Category: Common Problems ¤
  Author: Chris Nielsen ¤
   Title: Correct Use of a Citronella Collar (for barking) ¤

It's confession time - how many of you have dogs that bark more than you 
wish they would?

I'm going to be first in line with my confession.  As many of you know, I 
share a household with three Beardies, a Cairn Terrier and a Papillon.  
The two smaller breeds are well-known for their barking.  I have to say 
that mine aren't bad but they do patrol the back of the sofa and bark to 
alert the household to the passing of strangers, the foraging of the 
crows and the squirrels and the flutter of the butterflies.  The Beardies 
then often join in.  In addition, Simon has developed a nasty habit of 
getting over-excited when George comes home from work.

I tell you all this because my house has been SILENT for a week and I 
want to share my solution.  At sheep camp in Vermont, I was introduced to 
a citronella collar.  I have to admit to being sceptical about the 
collars and my scepticism was reinforced by some of the professional 
behaviourists I had talked to.  BUT ... I saw it work at sheep camp, mostly 
on a young male Corgi.  I also had the opportunity to try it out on 
Robie who was pretty upset about being left in the room while Rainnie 
worked sheep.  After I put the collar on him, he barked three times.  
Each time, I ran in from the hall and clicked and reinforced him for 
being quiet.  Then I reinforced at 30, then 60, then 90 second intervals 
for quiet after his last bark.  He shut up.  It was wonderful.

I recently purchased the smaller Aboistop collar.  It came last Tuesday.  
First I used it on the Cairn who was hunting flies on the window.  One 
bark, one squirt and lots of reinforcement.  I took the collar off 
after ten minutes and one bark.  It is not an exaggeration to 
say that she hasn't barked since.  She sits quietly on the back of the 
sofa and watches the world go by.

Simon has worn it a couple of times.  He can, and will, bark through it 
when he is most excited but we have already cut down on the noise by 80%.

Robie wore it once, got squirted and is now very offended if the collar 
is even in the same room with him.  Needless to say, he is getting lots of 
reinforcement for his not-barking behaviour, regardless of the cause.

The collar works this way.  There is a small microphone which picks up 
the bark and triggers a spray of citronell under the dog's chin.  The 
smell of the citronella is clearly distasteful to the dogs but not 
harmful.  There is no way that it can get into the dogs' eyes.

Used the way I have been doing, on an intermittent schedule and as an 
"interrupter" of behaviour that then gives me opportunites for positive 
reinforcement, there isn't much chance of habituation to the collar 
or the smell.  I do plan, however, to let Robie wear the collar (without 
battery) for awhile so that he becomes a little less concerned about its 
presence.  (BTW, this method for using the collar is not described in the 
accompanying material.  I think that it was designed to be worn 
constantly.  My own experience suggests that it would rapidly beocme 
ineffective used in that way.)

A word of warning.  The smaller unit will go off if another dog barks 
close by.  The larger unit has a sensitivity adjustment.  I have solved 
that problem by setting up bark-inducing situations with all the dogs in 
their crates.  I then let out the one least likely to bark, put the 
collar on him/her, reinforce for quiet, then let out the next dog (now 
there are two), put the collar on him/her and reinforce both for quiet etc.

In case you think that my house now smells like citronella, I must 
emphasize that only Simon has been squirted more than once.  In one week, 
the collar has probably squirted a total of 20 times.  I have probably 
reinforced for quiet a total of 1000 times.  The collar has just given me 
a very effective interruption to the barking behaviour, something I was 
unable to achieve with any of the other better-known techniques (like water).

The collars are expensive but, in my brief experience, very worthwhile.  
A group of friends might consider purchasing one together, to share on an 
as-needed basis.


Chris Nielsen (enjoying the sounds of silence)