photo courtesy of frankjuarez@flickr.com*

Here is a situation described by a reader in response to my article on Anti-Bark Collars. As you will see, she is experiencing multiple problems with her pack of small dogs. There are a lot of object lessons in this story. My reply comes after her story.

Reader’s Comment:

“I have tried the shock collar and also have mixed feelings, as well as mixed results. The collar does not even phase my Shi Tzu, it may be that he has too much hair in the way, not sure, only know that it didn’t slow him down at all. Given how expensive they are, I returned it to the pet store for a refund. A previous collar did have a positive affect on one of my yorkies. After he wore it for approx 1 month, he never had to wear it again; he learned to stop barking. Unfortunately, the first chance he had to chew it to pieces, he did and I had to through it away. I have 4 dogs (2 Yorkies, 1 Shi Tzu and 1 Bullmastif) The 2 I mentioned are horrible barkers (after 6 months without the collar the Yorkie is barking again). I am very sensitive to how my neighbors feel, I believe we are all entitled to peace and quiet in out own homes. I am so upset about not being able to change their behavior, I have considered trying to find them new homes, but I just can’t do it. I can not keep them in the house while I am gone because the Yorkies are rotten and pee on everything. They pee on their food bowl, on each others beds, on their toys, on my furniture, they are just rotten. Contrary to EVERYTHING I have read on the pee problem, potting training them is not the solution, it hasn’t worked a bit. I have tried it all; we will be outside to pee and 3 minutes later inside one of them will lift a leg on some random corner. They have full access always to the yard and when one of them does pee inside they both assume a very submissive stance as they are aware that it is wrong. Funny thing is, they appear to be well behaved (it’s always when I am not looking and I don’t know which one it is so it’s very hard to punish the right Yorkie). So the peeing is one problem, the barking is another. The solution I am looking at now is building a 6×10 dog run at the back of my house, hoping they won’t be triggered to bark as much if they don’t see people on the road walking by and also hoping the house blocks most of the noise from reaching my neighbors. Its a long shot but may take care of both the barking and peeing… as I type this I realize that my solution does nothing to train them to stop, it just hides the problem as they will pee all over the dog run. I may just go back to the shock collar after all. By the way, I tried the noise collar and all it did was add to the noise disturbing the peace…first a bark, then a piercing whistle, bark, whistle, etc. If it works it means my sanity, my neighbor’s sanity and I will have more time and energy to enjoy my little pets. The Bull Mastiff is a normal dog, no problems with him.”

My reply:

My heart goes out to you on your problems with your Yorkies and Shih Tsu. Let me talk about your barking Yorkie first. Experience has shown that once you put an anti-bark collar on a dog, it has to stay on for the dog for the rest of the dog’s life. Your Yorkie started barking again 6 months after the collar was removed because one day it experimented with barking and noticed there was no longer any consequence for doing so. It is not that the collar needs to stay activated, it just needs to remain on the dog as a reminder not to bark. Although, if you do keep the collar on, it is better to keep it active so it responds to any experimental barking.

Regarding your Shih Tsu: I am 95% certain you are correct when you said the collar was ineffective because your dog has too much hair. In order to be effective, the probes on the anti-bark collar must remain in direct contact with the skin of the dog’s neck. At Kelsey’s Dog House, we are routinely asked to shave a small spot on the neck of dogs that wear shock collars so the collar’s probes will make good contact. In fact, our customers have told us when the shaved area grows out and the probes are no longer in good contact, their dogs begin to bark again.

With regard to your Yorkies peeing in the house: Know that this is a very common problem. We see it all the time at our boarding facility. Dogs will watch to see when owners are not looking, and then mark territory. Rest assured, this habit of peeing on objects in your house has nothing to do with a full bladder, or with housebreaking. That is why your dogs will pee inside right after going outside. The problem is compounded by the fact that you have multiple dogs in your house. Dogs in packs naturally compete with each other for resources and space. Marking territory is part and parcel of that competition.

Here is what I suggest. As long as you are willing to spend money on an outdoor dog run, you might try spending a little money on another less expensive, easier to apply tactic first. The clue to this tactic is in what you said: “They pee when I am not looking.” If your Yorkies take advantage of your inattention, you need to take that advantage out of the equation. Shop for a video baby monitoring system that has a small camera and a simple black and white monitor. Don’t go for anything elaborate or expensive. Confine your Yorkies to an area of the house that can be completely covered by the camera’s view. Ideally the area where you confine your dogs should also have a door to the outside of your house. Place the monitor in an adjacent room where you can watch your dogs. Now take a seat in the next room and watch the monitor to see what your Yorkies do. The second you see either of your dogs lift a leg or squat to pee in the next room, run into the room clapping and shouting a nonsense syllable: “Yah! Yah! Yah!” or “Nah! Nah! Nah!” I don’t like using the word “No!” repetitively because it is an important command that I don’t believe should be worn out with repetition. In any case, the key is to take your dogs by complete surprise with shock and awe. As you rush into the room, head straight for the exterior door and chase your dogs outside.

