Barking is as natural to a dog as talking is as natural to a human being. Trying to eliminate dog barking altogether would be like trying to stop someone to talk forever! Besides it being impossible, it’s just plain wrong. But we have to admit, excessive barking (much like excessive talking) can get on anybody’s nerves—not just to you but to your family, your hot neighbor, the children at play, the mailman, and every one else who can hear it.

Keeping the Peace With Your Neighbors

Although barking shouldn’t be eliminated—after all, it is handy when your dog uses it for the right reasons like warning you, warding off trespassers, or telling you something of importance—it must be controlled. If you want to maintain peace in the neighborhood and between your neighbors, controlling your dog’s barking habits is important.

How to Effectively Control Excessive Barking

A lot of dog owners would basically just run to an anti-barking collar. They’re convenient as they don’t seem to require much time from the owner. What a lot of people find great about dog collars is that it seems to promise minimal supervision and maintenance. So far, there are generally three different types of anti-barking collars available in the market.

There is the sonar collar. This sonar collar is a discreet little thing. When the dog barks, it gives off a sound with a frequency that humans can’t hear but dogs find irritating. The idea is that they will associate the irritable sound as punishment to their incessant barking.

The Citronella Spray Collar

Another one is called the citronella collar. The citronella collar sprays a scent that dogs don’t really like. Whenever they bark, the collar would spray this scent so that, similar to the sonar collar, the dog would assume they’re being punished for their non-stop barking. Many say that dogs have already found a trick to outwit this collar, though.

One anecdotal report states that their dog would just keep on barking until the collar runs out of citronella. Then he wouldn’t have to bother about the smell anymore so he’d just keep on barking the whole day. Other dogs find other ways, like making a face (that probably gets them to hold their breath somehow) when the collar sprays and then barking again.

The last variety is called the shock collar. Now, this collar is the most controversial of the three. Whenever the dog barks, it shocks the dog with electricity. The strength level of the shock can be changed from 1 to 6, 6 usually being the highest.

People contast that shock collars are inhumane. After all, no sane person would do that to another person so why even think of doing it to their own pet?  This type of collar is to be avoided at all costs.

It’s A Behavioral Issue

Though collars seem very convenient, they’re merely supplements to help you control your dog’s barking habit.  Before running to anti-barking collars, find a solution first—find out why your dog barks that way in the first place. If humans have psychologists, dogs have veterinarian behaviorists. Their role is to generally observe a dog’s environment and circumstances to figure out what exactly triggers their socially unacceptable behavior. And then based on their findings, they give training solutions to eliminate the behavior problem.

Some reasons as to why a dog would bark are things like the lack of things to do (meaning they have so much energy with nothing to use it with) or frustration (perhaps they’re being bullied by another dog in the family or by the people around them) to name two.

You can always call a vet behaviorist to help you find out your dog’s behavior problems. A vet behaviorist will also teach you what to do. They might suggest an anti-barking collar but only side-by-side with proper training.

Is Your Dog Bored? Do You Need to Give Him More Play Time?

If you find out that your dog is just plain bored and has no other way to release pent-up energy, then work on giving your dog something to do. Provide them with physical activities like walks, catch, and play time with other dogs. If you’re always out, put them in the care of someone else while you’re out—like a relative or a friend or a dog walker or a doggie daycare.

When left alone with nothing to do, dogs feel bored and lonely just like humans do and they will do just about anything to release some energy or catch your attention.

The Quiet Command

You can also use other tricks like the “QUIET” command, which you will have to implement whenever he barks senselessly. If you’ve already established yourself as the alpha of your “pack”, then it won’t take much trouble to teach this. If the barking is much of a nuisance and is already getting in the way of your chances with the neighborhood hottie, then using an anti-bark collar might be acceptable, but only temporarily or only as a training supplement.

It is highly suggested that you stick to the sonar collar as it is perhaps the most humane choice of the three and also the most fool-proof one as much as anti-bark collars can get. Never forget to tackle the problem with hands-on solutions and obedience training as well. Training your dog to respond to obedience signals is still the best and lasting way to eliminate dog barking behavior but still maintain his freedom to do what he naturally does.