Dog Bark Collar
Shopping for bark collars? Congratulations for choosing to train your dog this way, a considerably affordable and effective approach. But it pays to keep in mind the ways in which dog training can become less of what you expect. Let’s go over some potential problems you might face when you train your dog.
The consequences [...]
Shopping for bark collars? Congratulations for choosing to train your dog this way, a considerably affordable and effective approach. But it pays to keep in mind the ways in which dog training can become less of what you expect. Let's go over some potential problems you might face when you train your dog.
The consequences of buying the wrong size
Some dog owners use on their dogs are hand-me-downs - bark collars used by other dogs. That, you can be sure, is a problem. Dog comes in various sizes and breeds, and a collar that fit snugly on one breed might not be a good fit on another dog of similar breed. If you're not knowledgeable about this matter, you can always get a plethora of reading material on the topic by searching online; or by asking your vet.
If you get the wrong size, you could end up with a bark collar that activates inconsistently. You will get a dog which gets mixed signals about its barking. Good quality dog collars trigger only when the nodes on the collar's device sense throatal vibrations when the dog barks. The throat's vibration upon during a bark activates the collar, which then sends out a deterrent depending on the type you bought - a high-decibel sound, a static correction, or a harmless spray.
The goal is for every bark to be met with a deterrent. If you use a loose collar on your dog, it will not be able to activate upon every bark.
A bark collar that slides around is also exposed to avoidable wear and tear. You might not be aware how your dog bangs the collar's device around or claws it up. So don't get shocked when your dog keeps barking, and you later find out the device is damaged, or badly soaked. A bad scenario, bad for your dog, is when it accidentally adjusts the intensity settings - so that he gets a more intense stimuli.
If you tighten the collar too much, your dog could choke. You'll just be giving your dog more discomfort. Should you tighten it, your dog might keep clawing up the collar until it hurts itself. These problems can be avoided by getting the right size of bark collars. To get the right size, here are three rules of thumb - check your dog's breed against the recommended sizes, make sure the collar is about 2-3 inches more than your dog's neck's size, and be sure you can slip 2-3 fingers under the collar when your dog wears it.
