08-20-2006, 03:21 AM
You are in a difficult spot and I applaud your efforts for trying to do something to keep peace with your neighbors. We have had a few situations in our neighborhood escalate to the point that animal control has had to issue citations and there is now a possibility of a dog being removed. In a case like that, nobody (especially the dog) wins. As long as your dog is only barking at random noises then a collar can be appropriate. It sounds like his sensitivity control may be set too low. OTOH, if your dog is standing at your back door and barking because he misses you then a correction collar is nothing more than a torture device.
Buried in BGnR's vitriol is a good piece of advice in that you shouldn't view the collar as the only thing that you need to do. Spend 10 min 2-3X a day training him to bark at what you think is appropriate. You can set his proper sensitivity level with a little work. With the proper combination of positive reinforcement and assertiveness it won't take long to modify his behavior. Dogs respond amazingly well once you establish dominance and they view you as the alpha. Once that relationship is established then your dog will always look to you to tell him the proper behavior as opposed to you always having to correct the inappropriate behavior. And when you do have to correct an inappropriate behavior it only takes one or two times to get the point across. Owners and dogs who have this relationship are often the happiest and most content.
As wowzer points out the Dog Whisperer is amazing. But I would not characterisze what he does as negative reinforcement as much as it is establishing dominance and then showing the dog what is expected of them. Good show- but you have to remember that it is edited so don't expect to get the same results as quickly as he does.
BT
EDIT: Didn't see ka jowct's post as I was typing at the same time, but it seems that we agree about the dog whisperer. I agree that if your dog got a long walk in the morning then he would be much more likely to sleep during the day.
Buried in BGnR's vitriol is a good piece of advice in that you shouldn't view the collar as the only thing that you need to do. Spend 10 min 2-3X a day training him to bark at what you think is appropriate. You can set his proper sensitivity level with a little work. With the proper combination of positive reinforcement and assertiveness it won't take long to modify his behavior. Dogs respond amazingly well once you establish dominance and they view you as the alpha. Once that relationship is established then your dog will always look to you to tell him the proper behavior as opposed to you always having to correct the inappropriate behavior. And when you do have to correct an inappropriate behavior it only takes one or two times to get the point across. Owners and dogs who have this relationship are often the happiest and most content.
As wowzer points out the Dog Whisperer is amazing. But I would not characterisze what he does as negative reinforcement as much as it is establishing dominance and then showing the dog what is expected of them. Good show- but you have to remember that it is edited so don't expect to get the same results as quickly as he does.
BT
EDIT: Didn't see ka jowct's post as I was typing at the same time, but it seems that we agree about the dog whisperer. I agree that if your dog got a long walk in the morning then he would be much more likely to sleep during the day.