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Use Your Dog's Sense of Smell To Stop Barking
Bark collars work by using special sensors to detect both vibration and sound in order to identify a bark. One type, which has been available for years, uses a mild electrical shock as a correction. Modern electric bark collars have solved many of the problems with the old collars: they detect barks much more accurately, the sensors are much smaller so they aren't cumbersome around the dog's neck, they have programmable levels of corrections, and will shut off for a period if the dog continues to bark in spite of the corrections. Even so, many owners are hesitant to use a device that could potentially hurt their dog if the level was not set correctly.
A humane and very effective alternative is the new Gentle Spray Citronella Anti Bark Collar. When the dog barks, a light mist of citronella scent is sprayed in front of his nose. Dogs don't like this. Most dogs figure things out very quickly and stop barking. A plus to the dog owner is that he can tell if the collar is working. He can see it, and if he's close enough, he can smell it. Best of all, University studies have shown that citronella barking collars are twice as effective as shock collars.
You might wonder why a smell will deter a dog from unwanted barking better than an electric shock. It's not too hard to understand. It's a fact that shock collars are effective on many dogs, but there are some that just do not get the point. The first thing to realize is that dogs have developed from wolves, and have thousands of years of history as hunters. A dog or wolf intent on bringing down a deer may get kicked, and he will still leap and try to grab a leg. His ribs may be broken, but he will still jump. The deer may run through an area of sharp sticks and thorns. The dog's feet may be bloody, and his leg may be sliced open, and he will still run. He In a fight with another dog, he will ignore teeth at his neck. Adrenaline is a strong anesthetic. To a dog, an electric shock at his neck is easy to interpret in the same way he would interpret another dog's teeth. Now contrast that reaction with a dog's behavior around a skunk. Obviously smell will get a canine out of a hunting mood in a hurry. It doesn't trigger adrenaline, it's just unpleasant. Fortunately, the Gentle Spray Citronella Bark Collar does't smell like skunk. In fact, Citronella isn't a particularly objectionable scent to humans, but dogs have a completely different opinion.
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