Off topic from barking dog neighbor complaint
 

I'm with you-it doesn't take much other than consistent calm training. I'm sorry but I can't believe how many people use a water bottle literally shooting their dogs with a squirt like that's supposed to calm them...ye its effective but so are shock collars and beatings-it doesn't make it right. Now I'm not saying using a squirt bottle is like using a shock collar or hitting your dog-but it seems to be in the same scale just much lower. To get my dog from barking I used to throw his ball in the other direction-he chased his ball and then his mouth was full! For my "alerter" dog I used a treat reward and a calm "shhhhhh"...not a a hiss a calm assertive shhhhhh here's a treat be calm, literally now I can tell my dogs "no barking in the house. My BF's dog was literally a trained alerter, and she would bark and bark until you dealt with whatever she wanted...well that wasn't working she would bark at everyone coming in the door for several minutes-we just removed her to a room by herself as many times as it took for as long as it took, and when she stopped she was rewarded with either a treat or just attention itself...I'm curious how many people here use water bottle and how many feel that same way about them that I do.I am overly sensitive about it or do others feel it is a rather rude way (perhaps cruel) to train a dog. For those that have done it. does it actually train them or is it a crutch always having to be done?-how long?-how do they react to kids playing having water fights after water training?

Maxman is an alarm barker and an occasional bossy barker. He wouldn't quit with a simple command. I admit to trying every method discussed on YT, but I went back to using positive reinforcement training methods and have had more success.

I don't think the water bottle method is cruel to the dog, just unpleasant, and not always effective.

I think there is nothing wrong with the squirt bottle honestly and I have used it and after three or four squirts (not at the same time) if I even just showed her the water bottle when she was being "bad" she would stop. A water bottle is better then a loud noise which can cause dogs to be afraid of loud noises or hitting them ( I NEVER hit but lots of uneducated people do). Throwing a ball for your dog and giving them a treat when they are barking rewards the behavior if they have stoped barking and then you did it that is different because they have stopped the bad behavior and are being good and should be reward for the good behavior. In no way is it cruel unless you are doing it wrong and squirting them right in the face. I am really upset that you think the water bottle is cruel. I would NEVER ever do anything cruel to Callie ever and I love all animals and it makes me so upset when people do cruel things to them and a water bottle is very far from being cruel.

I used the squirt bottle method with my doxie. The problem I found with it was that the little stinker would look to see if I had the bottle around before he would do what he wasn't supposed to be doing.

Thanks for your personal experience here, I'm genuinely curious how peple feel about this. I've tried many a thing for many a behavioral outcome-I actually used a Herm Sprenger (pinch collar, poke collar) of course it was advised to me by a trainer and I got the one with the rubber balls (not just the rubber ends-there's actually a ball at the end of the rubber) on it for my dog that was aggressive to towards other dogs while we walked (no he wasn't a little dog-not sure that makes it okay tho) but I totally regret having tried that after the first time I used it when he pulled I heard him squeal as it pinched him-it was awful! Honestly I think it just scared and shocked him more than it really hurt him but still...after that I just turned it inside out on him and he never pulled again-an amazing reaction to something he only felt the use of once...I still feel bad over it though...

I'm sorry my opinion on it upsets you hence I started this thread just to let everyone put their opinion out there. I've definitely done things people can feel one way or the other about and gladly accept anyone giving their opinion to me in a constructive nonaggression way. Please note my above response on my having used a herm sprenger collar before-ye still feel bad about it.
I see your point I should have explained better...I said shhhhhh and my dogs all have to sit to get their toys ( I don't care if they are little I hate when dogs jump on people or especially for toys) so my dogs sit and have to hush and then I throw the ball...maybe Scoobers was just so easily distracted it worked for him...he'd be quiet do anything for his ball and go for it-he'd do anything to get his ball really though-same with the treat it's shhhhh (calmly hissing shhhht doesn't work) and getting them to stop (I've actually put my hand over my girls mouth to literally show her the response I wanted) when they hus I give a treat and give the command "no barking in the house" my dogs only get a shhhh outdoors if they bark continuously...as I said tho I don't expect them to never bark in the house they get like 3 good barks in to alert me but once I'm responding they need to hush and I always remind "no barking in the house" they respond to the command, well Elvis likes to give a few extra yips-he always has to get the last word in (in fact Scoobers has learned to growl instead of bark I never reprimand him for it he's alerting me to a presence and not the entire neighborhood-it's awesome) I wish Princess would copy Scoobers she's somewhere in the middle of him and Elvie-roo, for a tiny lil dog (she's a 15 lbs miniature schnauzer) she's a deep loud bark, so I'm still working on it with her...like most things!

That's pretty hilarious actually! Those smart sneaky Doxies!

I've not used the water bottle, so I don't really know if it would work with Razz. He is a barker, an alerter, an excited barker (ie when we play games of fetch), truthfully we are still working on his stopping barking immediately.

I tend to clap my hands to interrupt his barking jag, usually after the hush command (that didn't work)lol. The noise I make has not scared him, he is okay with vacuum cleaners, thunder, backfires, sirens, etc etc.

I personally don't think water squirting is mean or cruel just not something that will easily work in our set up.

my mom used a water bottle on her pugs for barking and jumping only to discover that the water was getting stuck in the folds of skin around there tails and causing skin infections when i want gatsby to stop doing something i always call him over and rub his belly he thinks he is getting rewarded for coming to his name. but he has stopped doing the bad thing regardless