TO PUNISH OR NOT TO PUNISH - Anti Bark Collars

The question many people ask is do anti bark collars work and the answer is yes. The real question to ask HOW do they work and WHY do they work. When buying them, you’ll often be told or see written that they are harmless. If they’re harmless then why don’t normal flat collars work? The truth is they are not harmless. RSPCA has quoted – these devices are inhumane as they are designed to deliberately cause suffering. Electric shock collars are banned in some Australian states such as New South Wales, South Australia and ACT. The following countries have banned them - Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Germany, and Canada. UK is in the process of having them banned.

What are they and how do they work?

There are three main types of anti bark collars 1. Citronella collar, 2. electric shock collar and 3. ultrasonic collar.

1. Citronella collars have a small microphone in the collar to sense barking. Once detected it releases a citronella smell into the air. This causes physical discomfort in the dog including head shaking, sneezing, nausea and irritation to the eyes.

2. Electric shock collars deliberately causes physical harm such as discomfort, pain and injury and mental harm, fear, anxiety, and learned helplessness.

3. Ultrasonic collars creates a high pitch sound that we can’t hear it but dogs can and it causes harm and hurts their ears.

Why do they work? In all these collars they cause great harm, discomfort and pain to the dogs. Dogs have been seen whilst wearing these collars to tremble and hide. It also can damage the human animal bond.

It is cruel to use these collars to an animal that is only doing what is natural to them. The previous three articles are written about how to manage your dog’s barking.

Happy training

Yvonne