Cruel to use this anti-bark collar?

[shecass]

Originally Posted by JRosal

We've had Zoe for probably 3 weeks now. She's been like this since we took her home and it's been non-stop.

I like the ear plug idea but I still feel as if I'm neglecting her if we ignore her cries.

I'm afraid putting her on our bed will spoil her and she will expect it forever. She actually sleeps in an ex pen downstairs near her brother Chester whom we're seperating when unsupervised due to potty training (Chester is potty trained, Zoe is in the works) We've been sleeping in our sofa sleeper since we've gotten her which is about 5 steps away from her ex pen.

Ok, I will pass on the collar and think of something else less cruel...you've all convinced me! I hope she'll grow out of it. Maybe I'll try the Citronella spray, any opinions on that?

Both of mine sleep with us. They are up and down throughout the night. I'm thinking of buying a bed to put in our room for when they are in the floor. Sorry I don't know much about the citronella spray.

[Gingergirlsmom]

You're not neglecting her if you're ignoring her cries. If you know she's safe and it's bedtime, you need to teach her that it's bedtime. Go ahead and ignore her...try earplugs (like suggested earlier), putting her in another room, etc...she'll get it. But if she barks and whines, and you change what you're doing, your just reinforcing the barking. Get some sleep! That won't make you a bad mommy!

[shecass]

Originally Posted by Gingergirlsmom

You're not neglecting her if you're ignoring her cries. If you know she's safe and it's bedtime, you need to teach her that it's bedtime. Go ahead and ignore her...try earplugs (like suggested earlier), putting her in another room, etc...she'll get it. But if she barks and whines, and you change what you're doing, your just reinforcing the barking. Get some sleep! That won't make you a bad mommy!

I agree. Just think of this as a human baby eventually they will cry themselves to sleep without having to be comforted(sp) even though it is hard. Just hang in there and definitely try and get some sleep. Have you tried playing with her about an hour before you go to bed and getting her really tired to see it she will sleep better?

[Ponyup]

I agree...ignore, ignore. It took about a month for us to break Logan. I wore earplugs. He would cry for 2 hours straight before falling asleep & then start back up again in the middle of night. Never remove them from their crate unless they are being quiet, this will reinforce the good behavior of not barking. Logan did much better once we moved him right outside our bedroom, he used to sleep in the back bedroom with the door closed. I think in the new spot he feels like he won't miss anything & that makes him happy.

[MyTrixie143]

I hate the collars that shock your dog, you could never ever use them on a small dog. You can however, try the citronella collars, they emit a spray rather than a shock, it is not harmful, you won't even notice a smell, but for your dog it is very unpleasant. It is the most humane way to correct them with a collar. You can even use them on really small dogs. I have to tell you that they work wonders and is so effective and 100 percent safe. You can get them at most petstores. If I were in your situation and wanted the barking corrected right away I would buy one of these collars.

[JRosal]

OK, I will try the ignoring again...I thought it wasn't working since she went on for 1-1.5 hours. After that, I just felt bad and went to pick her up to calm her down.

I will tell myself over and over again...ignoring does not = bad mommy and daddy or neglect. Just don't do it right ??

Going to stop by the store to pick up ear plugs tonight!

IGNORE, IGNORE, IGNORE. I can do it!!! if not, the spray will be the next solution, I hate it when she stays wet since she can catch a cold.

We can do it!! thanks everyone!!

[JRosal]

Originally Posted by shecass

I agree. Just think of this as a human baby eventually they will cry themselves to sleep without having to be comforted(sp) even though it is hard. Just hang in there and definitely try and get some sleep. Have you tried playing with her about an hour before you go to bed and getting her really tired to see it she will sleep better?

tried wearing her out before bed as well! long walks and getting her to play with Chester right before bed...she doesn't cry when we put her to bed, she continues to play in her ex pen but it's at 1am and/or 5am that she starts to cry and when we just come home from work where she hasn't seen us for long hours. She normally doesn't really bark mid day when we're home on weekends.

[northview5]

I KNOW what you're talking about. I couldn't tell by what you wrote if you've tried to kennel train her. With our first, he barked his head off in there and I gave up and brought him into bed with me... I loved it, but later it ended up contributing to TERRIBLE seperation anxiety problems (You DON'T want to end up with THAT!). He never did stop barking. Barked at people, barked when we left him, barked 'til he lost his voice! When we got our second Yorkie we determined to kennel train him at night 'cause of the good we'd heard about it. He, too, barked his head off. We lost tons of sleep and it nearly frustrated us to death, but after a week he stopped. He did relapse again, but got over it faster. Now he loves his kennel and is a SUPER dog! I would highly encourage you to stick it out! Believe me - I sympathize.

As to the collar - I tried it and it didn't work. First off it was too big for a Yorkie's neck (and my guy was 20lbs! LOL!) Ee just learned to hang his head a bit so it wouldn't touch him. Secondly I didn't like how it depressed him. It made him so sad! I hated seeing his happy personality dampered.

Best wishes! Allison

[MyTrixie143]

Originally Posted by JRosal

OK, I will try the ignoring again...I thought it wasn't working since she went on for 1-1.5 hours. After that, I just felt bad and went to pick her up to calm her down.

I will tell myself over and over again...ignoring does not = bad mommy and daddy or neglect. Just don't do it right ??

Going to stop by the store to pick up ear plugs tonight!

IGNORE, IGNORE, IGNORE. I can do it!!! if not, the spray will be the next solution, I hate it when she stays wet since she can catch a cold.

