Barking too much

Barking is a symptom, and the useful question is what it is a symptom of. A dog barking at the window is doing something different from a dog barking alone in an empty house, and only one of them is going to respond to a device.

Boredom barking and separation barking are not deterrent problems. A dog left with nothing to do will bark, and the honest fix is enrichment and management: a puzzle that takes twenty minutes, a rolling ball that moves on its own, a person coming back sooner. That is why toys sit on this page next to the training kit.

On the deterrents themselves, be sceptical. Ultrasonic units work on some dogs, do nothing to others, and reach every dog within range including your neighbour’s. Vibration and tone collars interrupt a bark; they do not tell a dog what to do instead, and a collar that fires at another dog’s bark teaches nothing at all. Nothing here delivers a shock. Dog Trackers, Lights and Training Tech sets out what this category actually does.