My little Bichon is a lovely doggy, but his barking is off the chain. He was horribly abused before we rescued him 18 months ago and he has improved immensely except in one area: barking at strangers, especially men. Be becomes hysterical. Our 27yo son recently moved back home and Tiki is having a hard time of it. DS works with him, rewards him for good behaviour, and Tiki responds well. But, then when DS turns to go the little monster comes out.DH wanted to put a shock collar on him but I laid my foot down on that. So I'm thinking about an ultrasonic collar. Do you have any recommendatiins toward or against this?

My Bat-dog is fearful of strangers and would bark non-stop at them. Here's how I've handled it:1. always have a filled squirt bottle at hand and as soon as she barks, squirt her in the face. Tell her "no bark" as you squirt. 2. tell folks to ignore her. Don't look her in the eye. Don't try to pet her. A few soft words to her while looking at something else is the most they should acknowledge her. If she starts to come towards them, don't acknowledge it - just let her make all the moves.3. treats. Teach her to sit for her treats automatically. Then, let the "stranger" show her a treat, when she sits, the "stranger" can give her the treat BUT only when she sits. This teaches her that a calm quiet reaction gets rewarded.4. Don't say things like "it's OK" or "it's alright" to ease her fear. We use those words to say it's OK for the dog to do what its doing - which in this case is being fearful and/or barking. Instead, use a word like "easy", "calm down", etc. and use it only when she is scared as part of your calming efforts.5. Have your son take her for walks. Having him control her leash on a "fun" walk when she is happy and excited can help her forget he's a "stranger" and evil.With Bat-dog, I've been doing this for 4 years now. She is still scared of people, but she has improved 95%. She will let people spend the night in our RV with us and not freak out; she will let the vet check her out (we do use a muzzle in that situation just to be safe) and give her shots without going nuts; and she doesn't go nuts when people stop to say hello to me.

We bought and small devise, called the Egg, at PetSmart. When you dog barks you just say no and press the button. It makes some sound, which can not be heard by people. This has worked really good for us and doesn't hurt the babies, they just don't like the sound. Good luck to you in whatever option you choose and enjoy your life:)

USA Traveler wrote:We bought and small devise, called the Egg, at PetSmart. When you dog barks you just say no and press the button. It makes some sound, which can not be heard by people. This has worked really good for us and doesn't hurt the babies, they just don't like the sound. Good luck to you in whatever option you choose and enjoy your life:)This sounds promising. DH went and bought a sonic collar today and it seems to be working. Tiki isn't barking at DS now but he seems sad. I'm wondering if the collar may be reacting to ambient sounds and giving him too much stimulus. He usually will sit or dance for a treat, but he doesn't even do that. He hasn't eaten today but he is drinking water. We take the collar off when he goes outside so he can run around some. We'll also take it off during the night. If this continues I will have to ditch this collar. I'm not going to have him miserable, even though it has stopped the excess barking.

put that collar on your DH, He wont be a happy camper either..No on the shock collars.give the little guy to someone else...a sad puppy is NOT a happy puppy

Some other ideas. A can with loose change in it. Shake it to get the dogs attention away from their barking. If they resume barking, shake and give a loud, 'NO'. If they stop barking-reward them. You could also try a squirt or spray of lemon juice in their face and a loud, 'NO'. Reward them if they stop barking. Basic obedience training is required. It's good to have someone practice knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell. Remember if you are calm when a stranger is present, the energy will cue the dog how to act. If you're hopping about, yelling, 'shut up!'. The dog will join in the excitement.All of these ideas require you to have a good bond with the dog. The dog must recognize you as the pack leader, or they have no motivation to obey a subordinate member of the pack.

Q: about ultrasonic bark collar | Good Sam Community

Brett_K
Explorer
Aug 05, 2014
I think the fact that he was abused and is a rescue should be a big factor in how you proceed. Aversive techniques are ok in the right hands under the right conditions. Your dog has had that trust abused. I would recommend working with distractions. Have people give him treats and let him approach them. Do everything you can to make it positive. Pairing an aversive stimuli with an existing fear will only make it worse.
Chock_Full_o__N
Explorer
Aug 03, 2014
cyntdon2010 wrote:
put that collar on your DH, He wont be a happy camper either..

No on the shock collars.

give the little guy to someone else...a sad puppy is NOT a happy puppy

A sad puppy is not a happy puppy? Brilliant!

I took the collar off around 8:30 last night. I couldn't stand to see h looking so...down-trodden. I noticed that when I set the collar on the coffee table, the light would flash when we laughed, so I think the collar was probably picking up other sounds too.

