Endossements professionnels

There are many ways to stop a dog from barking. But the solution which offers the best battle against barking is the anti-barking citronella spray collar. The spray collar made a big step when a trainer recommended the collar on the television show Oprah. Since then the collar is in demand everywhere.

It is a good alternative to the shock collar which is cruel and which should not be used without guidance from trainers.

Citronella bark collars are not cruel. However, it is cruel to get rid of a dog because his incessant barking makes your or your neighbor's lives miserable, It is also cruel to continually yell at and punish a dog that barks. When other attempts to quiet your dog fail, using a citronella bark collar is not an outrageous tactic. It is more humane to use a bark collar on your dog than it is to give him up, or worse, put him to sleep simply because he barks.

Citronella collars are an extremely useful and humane tool to stop unnecessary recreational or nuisance barking. They use a sensor that detects the vibration of the dog's throat when he barks. They then emit a spray of citronella under the dog's chin. Citronella is harmless and has been veterinarian approved. Citronella is an essential oil distilled from plants. Most people find it pleasant smelling; however, many dogs find it distracting. The citronella anti-barking collar was invented in France and is distributed in the United States by ABS (Animal Behavior Systems).

"At the moment we can find on the market collars working on the principle of the disruptive stimuli (Aboistop/ MasterPlus). The effectiveness of these techniques is well demonstrated in the control of territorial barking (Aboistop) but also in behavioral situations (MasterPlus). If we compare the results in controlled studies, it shows that the number of therapy failures by disruptive stimuli (spray collar) is significantly less than therapy by punishment (electric shock)

If we compare the results of the studies, we notice that the relapse percentage in disruptive stimuli therapy (spray collar) is significantly less than in punishment therapy (chock collar) 3.8% against 86% 3 months after treatment.

A dog that is concentrated on an activity no longer hears his trainer. Henceforth, what could constitute a disruptive stimulus? Technicians have perfected a collar that shoots compressed air when a remote control device is activated. The technique is simple and efficient : one only had to think about it! You can obtain this spray collar called MasterPlus® (Dynavet) at your veterinarian.

The technology is worthless without skills. Don't forget that once the compressed air has been ejected and the dog has ceased his activity, you must redirect his behaviour by proposing a new, more interesting activity which will compete with the previous one. It will have to be rewarding and rewarded.

With this approach, one can interrupt running away behaviour, territorial barking, the ingestion of food found in the street or in dumpsters, or inter-dog conflicts in the threat phase, and propose an obedience session, a ball game, an interest in the owner as opposed to an exterior element.

" Citronella collars are certainly a more humane alternative than electric antibark collars, which should never be used. They release citronella whenever the dog barks - dogs hate the smell, so if they learn to associate it with barking, they will stop. The collars are most efective for excitable barking " p. 140

" Citronella spray collars have been used with success. These have a sound sensor that triggers a burst of citronella spray when the dog barks. The liquid is a water-based lemon smell that is actually quite pleasant, but dogs find it disagreable enough to learn quickly not to bark when the collar is on ". P. 136

" One high-tech way to check inppropriate barking is to invest in a citronella collar. The dog wears the collar like any other, but when the animal barks, the movement of her neck causes citronella to squirt out of the collar. It"s harmless, but the sound of the spray, coupled with the smell, startles and quiets the dog. ...the collars aren"t cheap, but they work. " p. 257

The citronella collar is put out by ABS (Animal Behavior System). The collar is made up of a small rectangular plastic unit that is filled with citronella. When the microphone detects noise, a spray of citronella is emitted. Citronella is derived from lemon grass, a harmless herb. The smell of the citronella works to distract the dog. The collar is not hard to keep adjusted in the correct position as long as it is not adjusted too tightly.

A few of the dog trainers who belong to Pikes Peak Obedience Club gave the citronella collar a try. Cora Pizzitola used the collar on Duncan, a Caviler King Charles Spaniel, to discourage his barking when she crated him while she was teaching classes. She reported the collar to be very effective. She used it three times when he was in the crate, then showed it to him and laid it on top of the crate. After that, she switched to a dummy collar. Now when Duncan is in the crate, he is quiet. Cora was sure to reward Duncan

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

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 :

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While most barking problems can be interrupted by training the dog to be quiet on command, these techniques are unlikely to be effective when the dog barks in the owner's absence. Depending on the dog's level of motivation and the intensity of the stimulus, many of these owner-absent problems can be reduced by the use of bark-activated deterrents. Those products that are designed to sit on counters or attach to walls or cages may be effective for dogs that bark in specific areas (e.g. water-spray bark devices, bark-activated alarms). Bark activated collars are particularly useful for the pet that is not restricted to specific areas. In one study by DR.'s Juarbe Diaz and Houpt, barking was decreased in 88.9 per cent of cases with the citronella collar but only 50 per cent of cases with an electronic bark acitivated collar. In an unpublished study of 62 dogs in two veterinary hospitals (personal communication, Patrick Melese, Gary Landsberg) approximately 70 per cent of dogs stopped barking and another 20 per cent were decreased with the citronella spray collar.

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Since the owners would be unable to keep Mr ED if the barking persisted, surgical debarking was considered, but the owners first decided to test the effectiveness of the antibark devices. A collar-mounted product was chosen since the dog would bark throughout the house and Mr ED would exhibit anxiety-induced barking if confined. An audible bark collar and an ultrasonic bark collar were both unsuccessful as they were inconsistent and not sufficiently aversive, but Mr Ed responded immediately to the use of a citronella spray collar. Whenever Mr Ed wore the collar, barking was suppressed.

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Pinch collars and shock collars generally make the problem worse by associating pain with visitors and actually raising the dog's state of arousal.

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Because barking was such an intense feature of Maurice's territorial behavior, the following strategy was adopted:

He was fitted with a device witch automatically releases citronella scent at the moment a dog barks. After two trials, it suppressed Maurice's barking reliably.

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A wonderful training aid is the Aboistop collar. When your dog barks, the collar squirts a citronella spray in front of your dog's nose. As the dog sniffs, he stops barking. The collar is extremely effective with most dogs.

P: 423
The usage of the Virtual Barrier and Spray Commander in behavior therapy or more precisely in disruptive therapy is recommended for the treatment of communication problems and hierarchy problems.

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One way to keep your kitten off the counter include

Motion sensors:
Motion sensors are essentially electronic tattletales. SSSCAT is a motion activated spray product in a can that makes counters, furniture and other off-limits areas unattractive. When the device senses the kitten's movement, it emits a beeping tone and a burst of pressurized air sprays in the kitten's direction. The motion sensor and direction of spray are adjustable, and the scentless spray is stainless, ozone friendly, and has no side effects. The device also has two levels of action: a sound/spray option that gives a warning sound just before the spray is released and a sound only option that can be used after the cat begins associating the sound with the spray.