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Author Topic: Bark control collars?  (Read 6109 times)

Buttermilk

  • Joined Jul 2014
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #15 on: August 22, 2017, 06:35:03 am »
Dont rule out a radio just because he is deaf.  My father was deaf but he could feel the vibrations from the radio playing music.

landroverroy

  • Joined Oct 2010
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #16 on: August 22, 2017, 11:29:43 am »
Are you possibly worrying too much about the neighbours' children?
I understand about live and let live, and obviously you don't want to fall out with anyone. But you have rights as well and your dog is as much part of your life as their children are of theirs.
You say Skip was quiet when he couldn't see them. Is it possible to get a small shed for him, faced the other way so again he can't see them?
Could you discuss it with your neighbours without being in any way accusatory? After all the problem appears to be caused by their children (although I wouldn't suggest that in any way that you say that!) Maybe explain it all how you've described it on here and see if they have any suggestions.
I've always told my family - "I don't want to hear what you can't do. Work out what you can do." I'm sure if you discussed it with the people most affected (apart from yourself) that someone could come up with a compromise acceptable to all. After all summer doesn't last for ever, kids will soon be back at school, Skip may not have much longer either. So it's not for ever.


(By the way, the water spraying suggestion worked for me because it was a small amount of water, sprayed from a distance, and only done while the dog was still barking. It didn't even have to reach him to be effective. I was NOT suggesting that a stranger came up to the dog and sprayed his face/soaked him with no distinction of whether the animal was still barking or not.)
Rules are made:
  for the guidance of wise men
  and the obedience of fools.

harmony

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #17 on: August 22, 2017, 11:52:14 am »
Well, that's where my thoughts are, really.  I figured a few unpleasant experiences with a vibrating collar might be preferable to going early to the long sleep.
[/quote


Preferable to who?


Somewhere it mentioned on here about deserving a good retirement.


We are attaching human thoughts here. Do dogs think about good retirements when they are out in the fields working? I very much doubt it.


I'd like a "good retirement" and that doesn't include sitting about on my own for long stretches then being punished for complaining about it.


My dog passed away recently. She was nearly 11 and was my absolute shadow. She went very quickly at the end and died at home very peacefully. I am very grateful that. She had a great life outdoors every day. She wouldn't have been happy getting to a point she couldn't keep up or spending long periods on her own.


I think we owe it to our animals to be "harder" to ourselves and "kinder" to them sometimes. And that means not attaching human sentiment to the situation and doing what is best for them and not us.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #18 on: August 22, 2017, 12:55:28 pm »
Thanks for sharing your story harmony :hug:.  However, the situations are not analogous.  Skip has always been shut away when not working until I moved here, because I was living on someone else's farm and that's how he did things.  I hated having the dogs locked up in a stable when they weren't working or otherwise out and about on the farm with me.  So thus far Skip's new life and partial retirement beats his previous working life hands down! 

It's interesting to ponder how things worked previously, however.  Skip did bark, from his stable in the corner of the farmyard, when someone new came into the yard.  He learned who were the visitors who were regulars and/or friends, and did not alarm when they came.  (Apart from one neighbour who Skip didn't like.  ::)).  So I had expected him to do the same here, learn who lives here and the regular visitors, and not bark at them.  His failing hearing and eyesight, though, I guess make that harder for him.  Also, I've just realised, I've no idea whether Skip used to bark a lot when we were out when I lived up north.  We hadn't any neighbours near enough to be bothered by it, and no one ever mentioned it.  So it is possible this isn't a new behaviour.  :thinking:   Not sure that helps any, mind.

I think as our dogs, whether work mates or pets or both, approach the ends of their lives, each of us has to make judgements as to what is and is not acceptable for that dog, taking into account our knowledge of the dog, our personal situations, etc.  Most often we talk about these things in terms of health and mobility, pain and so on.  In this case, I have to make a quality of life judgement for a dog I've worked with for 11 years (he was approx 2 when I bought him) who is not yet so uncomfortable (thanks to his medication) that life has become not worth living.  I knew that an old injury would render him arthritic as he aged, and was mentally prepared for the decisions that would arise on that score.  When I decided to move to the community here, I knew that there could well be problems with these dogs and the children here, and that I may end up having to muzzle or destroy one or both dogs if they couldn't learn to tolerate the children, if we couldn't be sure that the children were safe.

I wil think about what you've said, harmony, and whether it would be kinder to Skip to have him PTS than the alternatives.  One complication is that I am still not yet in my own flat, but in temporary accommodation.  This has all taken way longer than any of us anticipated, so I had expected that long before now I would have worked out some 'dog accommodation' under the decking or somewhere, where the dogs would see and hear less of the goings on around the rest of the community.  However, this is all still many weeks away, and winter will be around the corner then, so maybe I'm not being sensible thinking that it will be worth hanging on for Skip.
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

harmony

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #19 on: August 22, 2017, 02:40:33 pm »
I wasn't suggesting our situations were the same and maybe I made my point badly. What I was trying to say (and dogs live very different lifestyles) but sometimes when they can no longer do their "normal" thing the alternative doesn't always suit them.


