Re: [pyrnet] bark collars

[Jessica Crouch <jrc@cs.unc.edu>]

We started using a citronella bark collar with our pyr Isaac a couple
months ago, and have been *very* pleased with the results.  He gets a
squirt of citronella on his nose when he barks, and it has been an
effective way to stop nuisance barking.  We have a routine now of putting
the collar on him before letting him go outside and he doesn't seem to
mind having it put on.  I know it works because if I hear him barking at
all he comes in smelling like citronella later.  The trick to getting it
to work was to put it very high on his neck so that the collar is just
behind his ears and the citronella reservoir is right under his chin.  If
the collar sits lower then the spray just goes into his fur and doesn't
bother him.  We also have to keep refilling the collar with citronella.
It holds about 25 squirts and that usually lasts about a week and a half.
If we let it get empty Isaac figures it out pretty quickly and goes back
to his old habit of barking all the time.

Before we got the collar Isaac would bark a lot, especially in the
evenings when he could hear other dogs barking in the distance.  Now when
he is wearing the collar he will still bark if there is something unusual
going on, but he no longer barks at the far away sounds.  

I'm sure everyone's dog is different and what works for Isaac will not
necessarily work for everyone, but I definitely recommend giving a
citronella collar a try if barking is a problem for you.

Jessica & Isaac