This blog is written as a way for me to express my feelings, thoughts and emotions as I go through life as a proud Air Force Wife!

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April 26, 2010

Bark Collar

We have 2 annoying wonderful dogs. One of our dogs is a pain sweet little 3 pound yorkie. Our other dog is a LARGE quiet rott/lab mix. I do love our dogs but it is a love/hate relationship. Our big dog keeps me feeling like we are safe and secure while hubby is away. There is no doubt in my mind that he can do some serious damage. He provides great company for me while the kids are at school. He is so fabulous to talk to- I can tell him everything and his opinions are always spot on.  :-)

So- to the annoying part about him. Our neighbor has 4 dogs and 1 is a large male great dane that my dog loves to fight with through the fence. They would bark and run along the fence so much it drove me CRAZY!

Our big dog was my husbands idea. He wanted a big dog and we went to the humane society one day on the way home from running errands. BAD IDEA! We weren't thinking about all the work it takes to have a big dog. We have a small yorkie and all she does is leep all day and the sun shrivels up her little poo. LOW maintenance. So the kids and hubby picked a dog out- Lab/Rott mix. Oh boy was I in for a life change. Of course my husband is gone frequesntly and the kids go to school so that leaves me with the brunt of all things to do with this dog. I never pick up the poo though. That will NEVER happen.

Back to the barking. Hubby built a pen in our backyard to keep him away from the fence therefore alleviating the barking with the other dogs. BUT added him barking because he was in the pen. Never ending barking except when he was in the house. In the winter he spends most of his time in the house but in the summer it is outside time. We also needed to keep him away from the fence because we no longer have sod there now we have a dirt track. With me wanting to sell the house I needed our yard to look fabulous not with dirt tracks all over.

So I find this bark collar at Petco.com and thought I would check it out. It says it is best to start them young with it but for only $40 I thought I would give it a try. The BEST $40 I have spent in a long time. I put that thing on him and send him in his pen. After 2 barks he whined and looked around trying to figure out what just zapped him. He tried to bark again and got the same result. That was the last bark from him in his pen.  :-)  Now I just put the collar on him and send him to his pen. He knows that when the collar is on he can't bark. I take it off while he is inside the house but put it back on when he is outside. Oh the peacefullness of it is so wonderful. With the collar on it is not as fun for him to argue with the neighbor dogs anymore either. 
Sanity is  mine!


Hmmm now if I could find a shock collar for digging!

5 comments:

Renee said...

I love the Bark Collar!! So worth the money!!

Chantal said...

We need a shock collar for digging! My puppy likes to landscape.

Unknown said...

I'm so glad I read this. I have been wanting a little puppy companion for quite sometime but have also toyed with the idea of getting a larger dog to keep me safe if/when Mr. Superman is gone. I never thought about the maintenance part. Dumb I know. Glad the shock collar works! Seize the peace and quiet :)

♥ Mrs. S.

Gaile said...

The whole big dog issue was something I had to put my foot down with when we bought our house 4 years ago. Hubby wanted a BOXER and I said no, because they eat too much, poop too much, and can jump OVER our current fence. Instead we got a Puggle (half pug, half beagle). She is ADORABLE, weighs about 20 lbs, and looks like a boxer puppy, even though she is now 4 years old. She's great - but also driving me insane recently with her barking. I think we might get the bark collar that has a remote with it, so I can use it for other behaviors like digging if those pop up. I found one online (but it was like $100) that gives you the option to 'warn' the dog with a very quiet beep, and if the behavior continues, then you hit the other button for the actual shock. This seems more humane to me, but I don't know.
Seriously considering just having her surgically de-barked! It's not like she's a watchdog or anything.

Brandi said...

LOL Oh we need this for both our dogs... hmmm

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