[Dailydrool] Barking

[Val lbrewerzwick]

Well, we got a complaint from a neighbor about our dogs barking too much. (Fortunately not a complaint registered with the police—yet). It is true—lately the dogs have been barking too much—at every little thing that passes our house on the road. Kids walking home from school.  Woof woof woof.  the mailperson or UPS—double that.  A motorcycle—triple force.  A dog or cat—Armageddon.  Other dogs setting up a bark—of course they answer.  The neighborhood barkline!  They LOVE the barking.  Racing through the house as a pack and charging the front fence.  Whoopie! Fun fun fun.

Bill and I spend half our days calling the girls inside as soon as they start barking,  confining them to the house for time outs, trying to reward them for being quiet, trying to train them to stop barking to the sound of clapping.  I don’t want them to have to be mostly inside only dogs. the weather here is perfect, we have a large fenced yard, a doggie door, and the girls love being outside.  Our best efforts at dog training have been both exhausting and not all that successful so far.  W are not very skillful dog trainers, it i obvious. The dogs all clearly love charging the fence and raising the alarm, answering their friends, and living an unfettered doggie life.
  It is true also that Ipo, our mixed breed pit, has been much more amenable to our efforts than either basset, so maybe bassethood shares a little of the difficulties.
  So Bill ordered one of those little machines that looks like a  birdhouse and  emits a dog whistle frequency sound activated by barking and mounted it on the front fence by the street.  And, wow, it works!  It is absolutely shocking.  Mila and Ipo simply stopped the barking.  Mariah, of course not, but she only barks three or four times and then stops.  I hope to heavens we are not busting their eardrums or something.  They don’t seem in any pain.  I can’t find any articles blasting the device. Has anyone else ever tried these?  Most curious.  I m of the suspicious mind that if it works, it must be harmful in some way.  Hmm.   Val