The problem that I did have with our dog Monty was that he was barking with excitement in the car, it is ok if there are two of you and you can squirt him with a water pistol, but when you are alone it was becoming a bit dangerous. He is the only dog that I have had that has been difficult to train with barking. The car being the last place he seems to get away with it.

 

inhumane and should be banned worldwide!

                    
Sign petition now!
 

So having heard about Anti Bark Collars I thought I would invest in one. It gives off an ultrasonic beep that we cannot hear,  but they can. It only goes off with repeated barking, we can hear a beep then it gives off the ultrasonic sound.  It can be set on high or low, this will increase the sensitivity of the collar.    

So I tried it and it works, he only wore it twice in the car and now I only have to pick it up and show him the collar and he has decided he is better off not barking. Marvellous, it has made car journeys a breeze now, and to think I had put up with his barking for years in a car, only to find this little collar worked and quickly as well. it does not harm them and some dogs might take longer to train than others but I would definitely recommend them.

Most dogs are receptive to training, please use a reputable trainer, 

where you can get advice for all behavioural problems for your dog.

  

 





Why dogs are vocal
Animals that have evolved to live in groups tend to have complex language systems. This is particularly true of the dog because it has evolved from animals that are co-operative hunters and share the rearing of their young.

Their vocal communication involves different types of sound as can be seen in the table below. By varying the tone of these sounds dogs can convey different emotional states. Combining sounds further expands the repertoire.

The likelihood of a dog being vocal occurring in any situation is determined by the species’ inborn tendencies and breed predisposition, and these are modulated by what the dog learns throughout its life. 

Example 1: Barking to deter people from entering the owner's property is related to natural territorial behaviour and may be acceptable to owners as well as neighbours, who may also benefit from the alarm. However, if the dog barks at everyone who walks past in the street the behaviour can become an irritant. A main cause for the behaviour becoming excessive is the fact that most people go away. The dog, unable to realise that they were going to go away again anyway, perceives their departure as the effect of its behaviour, increasing its confidence to perform it and the likelihood of it doing so on future occasions. Learning can also take place if owners try to control their dog’s behaviour by shouting at it to stop. As dogs don't understand the meaning of words it may seem that their owners are vocalising at the same thing and bark even louder. Other dogs learn that barking at things outside the property makes their owners give them attention, resulting in them barking at the slightest thing to get them to respond.

Example 2: Barking to get attention can be more direct. Dogs can learn to bark when their owners try to chat to visitors, use the telephone, watch television or interact with each other. Attempts to stop the noise simply rewards the attention seeking and encourages the dog to recommence as soon as it is ignored again.

 

Example 3: Some dogs vocalise when left alone in an attempt to call their owner back. Eventually the owner returns and the dog’s perception is that vocalising works and will repeat it next time it is left.  The cause often lies in the dog's overly dependent relationship with its owner when they are at home, and resultant anxiety when they are absent. Most of the vocalisations identified above can cause a noise nuisance and in almost all cases the successful resolution of the problem is dependent upon identifying and addressing the cause. Clues as to why they occur include the type of sound, its intonation, contexts in which it occurs and other symptoms of the dog’s behaviour, some of which will occur at times other than when the dog is vocal. Unless these facts are established the owner will not be able to address the problem because they will not know what action to take.

4. Why canine vocal behaviour is a nuisance
Loud or excessive barking and other vocalisations can be disturbing for neighbours. This is particularly likely when it occurs at times that are generally antisocial, at night for example. Sometimes, however, the nuisance is not immediately obvious to the owner; for example, when barking that is normally acceptable occurs at times that conflict with someone else’s routine.
Examples include neighbours who work at night and need to sleep during the day; those with children that need to get to sleep; those that have become unwell and more easily stressed and those whose routines have changed, exposing them to the noise e.g. after retirement.

The nuisance is exacerbated when the vocalisation is intermittent because the listener is not able to predict when it will occur. As a result the listener can become sensitised and find it difficult, if not impossible, to adjust and treat the noise as background noise they can ignore, as they might with traffic noise, for example.

Sometimes the nuisance results in a breakdown in neighbourliness between the parties because of the listener’s grievance. On other occasions neighbours are not primarily concerned for themselves but for the welfare of the dog because they interpret the dog’s vocalisation as symptomatic of the dog’s distress.