It is a very hard decision and I feel for you.

landroverroy

  • Joined Oct 2010
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #20 on: August 22, 2017, 02:58:49 pm »
When all's said and done Sally - it's your dog and you know him best.
I wouldn't dream of telling any experienced animal keeper when to have their animal put down.
If you think the vibrating collar has potential then go for it. Obviously you're not going to carry on with it if it needlessly stresses Skip or does not have the desired effect.
Will be interested to hear how you get on. :fc: [size=78%] [/size]
Rules are made:
  for the guidance of wise men
  and the obedience of fools.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #21 on: August 22, 2017, 04:52:26 pm »
Thanks, both.  And thanks for saying the difficult things, all of you.  :hug:  Not always easy to say, not always easy to hear.  I do appreciate your all taking the time to voice (write) them.
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

doganjo

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Clackmannanshire
  • Qui? Moi?
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Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #22 on: August 22, 2017, 10:56:52 pm »
Quote
When I decided to move to the community here, I knew that there could well be problems with these dogs and the children here, and that I may end up having to muzzle or destroy one or both dogs if they couldn't learn to tolerate the children, if we couldn't be sure that the children were safe.

And you still moved there?  The advantages must be considerable.
Always have been, always will be, a WYSIWYG - black is black, white is white - no grey in my life! But I'm mellowing in my old age

YorkshireLass

  • Joined Mar 2010
  • Just when I thought I'd settled down...!
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #23 on: August 22, 2017, 10:57:57 pm »
A tricky situation and I don't envy you one bit.
I am concerned about the collar though, in terms of a punishment that you can't supervise. An example - my friend used a citronella anti-bark collar, and it went off when the dog sneezed, the dog took 4 years (yes, 4) to not be scared of sneezing again. It didn't stop the barking either, just heightened the entire stress response.


Will the community kids be going to school in Spetember? Would that relieve a little of the pressure?


Can your old boy see well enough to maybe watch some TV when you're out? Just thinking of some form of distraction / entertainment, if he's a "watching" type of dog.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #24 on: August 23, 2017, 08:00:09 am »
Quote
When I decided to move to the community here, I knew that there could well be problems with these dogs and the children here, and that I may end up having to muzzle or destroy one or both dogs if they couldn't learn to tolerate the children, if we couldn't be sure that the children were safe.

And you still moved there?  The advantages must be considerable.

Yes, this is where I live now.  It suits me very well overall.   
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #25 on: August 23, 2017, 08:17:56 am »

Will the community kids be going to school in Spetember? Would that relieve a little of the pressure?

The three boys whose garden is the new favourite playing area are unschooled (I've learned so much since I've been here!  I'd never heard of unschooling before), so don't go back to school, no.  Five of the others do go to regular school at present (although two of them are expected to be home schooled later on), two of them just starting this year, so that will be a help, yes.  They're home at 3 o'clock, mind.  And weekends is when I am most likely to be out all day, as I do milking all but one weekday, and animal rounds three of the weekdays, so am necessarily around more during the week.

Can your old boy see well enough to maybe watch some TV when you're out? Just thinking of some form of distraction / entertainment, if he's a "watching" type of dog.

I haven't any telly where I am at the moment but will have in the flat, so I can give it a try once I'm moved.  I'd have to fathom some way of constraining him so he can't do any damage but can see the TV :thinking:.  Might be easier just to get him his own tablet with Netflix or something and prop it up where he can see it!  Although it would probably be too small a screen...  Might have an experiment with that, thanks for the idea.

TBH, at his age he seems happy just to sleep in between walks, feeds and fuss / play times, unless there's a reason to be kicking up a racket ::). He does love lying in the sun, though, which I can't leave him doing if he's giong to bark his head off if the sun also brings the children out to play.  ::).  Silly old dog ::)

Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

harmony

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #26 on: August 23, 2017, 10:03:55 am »
Quote
When I decided to move to the community here, I knew that there could well be problems with these dogs and the children here, and that I may end up having to muzzle or destroy one or both dogs if they couldn't learn to tolerate the children, if we couldn't be sure that the children were safe.

And you still moved there?  The advantages must be considerable.


Sometimes in life we have to make decisions which mean we can't give our animals the life we want to or they had. We are then left with difficult decisions like Sally has now. The situation may not be brilliant from the dogs point of view but at least Sally knows there is an issue with the safety of the children and isn't just ignoring it. The issue would be the same where ever she lived unless she had no neighbours and no work to do.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #27 on: August 23, 2017, 09:22:04 pm »
Thanks, harmony :hug:

Plus, if the dogs behave with the children - and don't bark their heads off whenever they're left on their own for a few hours ::) - they'll have a better life here, we'll all have a better life here, than they were having up north.

I can't tell you how much I regret not socialising Dot properly as a pup.  I didn't think it would be an issue, she was a working collie on a hill farm with no children... hey ho. 
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

lord flynn

  • Joined Mar 2012
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #28 on: September 29, 2017, 03:19:56 pm »
I am really late to this and dont have any advice-except for water in a crate. I use the savic crock jumbo water bowls for crates-they bolt on so dont spill and cant be thrown about. I use them with a golden retriever so they are big enough but dont take up crate space. just fyi :)

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Bark control collars?
« Reply #29 on: October 02, 2017, 02:29:30 pm »
So the dog's life has changed quite drastically in recent times:  environment; routine; exercise; companionship of the leader of the pack; perceived threats.  Difficult to cope with for a younger dog, let alone one that's fairly set in his ways and no longer in tiptop health.  He's feeling insecure and is therefore defensive.  Is it easier to remove the dog from the threats or the threats from the dog?

 

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