reservoir in it that holds a solution inside that, when activated, sprays a small burst of the strongly-smelling solution. The smell is only offensive to the dog’s sensitive nose and does not bother humans. It is a very effective method that works without the use of shock correction. The second type of alternative correction is a vibrating collar. These work by making a startling buzz on the dog’s neck that stops him mid-bark.

The final types of dog barking collars are tone, or sonic collars. They use a loud tone sound to audibly correct the dog. Considering their sensitive sense of hearing, these collars are very effective. They sound like residential smoke alarms in volume and tone. Contrary to what some say, sonic collars can be heard by humans. If this type of sound correction would bother you, consider either of the other 2 corrective collars that do not use shock.

Since the key to success with these collars is consistency, they should be worn at all times, not just until the dog’s behavior gets better. Armed with more information about these types of collars, hopefully choosing the right bark collar is easier than ever!