Barking Dogs: to zap or not to zap…

I had a client call me yesterday to say that, after moving (out of my territory), she was getting complaints from her new neighbors of her three dogs barking. She knew her dogs barked, but she had never before had neighbor issues over it; in the last house (they had down-sized) the neighbors were farther away.

Her question, however, that is, the reason she had called, was to know what I thought of shock collars. I was irritated, though not surprised, that she had gone right to the shock collar, or penal method, without asking herself (or me, I suppose) what caused the behavior, and how that behavior might be changed.

These people are GREAT owners! They take excellent care of their pets and take ownership very seriously. They have little, if any, tolerance for shoddy pet care, be it a vet, groomer, or pet sitter, and pay a high price to have the best of these. They support the local animal shelter and were a part of forming our local dog park.

Mrs. N. likes order, however. Things must be clean, dogs well behaved, and everyone where they should be. At the same time, she knows what pet ownership involves: there is alot of hair (maid), dogs must be trained (classes), and plants can be trampled (large kennel). They once replaced the carpeting in their old house with a wood floor! They spent thousands more for a tough wood and extra varnish to prevent scratches from paws.

The shock collar, for those of you who don’t know, emits an electric shock to the dog when it barks. Ow. This can’t be good. And it doesn’t teach them anything. And it’s not very nice.

I’ve seen the citron collars on dogs; these spray a harmless, but annoying scent into the dogs face and deters them from the behavior. Okay.

But what about the behavior? Why do dogs bark? There are any number of reasons, including, but not limited to, boredom, attention-getting, predator/prey response, and other dogs barking in the neighborhood.

I think at least one of Mrs. N’s dogs is bored (another is real old, and the third has sort of grown out of it, but will bark if he hears the first). The bored dog is young. Less than three years, and needs more entertainment.

First, I told her I could not recommend the shock collars, but I would be okay with a citron. In a follow-up e-mail, I suggested she set aside some time to make some treats for the dogs: frozen broth, kongs with frozen peanut butter or cheez whiz, a hollow bone with a treat stuffed into it, and a buster cube. One of these can be give in addition to a short walk in the morning. I suggested, too, that the young one visit a doggie-day care once a week and that she hire a dog walker for once or twice a week.

This will not solve all her problems; these dogs are noisy when their humans come home. I know, I used to pet sit for them and there was enough to wake the dead! But they can use operant conditioning (training) to aleviate that. Further, the neighbors may be more tolerant if the barking is limited to a few minutes in the evening.

She indicated in her response that she appreciated my ideas and would let me know what happens. She’s the kind of person that, I think will follow my advice and avoid the shock collar. Let’s hope so, anyway. Nancy