Citronella Collars
 

Ugh, I dont know what to do. My yorkies seem to have separation anxiety and bark when I leave. I live in an apartment and I have a rather horrible neighbor who complains about EVERYTHING. Anyway, she said my dogs bark too much and is threatening to report us to the Department of Animal regulations :mad: even though the apartment manager has NEVER received complaints about my dogs nor have any of the neighbors complained to me. But my one neighbor seems to be an annoying complainer so I have tried different methods "just in case" they are barking as I don't know since Im not home when they bark. I have tried a device that you plug into the wall that emits a noise which was useless and I returned it the same day. I have been using collars that beep everytime they bark and it seemed to work up until now. They aren't bothered by the beep anymore! I have been reading about the citronella collars on this forum and I was wondering if anyone could give me a review of the product. I dont want to resort to shock collars, especially because I do not think they are barking as much as my neighbor says they are.

I don't think citronella collars are cruel, don't keep the collar on at all times...A dog's nature is to bark, so keeping them from barking at all times isn't very nice. I used the citronella collar on Miko for a very short while when he was younger, but he's over 10lbs, so he's a little more sturdy...I don't know how big your baby is...Citronella is non-toxic anyway. It worked very quickly.
If he would see my husband outside or could hear him, he would go nuts and bark and bark. He would make himself sick, and he'd puke, and hurt himself very badly. Nothing else worked. Not shaking pennies in a jar, not spraying him with water. It was horrible. I felt so badly for him.
The citronella collar helped him understand that it was okay not to bark, and it helped him with his nerves. It doesn't spray into their face, it sprays out, and I guess he didn't like the smell because when it would spray, he would stop barking. And eventually, he wouldn't get all nervous when someone was outside. After those first 2 weeks or whatever it was, I never put the citronella collar on him again. He's not that jittery nervous doggie he used to be :) He never ever barks anymore and he is very relaxed. This is not for everyone, but it worked for Miko. I don't mind barking, but he was literally making himself sick. Again, I'll say though, I don't think the citronella collar should be on at all times because dogs by nature bark. They like to alert their owners that someone is at the door or things like that.

I'd tell that neighbor if she complains one more time, your going to get her for harassment. Let her know she's the only one that has complained. Do you leave the TV on for the dogs? Maybe some solo harp music. They may need some company like that.

Good advice, that's another thing we like to do...Leave nice classical music on for the furbabies. I think it calms them and gets them to relax while we're gone.

You can get the citronella collars from dr Fosters and smithg online. They are safe they just emit a little bit of citronella sray when they bark

I always leave the tv on for them. My neighbor passed out letters to all my neighbors about a month ago with the threat to report me to animal regulations. :mad: I got really upset and I told her that I would report her for harassment. This whole situation is such a nightmare. I dont want my poor doggies to feel like they can't bark. I am going to try the citronella collars and I hope they work. The good thing is that I am home all day and I have school two nights a week so I wouldnt have the collars on when I am home.

the walk
 

How about walking your dogs for 30-45 minutes to exhaust them? I've done it with Gigi but she keeps barking, my fault because I haven't taken the time to teach her to be quiet. My bigger dog was crate trained and quickly learned to keep quiet. I also give them bones to keep them preoccuppied after the long walk. Hope that helps.

what i usuallie do is take my babies out to potty then i take them in and give them treats & chewies and i turn on the tv to the animal planet and tell them to behave and they are usuallie fine til they hear us put in the key in the door they bark to protect.

camroder? I'd tape my babies for one day.
 

get a camoder? or rent one. I know a few rentals places here that do. and video tape my babies for the day while I'm gone. make sure it has the time and date stamp. sound like to me you've got a witch on your hands with nothing but time to complain.

tyty

Try a "white noise" machine. It blocks out ALL outside noise. You can get them online at places like Sharper Image. It works lke a charm.

Good Luck!

Wow, great idea!;)

Beware
 

My little Pilla Chica is a wicked barker too. Our trainer suggested a citronella candle as a last resort when nothing else worked. I ended up buying two of them and basically tossing my $$ out the window. Each one only worked for ONE day. After that they just wouldn't spray anymore. I even went out and got new batteries for it, tried to reload it with more spray....Nothing. Those things are expensive, and I bought two.

People are yucky thats why I like animals (and the YT people of course)