It will probably take many repetitions of this exercise before your dogs get it, but eventually they will begin to believe there is no time when you are not watching their behavior. The act of rushing them outside should build a strong relationship between the act of peeing and going outside. I would also suggest getting a small dog door to the outside to make it more convenient for them to go when they need to, provided that door leads to a fenced area. Lastly, I would suggest, if you have not already done so, thoroughly cleaning with a strong cleaner any areas your dogs have already marked. Cleaning up marked spots is equivalent to you reclaiming your house. Once your dogs have laid down territory in your house by marking, they will continue to reinforce their boundaries. Removing their markings tells them they have no claim, and you set the boundaries, not them.

My last suggestion is, if you have not already done so, start teaching all your dogs basic obedience work. You can either do this job yourself or hire a trainer. If you decide to do it yourself, I strongly recommend reading “Let the Dog Decide” by Dale Stavroff. It is the best training guide I have read and applied. Yours sounds like a situation in which your dogs have taken advantage of you. Getting your dogs to respond to you through obedience work puts you in charge, and will have benefits that extend to all areas of the relationship between you and your dogs. Your dogs may seem rotten, but they are just taking their natural dog behavior to its normal limit. Unfortunately, that limit does not fit in your household and it needs to be reigned in.

Please let me know more about your progress as it happens.

Sincerely,

Jeff Kanarish

*The opinions in this article are strictly my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the provider of the attached photo.

Well sure, he's quiet now. . .

Other dogs
Vehicles
People
Wildlife
Snapping twigs
Shadows
Reflections
Planet Earth

Most breed books also warn against leaving Min Pins unattended in a fenced yard because they will almost always bark their silly heads off.

So here’s the situation. One of the keys to finally cracking the code on housetraining Royce was allowing him unlimited access to our fenced backyard through a dog door. Once he discovered he could use the backyard to relieve himself as often as necessary without bad consequences, he stopped mistaking the interior of our house for a toilet. You can see what’s coming next, can’t you?

The note from our neighbors arrived Saturday night. We found the note wedged in the frame of our front door upon our return from dinner and a movie. The note began: “My name is ___________ and I live adjacent to you. I truly don’t mean to be a burden, but your dog is making it extremely tough to enjoy our backyard. . .” The rest of the note was equally cordial, rational and sensible. My wife and I felt very bad. Not only had we caused our kind neighbor much aggravation. We also realized we had our head buried in the sand about Royce’s behavior. We sent a letter of apology along with a gift because we were both too embarrassed to face our neighbor.

At this point, the dog door is barred. Royce only goes out on a leash. He may still go into the backyard, but only when one of us is there to watch him. I am hoping Royce has learned his housetraining lessons and will not decorate our house in between outings, but I am not optimistic. I will not rehash the whole housebreaking bit other than to say this is a dog that has actually peed in his own crate and laid in the puddle.

The Solution?
What to do about that barking when unsupervised? I’ve tried everything you have ever read or heard about: Distractions; ambushes; obedience training; positive reinforcement for non-barking behavior.* The only thing I have not tried is an anti-bark device attached to his collar. I did buy one, but it sits un-opened in a cabinet in the kitchen. I decided not to use the device after 1. researching the effectiveness of the device and, 2. thinking about the consequences. For research, I not only did some online reading, I also talked to our customers at Kelsey’s Dog House who have tried various contraptions. Here is what I found:

Loud speakers and other area broadcast devices: These are anti-bark devices that project a loud and supposedly punishing sound whenever your dog barks. The sound is supposed to cover a wide enough area that it should suppress barking in a typical backyard. It doesn’t. None of these machines cover a large enough area, nor do they create a powerful enough sound to deter a dog from barking. Result: Ineffective.

