Citronella bark collars

Yay or nay? Experiences?

My mom is having a problem with Cajun barking. Basically every time she lets her outside (which is a lot), Cajun has to let out her deep, booming bark to announce her presence. It's kind of annoying I guess, especially when it's 6am. My mom is horribly inconsistent with any sort of training.

Note: it's pretty rare that she barks when I let her outside

I'm not really interested in trying an electronic one with her, I don't necessarily think they're cruel it's just not how I want to address this issue. I THINK she would respond well enough to just a little distraction. She just likes to hear herself but she doesn't get lost in a frenzy or anything.

Also, do these things have a high likelihood of needing to be used forever? Ideally she'd just get the picture that she's being a knucklehead, stop barking, and not need the collar anymore

I used one briefly with Maisy. It worked well enough for what I needed it for at the time, but I will say even in the short term she learned to test if it was empty or the battery was dead.

I adopted a 10yo pit bull several years ago, and she had this horrible habit of standing out there and barking, getting lost in it. I didn't want to do the shock collar thing, so I got a citronella collar. It worked well for a few weeks, but she gradually stopped caring, and no, she certainly never stopped barking.

I moved on to a shock collar that started with vibration then moved up in intensity. She learned that thing very well. She even seemed to learn that it reset itself after 30 seconds, so if she barked once and got a vibration, she'd wait a bit and bark again so it'd be another vibration instead of a shock. She never stopped barking, and she would regularly test the batteries. She was a stubborn one

All it did for Patton was keep the bugs away. It soaked him and he did not mind.

I used one on Rowan when we worked at the dog daycare. He learned that rapid fire barking would empty it and then he was free to bark without getting sprayed.

Lol oh God, well hopefully my dog is dumb :rofl1:

I know someone who used one on her toy breeds with pretty much the same experience as already stated.

How about a vibration collar (not shock)? I just bought one for Caleb. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, tho- the only time I really have an issue is when I'm setting up for Rally at the training center.

It worked well in conjunction with training/desensitizing when I needed to keep Mega quiet in the apartment. I started using it on Cohen to quell her back yard barking, but then I misplaced the citronella can and haven't used it in a while and her barking is back up to full force. So, while I can't say that I've used it much, I would say that as a 1-step cure it's not long lasting, but in conjunction with other methods I've seen results.

I've used one on Skye...it did help with her, but yes she gets collar smart very easily and knows when it is on or not. Her barking was more or less inside, attention type stuff. I was using it mostly when my mom was working overnights and sleeping during the day, and Skye would go off barking randomly. She would not bark when it was on. It did not "cure" anything long term though. I did find though that any loud noise in the house would set it off, which was kind of unfair...any other dogs barking, or running through the house. But I don't like leaving a collar with prongs on a dog all day for fear of pressure sores.

My friends used it on their dog who barked outside, and it worked well. She never seemed to test it, and they could put it on her empty or without batteries. She knew enough to bark if it wasn't on, but otherwise didn't figure it out. I guess it depends on the dog!

It does depend on the dog.

Generally speaking, citronella is not a strong enough aversive to do more than interrupt the behavior temporarily.

Haha thanks guys. I think at this point even an interrupter is fine and she sort of strikes me as the type that would get the message. It's habit for her now, she never barked for like the first month we had her and then it was like once she started she couldn't contain herself lol. I definitely want my mom to figure out something else though because obviously it's not so much a Cajun problem if she doesn't do it with me!

I've never seen a vibration bark collar? I don't know if that would startle her enough either depending on the. ..intensity lol of the vibration.

I just purchased the Bark Limiter by recommendation of a schutzhund friend. It also has a vibration setting. Anxious to try it out. Recon will be on vibrate, Patton will not. :rofl1:

So I picked one up today (the citronella kind) and while I was gone, my mom put it on her when she let her outside... she got sprayed once and apparently it kind of startled the crap out of her lol and she came running back inside. Which makes me feel bad because right now, she doesn't get WHAT caused it... but admittedly I'm glad to hear that she doesn't ENJOY it

Oh Cajun. Just quit being a naughtypants. <3

I would just like to say that barking has been a non-existent problem the last 2 days

A lot of times we don't even remember to turn the collar on, but Cajun seems to have learned quickly to tone the barking down. She will let out a small, quiet woof at appropriate times like when someone first walks through the front door (and we don't even have her wear the collar inside the house), but there is no more of this persistent, echoing WOOFWOOFBARKWOOF as she patrols the perimeter of our yard or when a family member comes home.

So far, excellent purchase, and I think my mom's stress level has went down 1000% now that she can freely let Cajun outside without having to worry about her being a nuisance.