As a dog behaviorist for over 20 years I’ve seen ‘quick fix’ methods come and go. But typically these devices, akin to bark collars, are only treating the symptoms and do nothing to handle the explanation for the behavior. Barking, as is the case with most ‘bad’ behaviors, is merely a by-product of an even bigger issue. If the foundation explanation for an issue is not addressed the behavior is certain to proceed.
There are a whole lot of explanation why a dog barks and a few of them are perfectly good ones. If the dog is barking at an external stimulus, it is going to be more practical in the long term to familiarize the dog with the thing it’s barking at. If it’s barking is from fear, stress or anxiety a bark collar, whether it’s a shock or citronella collar, will only make the situation worse. The explanation being is that the dog is receiving negative reinforcement at the precise moment it’s stressed. More stress equals more fear or anxiety and the cycle continues. Even when the e-collar made the barking stop, it is very likely that it is going to create a completely recent and possibly worse problem, probably the most common is self mutilation. A greater result’s attained by teaching the dog to be comfortable in a given situation where it doesn’t feel the necessity to bark. But for that to happen it’s essential to find out why the dog is barking in the primary place.
I’m strongly against electronic collars on dogs, because I even have all the time been in a position to solve problems without them. I’d never suggest to one among my clients that they shock their dog or spray them within the face with a noxious substance. The one variety of electronic collar that I feel is of profit is a vibrating collar for a deaf dog. It is a option to communicate with the dog if it may well’t hear you. It’s kind of a ‘gentle tap’ to get the dogs attention. Apart from that, I consider praise-based, consistent training is a rather more effective training method when put next to electronic collars.
As an adjunct to this devocalizing is one other quick fix that just doesn’t make sense. We shouldn’t just chop up a dogs vocal chords any quicker than we must always use a shock collar to st them from barking. Dogs ought to be trained to be comfortable of their surroundings. My hope is to guide people to assist accustom dogs to things and never punish them for exhibiting annoying symptoms. Have a look at the cause after which work to remove that and you’ll have an enduring and humane solution.