Spray device: This type of collar attachment is supposed to spray your dog with either water or a benign chemical–usually citronella–in response to his bark. There are three drawbacks to this type of machine. First, it is nearly impossible to keep the spray focused on your dog’s face where it will do the most good. As the dog moves around, the spray nozzle’s aim point moves, so the spray rarely hits the target. Second, the reservoir in the device is very small and needs frequent refilling. Third, the citronella spray will saturate your dog’s fur and anything he comes near. You can imagine the drawbacks of this side-effect. Result: Ineffective.

Shrill noise collar attachment: This principle behind this type of aid is the same as the loud speaker device mentioned above. The only difference is the loud speaker is attached to your dog’s collar, so there is no getting away from it. No one I have talked to has said the attachment works consistently. Apparently, most dogs can get used to the shrill noise with repeated exposure, so the noise becomes an add-on to barking. This is a battery operated device and the battery tends to run down very quickly. Result: Ineffective.

Shock collar attachment: A shock device is usually contained in a unit about the size of two matchboxes stacked on top of each other. Some are smaller, but even the smallest are relatively large and heavy for a small dog’s neck. The shock unit has two metal prongs protruding from its underside. When strapped onto your dog’s collar these metal prongs press into your dogs neck. When the unit senses a bark, a capacitor—which stores an electrical charge—dumps a charge into on of the prongs contacting your dog’s neck. The electrical charge passes from that prong across the skin of your dog’s neck towards the opposite prong, causing a jolt of pain. The flash of pain should startle your dog and stop him from barking. In practice, the device works. Everyone I have talked to said as long as they were able to keep the electrical probes in good contact with their dog’s skin, the dog stopped barking instantly and permanently. After only a few jolts, the dog never barked again as long as the device remained in place. One owner said his dog learned to create a low intensity bark that fooled the device. He said the modified bark was low enough that he could live with it. Result: Effective.

It seems a shock collar is the solution to our problems with Royce. As I said at the beginning of this article, there are solutions to this problem. I don’t like any of them.

Not the Solution
Here is my beef with shock collar attachments. First, there is the physical consequence. Almost all of the dogs we groom who wear these devices have scabs on their neck from constant rubbing of the metal prongs. The prongs, though dull and rounded, still irritate skin. There is no evidence to support a claim the electric shocks cause any physical damage. Some people say that shock collar devices cause burns or other injury related to electric shock, but these claims are completely unsupported. Manufacturers say the shock delivered mimics the static shock you might feel touching a doorknob on a dry winter day. I beg to differ. The shock I have felt from one of these devices hurts quite a bit more than static electricity.

Physical impact aside, I do have a moral dilemma with shock devices. While I do not believe in punishment-based training, (There is an extensive article on the pitfalls of punishment here,) my dilemma goes even further. Forcing my dog to carry around a pain delivery system on his neck makes me queasy. Make no mistake. I am not an animal rights activist, nor am I a tree hugger in any sense of the word. I do love my dog as a dog, having never viewed him as a human or as my child. Ascribing human qualities to dogs causes nothing but trouble for dogs. I do believe dog’s have emotions, simple though they may be. I also believe dogs develop strong bonds of trust with worthy owners. I feel it is a betrayal of a dog’s trust and loyalty to saddle him with a source of punishment that is beyond the control of his owner.

There is nothing rational in my argument. After all, the delivery of punishment is entirely under the dog’s control. Bark equals pain. No bark equals no pain. These devices are very reliable. When a high-quality unit is adjusted properly, there is almost no chance a shock will be delivered as long as the dog does not bark. On better units, the shock intensity can be dialed up or down depending the individual dog’s tolerance level so there is no need to deliver any more pain than the absolute minimum necessary to get the job done.

What My Gut Tells Me
Having said all that, my gut tells me a shock collar is not the solution for Royce. I cannot, in good conscience, strap a source of pain to a loving companion that trusts me implicitly. I also feel a shock collar is a lazy solution—one that takes responsibility for Royce’s behavior off my shoulders. I realize there are dog owners who have tried everything else. Their incorrigible barkers will not respond to human direction. For them, the shock collar may be the last resort; and the difference between keeping a dog or turning it in to a shelter. It’s not for me and my dogs.

Let us Know
Just curious. If you have tried an anti-bark device on your dog, would you please let me and your fellow readers know whether it worked as intended and whether there were any drawbacks? If you represent a company that manufactures an anti-bark device, would you also please respond to this article so our readers could have more information about your product? Thank you! J.K.

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*To say I reinforced non-barking behavior is mis-leading. One cannot actually reinforce a behavior that does not occur. One can only reinforce active behavior that replaces undesirable behavior. For example, if Royce typically barks at a dog, I may pet and praise him for quietly sniffing the other dog instead of barking.