Why we always say NO to bark collars

Let's talk about bark collars.

This is one of the few dog training tools we do NOT recommend, and here are my top 3 reasons why....

1. BARKING IS A FORM OF COMMUNICATION.

If a dog is barking incessantly, they're trying to communicate something. The most common messages are:

- "Please help me! My needs aren't being met, I've got energy to burn, I'm never taken for walks or exercise, and I'm incredibly frustrated!,"

- "Some big changes just took place, and I'm struggling to adapt and acclimate,"

- "Things are changing for me, and it's really scary" (e.g. starting to : lose hearing and going deaf, decline cognitively, etc.),

- "No one pays attention to me... they leave me outside all the time and I'm treated like an afterthought. Please, someone notice me!,"

- "I never see beyond these four walls and live such a small life,"

- "I have an active brain, it isn't being challenged, and I'm friggin' bored out of my skull!,"

- "I don't feel comfortable about what's going on around me right now!",

- "THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!!!",

...and so on.

Putting a bark collar on a dog is like telling a human child to "shut the hell up(!!)" when they're trying to reach out and express how they feel. Something I'd never, ever support or encourage.

2. THEY OFTEN MALFUNCTION.

Many can be oversensitive and deliver a really uncomfortable-- even painful -- consequence... even when the collar-wearing dog is not barking or vocalizing.

3. THIS SOLUTION IS REFLECTIVE OF AN AILING CULTURAL MINDSET.

.....as are pharmaceuticals.

We live in a culture who wants fast, easy, cheap, and effortless.

In fact, we expect this now.

This has bled into how we treat and address practically everything now... nutrition, health, weight, emotional health (which is often confused with "mental health") and behavior, etc.

Outside of legitimate faulty wiring or other health and medical root causes, behavioral issues are the result of VERY addressable factors (and as the many years of doing this work has taught me, are relatively quick and easy to address when the humans are committed, consistent, and follow through).

There are few training aids I'm really against. Bark collars are one of the things on the market that I am.

As with human behavior, when we shut off, shut down, silence, suppress, etc. any behavior / form of expression/ attempt to communicate.... it *will* bleed out into other behaviors, even intensify existing ones.

(N.B. I expect differing opinions and perspectives, but this is ours. Any sharp, unkind, or disrespectful comments will not be tolerated and will be swiftly deleted)