Barking, collar and fear

E

enigmaquandry

Forums Regular
My sheltie is almost one year old and a great dog, her biggest issue is that when she's outside she's a consummate barker and we now live in a quiet neighborhood where we cannot allow her to bark this way. I posted a while back about her barking and was advised that when she barks outside to bring her inside and she would learn, but she never stopped barking at all and eventually refused to come inside at all so we had to put a leash on her. Then we tried a sonic sound debarking system which she did not notice and then a citronella collar which she also never noticed. We tried giving her more attention, being outside with her, restricting her freedom, giving her more freedom, and finally we tried a shock collar. She has been on it only one day and it has completely stopped her barking but now when she's in the backyard she just sits down and doesn't move and she's scared to go outside. We've tried to get it to shock us to see if it is painful but it doesn't work, I guess since we don't bark. I would never want to see my puppy in pain, and I hate seeing her not having any fun outside. Does ANYBODY have any idea what to do now??? I have absolutely no idea what step to take next. (Please no nasty comments, the shock collar was a last resort and it will not be used if it is going to damage her at all).

Thank you so much.
 
danisgoat, thank you for bringing that up... I know that it is an option and I've heard that it is very minor, but I'm not sure I could put her through that. Not unless we were threatened that she'd be taken away or something if she didn't stop.
 
Note...

I am furious! My husband just finally got the collar to shock him and jumped and yelped himself, he said it's worse than when he's gotten shocked working on electrical. I'm really really horrified and wish these were not on the market, suffice it to say it will never ever go on Pidge again for any reason!
 
enigmaquandry said:
I am furious! My husband just finally got the collar to shock him and jumped and yelped himself, he said it's worse than when he's gotten shocked working on electrical. I'm really really horrified and wish these were not on the market, suffice it to say it will never ever go on Pidge again for any reason!
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Hi There,

Not to encourage the collar shock use but does it have different settings like a low to high type of option? Sometimes having your dog debarked is the only thing that will work after ALL other options have been exhausted. Don't feel bad if you have to do that, you have to do what's best for her and your family..:wink2:
 
enigmaquandry said:
I am furious! My husband just finally got the collar to shock him and jumped and yelped himself, he said it's worse than when he's gotten shocked working on electrical. I'm really really horrified and wish these were not on the market, suffice it to say it will never ever go on Pidge again for any reason!
Click to expand...

I'm not really sure what kind of shock collar you have,the one that Earnhardt wore many years ago,when he was being trained,had a warning,that the dog was givin,before any type of shock.

They usually get the hint quite quickly.Used in the right situation,I'm sure they can be of some use,but I would only leave that to the trained hand.

We have 3 very good friends,that all have labs.All of the labs are used in field events,duck hunting, every one of these dogs have worn collars.And every one of these dogs,are so well behaved,it almost is unbelievable,both in the field and in home surroundings. Again,they have been used by people that know what they are doing with them.
 
I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with the shock collar. We've never tried one, and I had no idea that it would be that painful.

I don't have much advice to add, only wanted to say that you may want to contact a professional trainer. They may have other ideas or ways to get Pidge to stop. We've tried a lot of things with Bentley and they haven't worked. That's not to say that we've tried everything, but he still barks when he sees other dogs and bikes, no matter what.

And just to make a list of things that we tried: throwing treats on the ground, the "look at me" command, getting him to settle on his side, making him do obedience work (sit, down etc...), spraying him with water, and we even briefly tried the prong collar (but that's another debate).

Luckily we live in a more tolerant area and we just gave up and he still barks at those things. In your case, I would contact a professional trainer for advice, and then maybe debarking if it was a case of either debarking or moving/giving Pidge up.

Good luck.
 
Are you kidding??? You are willing to shock you dog over and over, but not willing to "put her through" debarking, which by the way is done only once. A sheltie is not a breed for a shock collar. They are so sensitive, you are already seeing the results of this controlled electrocution, and soon you will have a dog that is not housebroken, because she is smart enough not to want to go outside.
Consider de-barking. If you let us know what state you live in, there will be a sheltie or collie club in your area that will be able to recommend a vet that specializes in de-barks. For us in Connecticut the cost total out the door is $125.00.
Nix the professional trainer, save your money. Has anyone out there ever had one train a sheltie not to bark with reliability?? I've never heard of it, just a trainer pocketing your money.
 
mbfrench said:
We have 3 very good friends,that all have labs.All of the labs are used in field events,duck hunting, every one of these dogs have worn collars.And every one of these dogs,are so well behaved,it almost is unbelievable,both in the field and in home surroundings. Again,they have been used by people that know what they are doing with them.
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Sporting dogs and herding dogs are a world of difference. The training techniques are not the same between the groups. Even within the herding group....there is a different way with training a Sheltie. They are almost overly sensitive.
 
missjenneygirl said:
Are you kidding??? You are willing to shock you dog over and over, but not willing to "put her through" debarking, which by the way is done only once. A sheltie is not a breed for a shock collar. They are so sensitive, you are already seeing the results of this controlled electrocution, and soon you will have a dog that is not housebroken, because she is smart enough not to want to go outside.
Consider de-barking. If you let us know what state you live in, there will be a sheltie or collie club in your area that will be able to recommend a vet that specializes in de-barks. For us in Connecticut the cost total out the door is $125.00.
Nix the professional trainer, save your money. Has anyone out there ever had one train a sheltie not to bark with reliability?? I've never heard of it, just a trainer pocketing your money.
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I'm sure that you have a point, I'm not willing to have Pidge shocked at all, (we were continually told it was just like a static shock when you touch a cat). My biggest issue with de-barking is that I'm concerned about the anesthesia since shelties are so sensitive, and the raspy wheezing is almost more aggravating than a bark! It is not out of the question but I would so rather find another way.
 
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