What are your thoughts on bark collars and invisible fences for dogs?

Have you used either one? Do you think they are cruel or an acceptable means of training?

Both work by usually omitting a beep, then if the dog ignores the beep, they get an electrical shock. I don't know how much of a shock either one omit, but it must zap them hard enough to teach them to be scared of it. So, I've always thought they are kind of cruel. Then again, I don't know very much about how else to train a barking dog, so maybe the collars are effective. Luckily, we don't have a barker so I don't think we'd ever have to worry with it anyhow. I"ve seen some videos on youtube like this one http://www.jibjab.com/view/179402 where the shocks seem kinda :ohno

Just wondering what your feelings are on shock dollars and any other means of training that uses shocking.

I have no idea...it doesn't sound like it would be something I would choose to do. We did however put an electrical fence around our garden last year to keep the dog out...once it was up he never bothered to go near it :dunno I personally thought the thing was ugly though so we took it down a few months ago.

I tried one for a week. I put it on my hand first and it felt like a battery shock. Like if you would out your toughue up to it. I felt bad for doing it to him. It didn't work anyways.

my sister tricked my into holding a shock collar and then she gave it a warning shock....IT HURT SOOO BAD i would never use them and i dont like Invisible fences because they dont keep things OUT which is the main problem

Bark Collars arent the same as shock collars...Ones for barking and it emitts a centranella spray when the dog barks...The other you hit a button on a remote and it gives a shock...

We dont have invisable fencing but we have both of the collars.

We have the invisible fences so that they can roam the whole yard. Sometimes they break through and get confused why they cant get back in.

We have a collor for our great pyrenees for when she barks is gives her a shock. We tried it on us and it doesn't really hurt that much but it worked great on her.

i don't like them.

I had the bark collar that emitted the shock when they barked it got stronger if they kept barking. My dog figured out how to move it so it wouldnt shock her as bad and I was not about to hold her down to shave the spot it was supposed to go so that was $100 down the drain.I liked it though!!!

Forgot to add, It did work, it did curb her barking so I like it. If your gonna get one may as well get the behavior one with the remote control so you can use it for any behavior you waNT to stop.

Well this house came with the wires for the invisible fence but he took the collars. I had thought about it but really have no reason, Belle is perfectly happy staying in the yard and doesnt dig and both of the gates are padlocked. The bark collar wouldnt work on Belle, she doesnt bark lol But we used a thing called Barker Breaker for my brothers dog b/c she wont shut up. Its a hand held thing that you push the button and it emits the sound... but it didnt work, she still howls.

oh ya and MIL & FIL have invisible fence (and an electric fence but thats for the horses) all along their 5 acres! Now if itd only keep the foxes out.

I have always been very opposed to the use of a "shock collar", but, we are seriously considering it with our cattle dogs because we are having some major issues with them that need to be nipped in the bud. I'm still not sold on the idea of using one, but DH really wants us to try it with our dogs to see if it will work.

We have the invisible fences so that they can roam the whole yard. Sometimes they break through and get confused why they cant get back in.

:rofl LMAO

:hystericlaugh

I've never used them for our dogs, but I think they are an acceptable training tool if nothing else works. Then again I see nothing wrong with spanking a child so...to each their own. :dunno

LMAO that's funny about getting "locked out" of the fence :giggle

I don't think I'd ever use them. I live on lots of acreage, so it'd be ridiculously expensive to install... also, my animals have learned to stay away from the road, the neighbor's property, etc. They have enough room that it's not really a problem.

We have a wireless invisible fence and an e-collar. Both work fantastic for training and for correcting negative behaviors. I recommend them for larger breed dogs.

i would personally never use them, because we've never had any problems training our dogs to not bark all the dang time. plus i would just feel sooooooo guilty every time they got any sort of shock :( i don't think it's necessarily "cruel" though, as long as they're used properly.
i wouldn't get an invisible fence either, just because i don't really want to spend that much on a fence. i'm sure they work great for a lot of people though.

I don't think I would ever use a bark collar..or shock one..but I am interested in the invisible fence...:thinking If we don't have a fence up in the house we get we might use it.

My parents used the invisible fence for their dog and it worked within a few days. Tim and I have thought about get a barking collar for lucy but i'm not sure....

I personally think they are cruel and would NEVER use them on my dogs. I don't believe in inflicting pain on my animals as a way to "train" them. Negative behavior issues can be fixed in other ways.

I have seen what happens when they go wrong, my neighbors rottie got out of the fence line and was laying under a tree yelping in pain because the collar kept shocking him. Our neighbor in CA had a shocking bark collar for his dog, the dog would bark, yelp from the shock and bark and yelp. We took it off him when we were sitting him once, I'll be damned if the dog did not bark ONCE in our yard.

:rofl LMAO

:hystericlaugh

and the kicker is, they won't run away, they just go sit on the neighbors porch. My dogs are crazy I tell you.

we used the shock collar on our dog. The lady at petsmart was VERY reluctant to sell it to us. He only barked while we were away so there was no other way to train him. We watched him with it and it didn't seem to bother him to much. I even shocked myself. It hurt but not so much I'd feel bad about doing to my dog. For us it came down to getting kicked out of our house or get rid of the dog. The shock collar was a doable solution.

We have gotten to the point with our dog, that we don't even have to turn it on. He knows the boundry lines b/c of the wee flags... and he stays inside. My sister's dog is the same way, as long as she's wearing her e-collar, she doesn't leave the flagged boundry. The wireless systems are less expensive than the buried invisible fence, and they are portable. Which is what we have. We can take it to my parents, inlaws, camping etc. So when there are no fences and you don't want to 'tether', the fence is with you. We got ours from Cabelas.

I've never used them for our dogs, but I think they are an acceptable training tool if nothing else works. Then again I see nothing wrong with spanking a child so...to each their own. :dunno


I totally agree

I think if it works for you, great. But I have heard that it really doesn't work for some dogs, and they go right through it.