A Safer Way to Eliminate Excessive Barking

Many dog owners are tired of incessant barking of dogs especially during sleep hours and apologizing to neighbors because of the mad barking. For dogs, barking is as natural as talking for people. It’s their way of communicating to their owner.

Granted, dogs bark just as people talk. However, sometimes, there are dogs that cannot seem to stop once they start barking. Excessive barking can be considered as behavior problem. It is important for dog owners to understand the cause of the excessive barking of their dogs. Dogs will not bark just to annoy the owners and the neighbors. They bark probably due to anxiety, a warning of imminent danger or seeking attention.

Once the main cause of excessive barking is determined, behavior modification and training can be implemented. One of the popular ways for behavior modification for excessive barking is putting a spray bark collar on the dog. Unlike other bark collars, spray collar are considered ethical and humane. It is preferred choice for more dog owners and trainers for it has no controversy attached to it. Spray bark collars or citronella spray collars are neither harmful nor painful for dogs. It is also safe for all breeds of dogs.

Spray bark collar works by sensing the vibrations in the neck that are caused by the sound of the bark. In turn it will release a small squirt of citronella that sprays on the muzzle. The scent that the spray released is unpleasant to the dogs. It is made most of natural products that are safe for the dogs. Aside from the scent that the spray emits, it also creates hissing sound, that will create a distraction and it will make the dog stop barking in order to figure out what happened. Given the time and proper reinforcement training, the dog will soon realize that the unpleasant scent emitted from the spray is connected to his barking. Positive reinforcement such as praising the whenever they stopped barking and not just completely rely on the collar will help a lot for a more effective training. Another thing, some dog owners sometimes forget to remove the collar from time to time. Dogs do not need to wear it all the time.

There are several brands and models for spray collars available. It is advisable to read some reviews on the products and compare to get some feel of others.