Professional endorsements

endorsements

From Offlead Magazine, vol.2. Ed.2 March/April 2001Swager, Peggy "Nuisance Barking"
	In recent years, a number of remote and automatic devices have become available to punish a dog when he barks or vocalizes. Most take the form of a collar with a sensor that responds to the vibration of the dog's vocal chords. The aversive stimuli the collars produce are either shock (which the collar should be able to deliver at varying intensities), an ultrasonic or audible noise, or a spray of citronella oil that is released under the dog's chin. In my experience : Shock collars are almost always aversive enough to stop the behavior, but there are exceptions. Fearful and aggressive reactions are common. Ultrasonic or audible-noise collars may be aversive to some dogs but not to others; further, even if these collars are aversive initially, many dogs habituate or adapt to the noise they deliver and resume barking. Citronella collars are usually effective; in fact, they are probably as effective as shock collars and are generally more acceptable to owners. One study found that in a sample of nine dogs, the citronella collar was more effective than the TriTonics Bark Diminisher shock collar. Owners in the study also found the citronella collar to be more acceptable and humane than the shock collar. In y experience, shock collars elicit more fearful and aggressive behavior than do the citronella collars.
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