Bark collar help

pretty diverse crowd here, so figured I would check.

Last year I ended up with a Great Pyrenese pup that had a deformed jaw so no one wanted her. She is now a 120lb polar bear. She is just so damn obstinate. She is great on leash. She will follow commands, unless she thinks her domain is under attack. She will bark even after we intervene,voice and physical(never hit). She lives with well trained dogs that do not bark.

She is the most stubborn dog I have ever owned and that includes a couple beagles. She has been to a couple of pro trainers, now its time to try a collar. People in my neighborhood have recently had dogs poisoned for barking(I do have cameras but that wont bring my dogs back). Anyone had good luck with a bark collar brand and large breeds?


I dont need/want to turn her into a hunting dog, but I need to be able to leave her alone and not worry that she barked all day.

pics, cause why not?

 

Cute pup.
We had a Chocolate lab for 10 years, she was calm, trained, and amazing, after a few year without a dog in the family we got another puppy last spring. She is a chocolate lab, but that's where the similarities with our old dog end.. lol.

We did puppy school and house training, but ended up doing extra training with a local SAR and service dog trainer - she said our Maggie is very stubborn, and independent, but can be trained. It's been 14 months and she does well most days, she's still a hyper pup though.

So we use a Garmin Delta Sport xc https://www.cabelas.ca/product/80092/garmin-delta-sport-xc-dog-training-bundle
It has bark limiter but we don't use it. I don't like the idea of it buzzing her when you are not there. I wouldn't leave her home with it on.

We buzz if she is distracted and not paying attention. It brings her right back. settings go from 1 to 18. I've worn it all the way to 18 on my arm. Our trainer said if you get up to 8 figure something else out.

Most days putting the collar on her makes her pay attention, it's probably been two weeks since we actually buzzed her.

Keep with it. You're doing good.

 

I love my Garmin Pro 550. If you want something a little cheaper, try the Garmin Sport pro. Same collar, different controller. The bark funtion is awesome. Starts with a vibe, and then climbs through shock levels slowly. Used it on large dogs with great success.

 

great point, I am only planning on using it while I am home. That may change, but at this time I am uncomfortable with having it active with no humans around to help in a emergency.

 

I had a full breed Doberman and used two separate bark collars that helped stop his barking. One was an automatic once that you’d set and leave on him and the other was remote controlled to use for training purposes. Coupled with a voice command the remote collar worked extremely well and eventually we phased it out and he just responded to the voice command. We kept it as part of his lead so he was never scared of it and always saw it as a good thing to wear his collar since he knew we’d be working outside.

That being said I was never a fan of leaving a bark collar on with the dog unattended. There’s always a chance for failure with any electronic device and with the pup rolling around outside the chance of failure gets exponential.

 

The other thing is it has to be tight, we used it for a month and it didn't seem to be working, we were always going up to 6,7,8.. our trainer checked and said it was way too loose - one finger under is plenty- pins have to be on her skin.. Also she only wears it for up to 4hrs in a row- then gets a break. Watch her neck for hot spots or sores and then it stays off.

Charge on the collar lasts for 4 or so days, controller charge lasts forever.

 

You can also introduce the bark collar with no pins, and leave it off for a week or two and just let the dog wear it. Let the pup get used to wearing a new collar without the added vibe/shock. You dont want the pup to get scared of the collar when you bring it out because it associated the collar with correction. Once the pup is used to wearing the new collar, add the pins. Then turn it on. Slow introduction, and slow addition of the correction. You're not trying to fry the pup into obedience, but rather guide it to the correct answer.

