These collars have two sensors on them.  They sense sound and vibration and know when your dog is barking out of control.

The “Petsafe Dog Bark Control Collar” comes stocked with a Temperament Learning System which makes these anti bark collars able to work across different breeds of dogs.

Keep in mind that there are two models available depending on which size dog you have.

There is the “PetSafe Deluxe Little Dog Bark Control Collar” and the “PetSafe Big Dog Bark Control Collar.”

The models are virtually the same but one is for smaller dogs while the other is for the more larger breeds.

One would be excellent for use dogs the size of pugs and terriers.  The one is good for dogs the size of golden retrievers (those breeds do not bark that much though) or German shepherds.

Petco makes excellent anti bark collars that train your dog not to bark by the use of zapping, or shocking, him or her when the barking gets to become excessive.

The sensors are wonderful at detecting whether your dog is barking loud or if he just barks a couple times.

Keep in mind that dogs are smarter than we give them credit for.  I found that my two dogs learned that the device would only go off after at least three very loud barks.  So they learned to bark just two times and quickly shut their trap.  I’m okay with that.

If me and my wife are at sleep, during night, and someone is trying to break into my home all I need is two barks to warn me.  Otherwise, in the middle of the day, I do not need my dogs to tell me every time someone passes by my house.

Petco Dog Bark Control Collars are a great buy.  You can usually get them for around $100.  A definite must buy if you want a little peace and quiet. Petsmart has every sort of collar you could want and as far as I know they are offering $5.99 flat rate shipping on orders of $60 or more

First, you need to make sure the collar is snug.  Fitting this barking collar the right way is crucial if you want to have any success.  You do not want the collar to be too tight, obviously, because you do not want to choke your dog.  Even though you are trying to train your dog through a form of punishment you do love your pet and want him or her to be comfortable throughout the day.

Having said that if the bark collar is not tight enough its sensor will not be able to  detect your dog’s voice or vibrations and it will be useless.

Second, if you have a dog that has thick hair or a lot of hair you need to have him or her.  Hair is a another barrier to the sensor. Pugs have light hair so the anti bark collar worked great on mine.

I had a lasso dog (very boring breeds I might add, he got dumped on my by my last girlfriend/ fiance) who had a lot of hair and it almost never worked.  I had it on him for a whole week and the device never sensed his bark.

If you have a breed that has thick hair bring it to a groomer and get his or her hair cut as low as possible.

Third, you need to make sure the batteries are good.  I cannot tell you how many times people I have know, or myself, have used an anti bark collar and the batteries were dead.  The battery on the collar is small and the power runs out quick.  They usually have a light so you know if it is good or not.

On my Petsafe shock collar it would have two blinking lights as long as the battery worked.  When they were in fact dead a red light would come on.  Kind I handy I think.  Obviously, if there is no power going to the collar it is not going to work very well.  Its one of those items that should be really self explanatory but we all forget from time to time.

Follow these three items and your anti bark collar should work the way its designed.  To shut your dog up in the middle of the day!

I would like to assure you they are not.  The shock produced by these collars are really not meant to hurt the dog.  The shock is meant to create a small unpleasant sensation that tells them to stop doing whatever they are doing.

I was fairly leery myself of the whole “shock collar” device until I got a pug two years ago.  He is the cutest dog you have ever seen but he will bark non-stop at any and everything.  A school bus, kids, the mailman, other dogs, you name it he barks at it.  It was enough to make your nerves rattle at times.  I had to find some way to address this problem.

I went to the nearby pet store, Petco, and bought an anti bark collar for approximately $100 after some fierce negotiating with the store manager.  They had an ad on their website for one price yet when I went into the store they had another price.  The difference was $30 so I got them to take that off.  Anyway I bought it and put it on my dog that very day.  No keep in mind that most bark collars have several levels of correction so you can choose how strong the shock will be.  Even the top level will not hurt your dog but for small dogs likes mine I keep it at medium.

I have to admit that I did feel bad at first but wow did the training go fast.  With the collar one my dog stopped the constant barking within several hours and stopped most random barking within 2 days.

The bark collar does not just zap the dog whenever he barks.  He has to bark loud and more than three times for it to go off.  So after a while if he barked it was only two times and then he abruptly stopped.  Dogs learn quickly!

My pug is pretty good about barking now.  I do not mind the occasional bark he and there or to alert us that someone is at the door but the out of control inappropriate barking is pretty rare now.

I love my dogs.  I have the cutest little pug you have ever seen and a lasso who is way past his prime of being cute.  I live on a busy street.  People jog by all the time, cars pass by every minutes, just tons of activity.  So what does that mean???  It means tons of barking.  Its non stop.  One person jogs by….bark.  Kids get off the school bus…bark.  The mailman…bark.  A person rings the doorbell…double and triple bark.  Its annoying.

So I went to PETCO.  They just built a PETCO store in Anchorage, not too far from where I live, and they have everything, or supposedly.  I take my pug, Woodstock, in with me, and start to look for the anti bark collars.  Couldn’t find them anywhere.  I finally find someone and they take me to the front where a glass case is (much like the case where stores keep cigarettes).

They had 3-4 different styles.  I picked the the Petsafe one.  I got two.

One thing to note about PETCO.  Before I went I looked on the internet for anti bark collars.  I searched on PETCO and found the one I was looking for.  Their website said it was $90.00.  But when I went to PETCO the sticker said $130.00.  They tried to pull a fast one.  One of the managers said it was due to shipping.  Thats a bunch of crap.  I told them I wanted that collar but was not going to pay $130.00.  Someone else in town, a small time store, was selling no bark collars for $99.99.  The only reason I went to PETCO was because of their selection and good price online.  It said that the prices would be the same in the store.  So to make a long story short I negotiated the price of the dog collar down to $85.00.  They still made money, trust me, and I got the collar for under what I had planned.

I will talk about this more another time but the anti bark collars do not work well with all dogs.  For my pug it worked great.  He got buzzed several times and figured it out quickly that his barking days were over.  I wish I could have said the same about the lasso.  His hair was thicker and his bark never triggered the shocking mechanism.  So for a long time I had one dog who didn’t bark and one who did.  Not the situation I was looking for.