We can do it!! thanks everyone!!

Yes, it took me days to get sheeba(my step dad's puppy) to stop whining and barking. You just have to stick to it and not give in even though you want to so badly. They will stop, it just takes time.

[chachi]

Dr Fosters and Smith have the citronella collar too and it also says for dogs 8 lbs or more

[dezertblu]

We used an anti bark collar on our bigger dog, she is a border collie, which matters because thier neck is very thick and full of ruffly thick hair..they are a very hearty breed.We tried it on ourselves first, as we would not use anything on any of our pets we werent willing to try on us, the shock collar we got, had adjustable settings and was triggered by the vibrations caused by a bark, the shock emmited on the highest level is less than that from an electric fence, but slightly more than a 9 volt battery.I put ours on medium as low was so weak our dog didn't even feel it, and we felt high was a bit much.Medium had a good shock that wasnt painful or hurtful in any way, more a surprize factor the dog doesn't like.I know because as I said I tried it on myself, something the box says not to do, but I am not putting something on my dog I can't handle myself. The collar worked quite well within the first hour of having it we saw the change.We only had it on her while we were home, never while she was alone.The main problem I saw with this automatic system collar is that it would give shocks when she barked, but sometimes when she hadn't barked, such as in times of heavy panting ect.Her "husband" our other dog took care of the collar by chewing it off her and making sure it was well and truely destroyed......so we went to the water out an upper story window method, which seems to work.I don't find the medium setting cruel for the larger more hearty breeds.....I personally wouldn't use the collar even on low on a toy breed, as they are more sensative and fragile.

[JRosal]

Originally Posted by northview5

I KNOW what you're talking about. I couldn't tell by what you wrote if you've tried to kennel train her. With our first, he barked his head off in there and I gave up and brought him into bed with me... I loved it, but later it ended up contributing to TERRIBLE seperation anxiety problems (You DON'T want to end up with THAT!). He never did stop barking. Barked at people, barked when we left him, barked 'til he lost his voice! When we got our second Yorkie we determined to kennel train him at night 'cause of the good we'd heard about it. He, too, barked his head off. We lost tons of sleep and it nearly frustrated us to death, but after a week he stopped. He did relapse again, but got over it faster. Now he loves his kennel and is a SUPER dog! I would highly encourage you to stick it out! Believe me - I sympathize.

As to the collar - I tried it and it didn't work. First off it was too big for a Yorkie's neck (and my guy was 20lbs! LOL!) Ee just learned to hang his head a bit so it wouldn't touch him. Secondly I didn't like how it depressed him. It made him so sad! I hated seeing his happy personality dampered.

Best wishes! Allison

Allison, when you say kennel trained, do you mean crate trained? She is crate trained during the day since we're in the midst of potty training but she's put in an ex pen during the day while we work since we're not home to walk her during the day and we both work way too far to come home. In the middle of the night, we put her in the ex pen as well since I don't want (shame on me) to get up in the middle of the night to take her out. so she goes on her pads until she is old enough to hold it for 8 hours.

[Bailey's Peeps]

When we first brought Bailey home, we tried putting her crate in our room. Two nights with very little sleep told me that wasn't going to work. Moved her crate to another room, but felt compelled to leave the door open so I could hear her if she was really in distress. Got some sleep, but still listened to a lot of crying that night until I decided to treat her like a crying baby. Just went and sat in my chair holding her until she fell asleep again. Wouldn't let her start playing - just held her and talked to her. She soon fell asleep and I went back to bed. Once a night for a couple of nights and now she sleeps through the night.

[YorkieRose]

At 3 months you have a chance to nip this in the bud..but it sounds like you have a "natural" barker...if you have a place in the house away from the bedrooms, put her pen there...it is going to be hard to ignore a non-stop barker...and starting so young is even harder..I would talk to a professional trainer asap.

I will tell you an electronic bark collar is not the answer. I bought one about 12 years ago for a terrible barker I had...it was for 5 pounds and up. There degrees were from 1 to 10...it said to start at 3...so I set it on 3, put it up to my neck and made a slight bark..it shocked me so bad I screamed. I always use myself as a guinea pig when it comes to my dogs...honest to goodness I thought my husband was going to have to call the paramedic's...it shocked me so bad..my ears rang..10 would have killed me..LOL

Of course, whenever I get together with a group of breeder friends, they always wanted me to tell the story about the time I tested the NO-Bark collar on myself...

[northview5]

Originally Posted by JRosal

Allison, when you say kennel trained, do you mean crate trained? She is crate trained during the day since we're in the midst of potty training but she's put in an ex pen during the day while we work since we're not home to walk her during the day and we both work way too far to come home. In the middle of the night, we put her in the ex pen as well since I don't want (shame on me) to get up in the middle of the night to take her out. so she goes on her pads until she is old enough to hold it for 8 hours.

Smiles! Yea, I suppose I mean crate training... We call it a kennel. It's a plastic kennel/crate with a wire door on the front. It's very transportable - we bring it everywhere Pepper goes! Thankfully, he has learned to love it. You might want to try it. It was explained to us that dogs like "caves". The kennel gives them the security of their own little cave home. Perhaps the expen (I'm not very familar with them) is giving her to much of a large lonely expanse. Not sure, but I know the crate has worked wonderfully for us and others. Most dogs learn to love them. My heart is with you. It will get better. Just stick it out. (We were so encourage but yet sick of those same words only a year ago, but we are so glad we did it! ) ~Allison