Is using an ultrasonic sound to stop dog barking cruel? Please help!?
Posted: December 22nd, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: Common Questions | Tags: barking, cruel, help, Please, sound, stop, Ultrasonic, using | 2 Comments »I have a 2 year old toy american eskimo who loves to bark. My boyfriends dad bought him this device that makes an ultrasonic sound to try to get him to stop barking. I would rather train him with a water bottle, and rewards, but my boyfriend feels the sound device is necessary. Our eskimo is already a nervous wreck, if you drop a spoon on the floor he’ll hide under the couch for like an hour. I feel this sound will just make him more nervous, and ruin his character. Please help!
Bad idea! No sound device! You are correct, a mentally fragile dog will only benefit from positive reinforcement. In other words, ignoring the bad behavior and treating the good behavior. You are right. This kind of method is all wrong, especially for a nervous wreck of a dog. There are plenty of humane ways to prevent a dog from barking. Besides, there’s no way to know how painful the sound is to the dog. It might not be, but better safe than sorry, right?
In my experience, the ultrasonic collars did not work at all. My dogs totally ignored them. Therefore, I don’t think your dog will be bothered by this device.
Water bottles (and squirt guns) only work when you are right there with the water bottle. When you are at work, at school or even in the bathroom, the water bottle method is useless. The dog will RAPIDLY learn that when you aren’t there to squirt him, it’s safe to bark.
Electric shock collars are horrible. They make some dogs screech and scream and bark MORE. They are cruel.
Citronella spray collars work great. Since dogs don’t flee the room when a person eats an orange or tangerine (but may instead pause to sniff the fruit), you can tell that citronella, which smells faintly of citrus , doesn’t have a painful or cruel effect on the dog’s nasal passages. It is just a smell that dogs dislike.
I bought my citronella spray collars at petedge.com. I advise you to buy at least one (more are better) extra can of refill spray. You will need it. Anti-bark collars do not teach a dog anything except not to bark while the collar is on and functioning.