# Thoughts on leaving bark collars on



## JL82 (May 13, 2013)

Anyone leave bark collars on past the 12 he recommended interval?


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## John Lash (Sep 19, 2006)

May be the dog or the collar, or how it's put on, but some dogs develop sores where the contacts touch their skin. You should be aware of and check for that. Otherwise I don't know what the limit would be for.


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## EdA (May 13, 2003)

Depends on how long you want to suppress barking


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## windycanyon (Dec 21, 2007)

To me, more than when YOU can't physically be there, is too long. 12hrs plus???? why? I'd only use mine for training situations if I had to (haven't had to buy one yet).


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## JL82 (May 13, 2013)

Dog barks in his kennel not during training I just read sport dog didn't recomend leaving them on I was wondering if anyone had actually had any skin irritations as a result of leaving it on


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## Chuck Ward (Nov 28, 2012)

Don't leave them on your dog for long periods of time. I did and it was not pretty. Actual holes worn in the skin on the dogs necks - avoided infection but sure scared me. Lot going on in my life back then. I moved to a new home and they were barking a lot in the outside kennel so I picked up three bark collars and left them on some times two or three days at a time. After a month or so I discovered the the damage - my Golden's long mane and hair on their necks hid the wounds pretty well. Seems to me my memory says it took about 10 to 14 days heal. I even read the "destructions" and watched but obviously not closely enough. Been there, done that, don't do it! The collars did their job back then, but as new dogs have been added over the years the new dogs learn from the old ones as well as from me that "QUIET" is good!


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## Jay Dufour (Jan 19, 2003)

Dogtra has one that has no points,that works great,and can be left on . http://www.amazon.com/Dogtra-IQ-Bark-Collar-Black/dp/B008SDPOIE


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## Nick Toti (Feb 3, 2011)

How do these work compared to Collar Conditioning to obedience and other commands? What if you have a continuous barker at 6 months old and the dog hasn't been CC'ed yet? Will putting a bark collar on the dog interfere with the CC process later on in training or does the dog associate it as a different type of pressure?


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## ChessieMom (Aug 28, 2013)

JL82 said:


> Dog barks in his kennel not during training I just read sport dog didn't recomend leaving them on I was wondering if anyone had actually had any skin irritations as a result of leaving it on


 Yes, if you leave them on too long, they do cause sores on the dog's neck.

Our chessie had sores on his neck from his regular e-collar (it's a sportdog one.) We had been just leaving the collar on him, and it didn't take very long at all. We weren't leaving it on for 12 hours...much less than that.

What happens, is that the contact points cut off circulation to those areas and the tissue dies. It's basically a "bed sore". They can get infected, and the dog loses hair around the area. They take a long time to heal up too, and you can't use the collar in the meantime. We had to even remove his flat buckle collar, and he was reduced to wearing a harness since we live in town and he has to have tags and be leashed.

My suggestion, would be to crate your dog in the house while you're away so you won't have to use the bark collar at all during the day. You could then use the collar only overnight and put it on right before bedtime and take it off ASAP in the morning if you preferred to have him outside at night. 

If the bark collar does cause issues with just overnight use, you could always crate him inside at night too. It's usually not that hard to stop crate barking if you're consistent with a spray bottle of 50/50 vinegar/water. Our chessie was an annoying crate barker at night until we tried that, and he stopped that nonsense quick, though he did smell like a salad for a little while


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## CharlieC (Jul 26, 2012)

On my last dog I used the bark collar when she was in the outside kennel and it did make sores on her neck if left on too long. I found out that after a few days I could take it off and she would go a couple of weeks before starting to bark again.
I now have a six month old male lab that I am keeping in the house and started using the vinegar and water spray. He would just lick it up and bark some more for a long time, but now he is getting the idea that it is not that good.


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## Dman (Feb 26, 2003)

Jay Dufour said:


> Dogtra has one that has no points,that works great,and can be left on . http://www.amazon.com/Dogtra-IQ-Bark-Collar-Black/dp/B008SDPOIE


Do you have one of those Jay? I have wondered how well they work?


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## Golden Boy (Apr 3, 2009)

JL82 said:


> Dog barks in his kennel not during training I just read sport dog didn't recomend leaving them on I was wondering if anyone had actually had any skin irritations as a result of leaving it on


Yep if you leave the collar on too long the dog will get sores where the prongs rub their neck.


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## Jiggy (Apr 14, 2003)

I ordered two Dogtra IQs for our kennel to try them out. 
After a month, I returned them.


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## Breck (Jul 1, 2003)

I'l tell you one thing not to do with a bird crazy noisy dog and a freekin bark collar. Don't leave it on the dog when you go to line! My dog went nutso barking at flyer and I nearly go bitten trying to get the bark collar off while it was hitting him and he was howlin' bloody murder.
Though I had his e-collar on, dumb!


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## freezeland (Nov 1, 2012)

Breck said:


> I'l tell you one thing not to do with a bird crazy noisy dog and a freekin bark collar. Don't leave it on the dog when you go to line! My dog went nutso barking at flyer and I nearly go bitten trying to get the bark collar off while it was hitting him and he was howlin' bloody murder.
> Though I had his e-collar on, dumb!


That just sounds like a bad idea in general.


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## Todd Caswell (Jun 24, 2008)

Yep seen one that was pretty ugly, don't believe the collar was on all that long either, and got infected turned out fine but boy was it nasty.


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## Dave Burton (Mar 22, 2006)

I have had it happen a few times and your right it is pretty ugly. Now if I have a bad barker that needs one I move it every day just a little to one side or other. One other thing is after that get wise to it (and they will) you can put it on a little looser than normal it will still work because they know it's on. I had one that would shut up if he saw me heading his way with one in my hand. Another tip is don't bump the side if the kennel door with it in your hand. Woooo thats hot!



Todd Caswell said:


> Yep seen one that was pretty ugly, don't believe the collar was on all that long either, and got infected turned out fine but boy was it nasty.


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## dogluvah (Apr 24, 2012)

In response to question if using bark collar affects CC. I used a bark collar on my pup way before she was collar conditioned. She was staked out watching the older dogs run, and made a ruckus wanting to join in. The bark collar worked quickly, never left it on more than few hours at a time. Now at 5yr she is the quietest dog we've ever had. Plus I think it actually helped with collar conditioning. She already knew she could control the stimuli by her responses. Never used both at same stages.


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## Jay Dufour (Jan 19, 2003)

Yes ,I have two and they work great for me.


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