Clients always want quick solutions. There are few. Remote or voice-activated shock collars cause pain. Although the pain does not appear to be excruciating, pain is only a useful stimulus for learning under certain conditions associated with avoidance of approach or manipulation. For most dogs, the barking is more rewarding than the shock is dissuading. Were this not true, the future frequency of the barking would drop precipitously, and this is not what is reported about shock collars. Dogs will often abort the particular barking bout for which they received the shock, but no data have been published that indicate that frequency of future bouts is affected. Furthermore, if barking is indicative of any underlying anxiety problem, shock will worsen the behavior in dogs with these anxieties. Even if the dog becomes quiet, fear or another presentation of an anxiety is a common sequela. This is not the solution that clients want, and they should not be encouraged to pursue it.
There are some newer concepts in bark collars. Citronella collars (ABS System; ImmunoVet, Tampa, FL) spray the dog with a citrus oil mist when it begins to bark. Dogs tend to dislike this scent, but are not afraid of it or caused pain by it. The distasteful scent lasts long enough that the barking bout has passed, so that dogs can actually learn to decrease their barking behavior in the future. Clients know if dogs were barking in their absence because the house smells of lemon. Dogs learn to recognize if they are not wearing the collar, but as part of an integrated system emphasizing the teaching of a new behavioral pattern, these collars can help. Because they work without pain and in a way that helps the dog to quickly stop unsavoury behavior, the clients will be more patient in working with the dog, which is a benefit.
P. 288-289
Electronic shock collars receive a lot of attention, but are probably overused (Polsky, 1994). The two basic types are those that act remotely in response to a stimulus (most bark collars), and those that are triggered by a hand-held unit. Shock can help any animal that can learn to avoid the object of focus. Timing is critical, and shocks should be instantaneous, and of just the right intensity to startle the animal so that it will abort the behavior and seek another replacement behavior. Inherent in this is teaching the dog a more appropriate behavior and rewarding spontaneously good behaviors. Remote-sensing bark-shock collars do not permit the latter two steps to occur. Those triggered by a hand-held unit should be used only in extreme circumstances, in the absence of other solutions, and only by clients who understand and are willing to comply with the amount of behavior modification involved. These clients will be rare, and this should never be a first-choice option. Shock collars are seldom used correctly, can make any aggressive animal more aggressive, and may tell us more about the people who feel that they have to rely on them than about the pet's problem, perceived or real. Dogs can learn to bark below any stimulus necessary to elicit the chock and will only become more anxious if shocked because they bark from anxiety.
In a clinical study, nonelectronic citronella collars were found to be more efficacious, more humane, and better received by the clients than were remote electronic chock collars (Juarbe-Diaz, in press