 

Dogtra makes a good Bark Collar
https://www.dogtra.com/products/no-bark-collar/ys300

You can also look into a E Collar Technologies Mini Educator ET-300 and use its stim when you are around as a Bark Collar. The E Collar Technologies E-Collar has a remote, so it only is able to deliver stim with your control.
https://www.ecollar.com/products/et-300-mini-educator-e-collar-1-2-mile-remote-dog-trainer

 

Most bark collars build. It's what I like about Garmins. Meaning they allow a certain number of barks to pass un-effected. Say 3. Then on the 4th it will vibrate. Bark 5 gets a level 1 stim. Bark 6 gets a level 2. Without you having to do any input, it trains the dog that barking for extended periods of time is not ok. After the dog stops, it resets back to zero. Another nice funtion of the Garmin is after you take the collar off and press the button, it will tell you how many times it corrected the dog via number of flashes of the light. So you can tell if it is working, or if the number is high, that your dog is just beasting it through the stim and it's time to find another solution.

 

I’m going to make an unpopular suggestion. Before putting a shock collar on a dog wear one for a couple of days. Then ask yourself if it’s still a great idea.

like choke collars especially those with prongs they should be outlawed.

 

There's nothing wrong with a quality E-collar OR a well made prong collar (such as a Herm Sprenger). A prong collar simply dissuades pulling on leash and does very well for my dog. His E-collar also lets me take him places he would otherwise get left home due to safety concerns such as snakes or moose where he gets a little too excited to remember his recall.

The BUT of that statement has everything has to do with the owner, and where I agree with your sentiment. A prong collar just takes a small wrist movement to tighten up a smidge and remind the dog its not OK to pull, etc. If I catch someone working that collar like setting a hook on a sailfish, they're gonna have a problem.

And yes, I have used Draco's E-collar on myself before I ever thought of putting it on him. Low settings feels like a static shock on a doorknob. It's uncomfortable but far from malicious. The stronger levels def get your attention, but is a far better option than my dog being stomped to death by a moose.

 

It’s a working dog, get it out more.

 

Second this. Not sure what exercise regimen she's getting, but for that breed, it's likely not enough.

(not a judgement on OP, just a statement for a working dog)

 

I agree with part of your post. You should definitely know what it does when you push the button. I hit myself with my 550 Pro as high as it would go before ever putting on my dog. It put me on the ground no joke. Through endless work and dedication, my dog never goes above a 3 low. The 550 has 1-8 low, 1-8 medium, and 1-8 high for stim. It's all about letting the dog know when hes over stepping. The stim is just a reminder that you are in control. Same as spurs for a horse. You tap him, not stab him when you want to make a correction.

So yes, I've hit myself with my shock collar as painful as it will go. I also know what a 2-3 low feels like, because that's what I use on my pup. And I still think it's a great tool.

 

I use the Garmin sport and it’s worked well


Also. Gotta ask. Where in NorCal are you that people are poisoning dogs? I’ve left mine outside for quick trips to run errands.

 

Draco's the same way. He's been more behaved even with it off his neck after training, but he def knows when he has his "good boy collar" on. I don't even have the remote turned on 99% of the time.

Mine has vibe for recall and stim for correcting behavior, and several trainers have told me its good to vibe him every once in a while while recalling him as a refresher. Not sure that advice works for barking though.

 

Yep, wore ours around zapping myself from lowest to highest for two days before I put it on our pup, wouldn't have got one except under the guidance of our trainer. I hate to think of owners picking it up and frying dogs..

Also why I won't use the bark/auto escalate settings - and why our trainer showed it to us as a never use- Dog barks, it zaps, dog squawks, gets zapped again, etc etc.

Also better than our dog going back to the breeders at 6 month old- seriously we had family meeting sitting around the table with pupper barking her head off in the background and us saying either we train her and put in the work, or this isn't going to work.

super helpful mate.

 

Oh and also, obligatory OMGZ FLUFFY PUPPY!

 

Works for our working dogs
Leave them in a kennel for a couple weeks and the story changes

 

^^^ - I think your point is to get the dog Outside and Working and under command in different environments and stimuli so the dog is constantly learning to listen. I do not think you point was just to get the dog "outside".

JL