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!

Anti bark collars are one of the remedies that many dog owners around the world implement to solve this problem. There are quite a few types of these collars in the marketplace which you can utilize to train you dog.

I purchased all these Dog Training Aids at PetSmart.com

Here are three main categories from which you can pick from.

The Shock Collars

Shock collars, at least in my personal opinion, are the most effective barking collar.  It produces a very small amount of shock to your dog when the device senses your dog barking loud and excessively.  They usually will go off after the dog gets over a certain noise decimal and they bark more than three times.  The shock collars will work on pretty much every dog. Some owners tend to think of this device as being slightly inhumane.  However, you must realize that these “zaps” are not made to cause harm to your dog but rather give him or her an unpleasant feeling in turn telling them that what they are doing is “bad.”

The Ultra Sonic Bark Collars

The Ultra Sonic bark collars produces a really high decibel pitch when your dog starts to bark. The can only can be heard by dogs. People cannot hear it at all. Most dogs hate the sound it produces. Therefore in turn when the collar senses you dog  barking it will emit that high pitched annoying sound which usually will cause your dog to stop barking. They are not effective on deaf or hard-of-hearing dogs.

The Spray Bark Collars

The other name for the spray-based training aids are citronella bark collars. This particular device works by emitting a strong scent, usually lemon or citronella, which is really bothersome to many dogs’ strong sense of smell.  Their noises are really sensitive and this smell is just too much! Like other two collars whenever it senses a dog barking out of control  it will produce a little bit of citronella into the air. However, to be honest, this anti bark collar is only effective if you dog has a light-medium barking issue.  Many dogs will get used to the smell, as strong as it may be,  over an extended period of time.

So these are the three types of barking collars that you can choose from.  I have seen all three be effective.  They all are safe and if used right can really help your nerves.

The word I am looking for is consistency.

If you do not have it then its not going to work and you are going to be wasting your time and I would recommend that you don’t even buy a anti bark collar.  The reason why I am saying this is because I talked one of my best friends into buying a collar and he is doing just this.

Its pissing me off to no end.  I go over his house everyday and for days I wont see his dog with it on and then it will be on and then it wont.  How in the hell do you think you are going to accomplish anything?  Why in the hell did we go to the pet store when it was -20 degrees outside spend 30 minutes looks for the thing buy it and he not use it right.  Its worthless.

The first day he put the collar on it was working fine.  No problem whatsoever.  His dog barked and it shocked him.  I mean it really got him.  He barked again and it shocked him.  These things work great on pugs, I’m telling you, just great.  If you have a pug then you really want to think about buying an anti bark collar for your pug but YOU HAVE TO BE CONSISTENT.  Don’t put it on your dog and leave it off the next day.  You have to put it on your dog and leave it there for a week.  Its tough love.

I hear questions all the time “do anti bark collars really work” and I say yes the absolutely do.  But you have to know how to use them.  You cannot put the zap collar on your dog and then feel sorry for your dog and take it off then get tired of him barking again and put it back on.  It doesn’t work like that.  You are just going to waste your money.

The dog also learns as time goes by.  The collar will give your dog three beeps.  Three warnings.  After the third beep the collar shocks the dog.

But the problem is that after some time the dog figures it out and barks only twice.  So if the mailman is passing by the dog will give a “bark, bark” and then stop.  This is what my friends dog has learned.  Give any animal time and they will learn how to survive.  Like us.  Like humans adapt so do animals.  Your dog will get used to the warning beeps on the collar.

Don’t go asking for your money back if it does not work.  It does.  Anti bark collars work great.  I promise you that.  I have put these on several dogs and LEFT IT THERE and I have no complaints.  I left it on them for one weeks.  One solid week is all you need.  The gadget will solve you barking problems.  Barking dogs upset the neighbors, your friends even though they will not tell you, and family.

In many places they are passing ordinances giving out fines to owners of barking dogs who cannot keep them silent.  You would be wise to heed the counsel.  Put the zero bark collar on your dog and leave it there.  I hope I have said that enough.