Waggin Wednesdays- Pet Parade Dog Bark Repeller!

As a dog trainer I get asked a lot of questions when it comes to barking dogs. For every scenario, whether it be a dog that barks when its left alone all day, a dog that barks when company comes over, a dog that only barks at men, etc, there's a plethora of tools and methods available to handle each situation. I tend to prefer more humane tools and methods (yay positive reinforcement!), but there are some cases in which you have no access to the nuisance dog in question. Take my situation for example.

I used to live in an apartment with my angelic dog Cindy, who never ever barked. However, our neighbors had two dogs that were cooped up all day and received no corrections, training or exercise, so they took out all of their angst and frustrations out by barking. All. Day. Long. Even if someone was home, they still barked. From sun up to sun down, barking barking barking. And to make matters worse, one had a high pitched super yappy bark, and the other was a deep, full bark. It seemed my life was doomed to an existence riddled with noise pollution.

Enter the Pet Parade Dog Repeller! 

This sound deterrent packs a serious punch and is loud enough to interrupt a barking dog's behavior, even if its just for a moment. This small moment of silence is still good enough to reward for, which encourages the dog to be quiet more often and for longer periods of time. Here is how I used it with my neighbors dogs:

- Point device at barking dog (in this case it was through my neighbor's wall)
- say the word "QUIET" and hold the button down until the dog stops barking, even if the dog stops for just for a split second, release the button.
- Praise and/or reward the moment the dog stops barking. (in my case, stopping the dog repeller was the reward).
- Repeat, repeat, repeat.

The dogs soon connected the word "quiet" to the noise and understood that the noise would come soon after the word unless they stopped barking. In a few days time, my neighbors dogs would stop barking if I yelled "quiet!" through the wall, but when my lazy neighbors yelled "SHUT UP!" their dogs would ignore them. Ahh sweet, sweet victory. If only my neighbors had one of these too maybe their dogs would have listened to them.. or better yet, if they had invested time into training them! But I digress..

So as with all dog training tools, this will only work if your timing is quick. You only have a 1-2 second window to let go of the button when your dog stops barking for the dog to connect the cessation of the noise with the cessation of his barking. example: If the dog stops and you are still holding the button down, the dog learns nothing. Be fast, and be consistent and this tool will work great for you!

Also, every dog is different, so this may not work with every dog. But it is definitely worth a try. If you are expecting your dog to shun the sound and back away terrified when it goes off, you may be disappointed. Some dogs react to it with curiosity and a head tilt, but hey, as long as they stopped barking for a moment to check it out, use that moment to reinforce the silence and achieve victory! 

By the way.. the noise is mostly inaudible to people, but it does work. You would only hear it if you put your ear right up to the speaker, which I wouldn't recommend (but did anyway to a friend.... he had it coming. LOL).

Find it at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E8O4UA/