Bulldogs World

I don't have the answer but I am interested in the responses as well.  We may be in the same boat very soon and my boy barks at everything.  They are good watch dogs aren't they?  Too good.  LOL

Hey Stew's Dad, I feel for you.  We live in a house so we don't have to worry about barking being annoying to anyone but us.  Still, I know that barking can sometimes be overwhelming, especially if one of ours sees another dog.  Having said that, I would not use a bark collar.  It was recommended to us by a trainer and I'm sorry to say I purchased one.  Maude barks a lot when people come to the door so I put it on her on the lowest setting and when she barked she immediately cried out.  I took it off of her and tried it on my hand.  It hurts.  I cried so hard for hurting my girl and apologized to her for the pain I caused.  I think that the best way to stop the barking is to distract them with a toy or activity.  Of course, that's only good when you're there and can do something.  I hope that Lynn King, who is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, will see your post and respond with some suggestions.

Again, I can only speak for our experience, but I would NOT use a bark collar.

my archie was quite good actually til it came to him wanting attention or going out...

as my dad had gotten him used to that...the barking then could drive you nuts!,lol

but alas he is no longer w/us...but...my bf's roommate has a bark collar but it sprays/mists

something similar to a citrus (i belive it's non toxic to dogs and they don't like the smell),

and it seems to be quite effective...not sure of the mark or name but i can find out...hope this

helps...and i wouldn't get the zapping collar-somehow it just doesn't seem right

is to first put the collar around your neck and give it a few tries before putting it on your dog.  IMO it is definitely not a positive reinforced training method and I wouldn't use such a thing.  Dogs bark at noises, that is what they do and Bulldogs are known to be a very quiet breed.  If your apartment allows dogs then they must know that it is going to happen at times and the neighbors must know that as well.  I would not be worried unless he is constantly barking, then you'll have some very unhappy neighbors. 

I would start by using a radio or recorded sounds to work on desensitizing him of some of those noises before I would jump to using a bark collar.  Also I would never feel comfortable leaving a collar on my dog during the day unattended.  Kohl has a collar on when I'm home and he actually got caught on a knob on the coffee table the other day.  I certainly wouldn't want to come home to a strangled dog.

When I was in an apartment for a year I always left the tv on during the day.

My sister tried  a collar that sprays citronella on her dog (not a bully) and in about a week he got used to the spray. He's just sneeze when it sprayed and kept barking. They live in an apartment and he barks at everything and anything!

They found it a bit of a waste of money. Just thought i'd share their story. Good luck!

to communicate. Extinguishing it completely is impossible.

The fact that "he has always done this" is going to make it difficult to modify, he's had a long time to practice the behavior. You can teach him to "quiet" on command but that will only work when you are present. How we act and/or react to something our dog does has a huge influence on the behavior. For example, if you are teaching "quiet", you have to be calm and speak softly. Any yelling/grabbing etc only furthers excites the dog. When he barks, calmly stand in front of him, tell him "quiet", when he stops, even if only for a second, "good boy" and guide him away. If you can, get to him before he starts to bark, ask for a sit, give him a treat. You want to get and keep his attention while your neighbors are making noises.

I did an in-home session with a client who had several issues with their dog. One was the dog barking/lunging at the door when a visitor knocked. I arrived at the house, walked to the front door, knocked and all Hell broke loose. The dog came tearing through the house with the owners close behind. Dog is jumping on the door, owners are yelling, pulling the dog back. Yikes. I opened the door and asked them if that was a typical performance. A few sessions of controlling the human behavior and the dog was fine. Anyway, my point is, the dog had learned that someone knocking on the door was a big deal and he needed to alert everyone in the world because even his humans were acting crazy, he could not have known that the yelling was because of his barking.

Bark collars? Depends on why the dog is barking. I do not like the "shock" style, the spray citronella ones are much more humane. Training still has to be ongoing.

Good luck

Not only are they cruel, they can give a dog anxiety due to the shock they receive.  Please do not do this.

Stupidly bought one. Put it on our Bubba who will bark at anything and anybody. He barked and then SCREAMED!! He does pretty well with being told "quiet" unless he is bulldog intent on barking at something or someone. When that happens I stand in front of him and distract him. Works most of the time.

Unless you've heard your beloved bully scream you won't understand. I caused that pain and will never, ever do anything which will cause him pain again!!

I agree with the others, not really the best way to go.  In fact, I was at the vet onc with my bully and another lady was there with her big rotty.  She had bought a bark collar for him and it malfunctions and totally burned his whole neck.  The guy was oozing blood and she was bawling.  That's when I said to myself "never, under any circumstances".

Have you thought about maybe buying a white noise machine?  It might block out some of the smaller noises that are triggering barking.  Or maybe just leaving the TV or a radio on all the time as background noise.  I suspect he'll eventually get used to the other noises.

Best of luck!!

the truth is what works for some might not work well on others...

archie was a barker also as i mentioned before...but i did not go w/the bark

collar not the shock or citronella one.