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Barking is a natural behavior for all dogs. Sometimes, however, a barking dog is a problem for his owner. A responsible dog owner cannot let his or her dog become a nuisance to others. Chronic barking puts both the dog and the owner at risk of complaints from disturbed neighbors.

It can also create unnecessary duties for animal control or police officers charged with upholding anti-barking ordinances. In some cases it can also lead to the relinquishment of the dog by an owner who does not know how to solve the problem.

Before a barking problem can be solved, a dog's owner must first understand why the dog is barking. For many dogs, chronic barking or howling is a cry for help. A dog who does not receive enough care or attention from his owner often becomes a barker.

Dogs are social animals, and they need exercise and interaction with their human companions - and sometimes other dogs. Some dogs are simply bored when left alone in the home or the yard while the owner is away, and will bark at a passerby or at neighborhood disturbances.

Owners of these dogs may not understand that a dog cannot be expected to sit quietly or entertain himself while his owner is away. Once a dog owner has determined that the dog's social needs are being met, he or she must look for appropriate and effective ways to control the barking and prevent their dogs from becoming a nuisance to family and neighbors.

Eliminating problem barking

If your dog barks at a passerby, try closing him out of rooms or outside areas that border streets and sidewalks when he must be home alone. For dogs kept exclusively indoors, simply putting the dog outside does not often solve the problem. However, allowing a dog who barks when left outdoors to remain inside may be effective.

For some dogs, barking is simply an entertaining way to spend a long or boring day. Safe chew or play toys may help provide entertainment. A mid-day visit and a game of fetch with a professional pet-sitter, or a trusted adult neighbor, will also help to pass time and prevent barking.

Before beginning training with the No Bark Collar

No bark collars were created to help dog owners deter unwanted barking. They can be used to control barking when the owner is not present or in other specific situations. However success is dependent on proper use.

These behavior modification collars are preferred, as the goal for all dog owners is to teach their dog not to bark and to be able to remove the dog no bark collar.

Do No Bark Collars Work?

Yes. Some work better than others. Some control the barking through corrections, these are bark control collars. Other Dog Bark Collars actually modify the dog's behavior and teach the dog not to bark.

Some no bark collars are rechargeable, some are waterproof, etc. Below we review the various different no bark collars. Most of the quality no bark collars offered today are offered by either Innotek or PetSafe. The Innotek no bark collars are advanced correction and behavior modification collars. The PetSafe no bark collars are correction only.

Besides no bark collars, some companies still offer bark collars which use ultrasound to control the dogs barking. Collars or devices which emit ultrasound are not specific. Although the ultrasound will be heard by the barking dog, so will it be heard by all other pets in the home, which were not barking! Ultrasound collars are still available, but many retailers are fazing them out because the no bark collars are much more effective. For many retailers the ultrasonic collars, because of their relative poor success rate have resulted in a high return rate. So the retailers are no longer offering ultrasonic collars.