Okay, no more bark collars. I'll try a little spritz of lemon water and see how that works. I will say, Tiki is doing much better with DS this morning. Quite remarkable, actually. DS has been quick to comfort Tiki through this 6 hour experiment.
stitchinsue
Explorer
Aug 03, 2014
He isn't sad, he is scared. Try clicker training. I think it is the best way to train. Kikopup on Youtube is my favorite trainer to watch. Give it a try - Kikopup training no bark This is just one of her videos teaching no bark.
rdhetrick
Explorer
Aug 03, 2014
cyntdon2010 wrote:
put that collar on your DH, He wont be a happy camper either..

No on the shock collars.

give the little guy to someone else...a sad puppy is NOT a happy puppy

Dumbest thing I've read today.....
toedtoes
Explorer III
Aug 03, 2014
cyntdon2010 wrote:
put that collar on your DH, He wont be a happy camper either..

No on the shock collars.

give the little guy to someone else...a sad puppy is NOT a happy puppy

Right. Because the dog would not have the same issues in another home...

The OP is trying to be a good pet owner and is trying to help this little dog adjust to a normal life. Having done rescue work for years, there are many many people I would tell "give the dog to someone else" - the OP is NOT one of them.
Deb_and_Ed_M
Explorer II
Aug 03, 2014
Chock Full o' Nuts wrote:
USA Traveler wrote:
We bought and small devise, called the Egg, at PetSmart. When you dog barks you just say no and press the button. It makes some sound, which can not be heard by people. This has worked really good for us and doesn't hurt the babies, they just don't like the sound. Good luck to you in whatever option you choose and enjoy your life:)

This sounds promising. DH went and bought a sonic collar today and it seems to be working. Tiki isn't barking at DS now but he seems sad. I'm wondering if the collar may be reacting to ambient sounds and giving him too much stimulus. He usually will sit or dance for a treat, but he doesn't even do that. He hasn't eaten today but he is drinking water. We take the collar off when he goes outside so he can run around some. We'll also take it off during the night. If this continues I will have to ditch this collar. I'm not going to have him miserable, even though it has stopped the excess barking.

I bought an ultrasonic device to stop my dogs from barking for attention from customers while at work. The unit I bought had an audible setting, so I could hear what triggered it and yes, you are correct. A loud laugh, dropped item, loud TV commercial, etc can trigger the device. I would recommend buying a handheld device that you can control the correction. I bought one called the Dog Dazer II for about $25 from Amazon, and my dogs now shut up when they simply see it. No corrections needed.
Go_Dogs
Explorer
Aug 02, 2014
Some other ideas. A can with loose change in it. Shake it to get the dogs attention away from their barking. If they resume barking, shake and give a loud, 'NO'. If they stop barking-reward them.
You could also try a squirt or spray of lemon juice in their face and a loud, 'NO'. Reward them if they stop barking.
Basic obedience training is required. It's good to have someone practice knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell. Remember if you are calm when a stranger is present, the energy will cue the dog how to act. If you're hopping about, yelling, 'shut up!'. The dog will join in the excitement.
All of these ideas require you to have a good bond with the dog. The dog must recognize you as the pack leader, or they have no motivation to obey a subordinate member of the pack.
cyntdon2010
Explorer
Aug 02, 2014
put that collar on your DH, He wont be a happy camper either..

No on the shock collars.

give the little guy to someone else...a sad puppy is NOT a happy puppy
Chock_Full_o__N
Explorer
Aug 02, 2014
USA Traveler wrote:
We bought and small devise, called the Egg, at PetSmart. When you dog barks you just say no and press the button. It makes some sound, which can not be heard by people. This has worked really good for us and doesn't hurt the babies, they just don't like the sound. Good luck to you in whatever option you choose and enjoy your life:)

This sounds promising. DH went and bought a sonic collar today and it seems to be working. Tiki isn't barking at DS now but he seems sad. I'm wondering if the collar may be reacting to ambient sounds and giving him too much stimulus. He usually will sit or dance for a treat, but he doesn't even do that. He hasn't eaten today but he is drinking water. We take the collar off when he goes outside so he can run around some. We'll also take it off during the night. If this continues I will have to ditch this collar. I'm not going to have him miserable, even though it has stopped the excess barking.
USA_Traveler
Explorer
Aug 02, 2014
We bought and small devise, called the Egg, at PetSmart. When you dog barks you just say no and press the button. It makes some sound, which can not be heard by people. This has worked really good for us and doesn't hurt the babies, they just don't like the sound. Good luck to you in whatever option you choose and enjoy your life:)