Muzzle to keep dog from barking?

[longshadowfarms]

We have a dog that seems to think he needs to bark all night long :no: He's been a bit bad about that all his life (10 years - 6 with a previous owner who died of cancer, 4 years with us) but it seems to have gotten a lot worse lately. It has been about 4 times a night all week. He rarely barks during the day unless they all go out to sing. Oy!

Was looking at anti-bark collars but also see that most muzzles claim to stop barking while allowing the dog to drink, etc. Has anyone tried a muzzle for this? It would only be used at night. What about the citronella collars? I'm not keen to use a shock collar on him. Would love any other ideas. Need sleep!!!!! :no:

[Laura Workman]

Out of curiosity, have you tried crating him at night. They usually bark because they feel like they're on guard duty and want to let you know any time anything happens - like when a mouse sneezes, for example. If you crate them, it takes them off duty.

[Cosmic]

These gizmos work for small areas like a particular room. They learn very quick not to bark in that room. One of my neighbors had the same problem and put it in the bedroom and locked the pup in there with them at night. Very quickly caught on to the drill no barking when they were in bed. Still barked during the day in other rooms.

Reasonable price. There are some hand held defense type ones, dogs really do not like it and usually figure out what is required to avoid it. Even stops a charging dog in its tracks.

http://www.kittenkaboodle.com/thesto...ds/2000NB.html

[Maura]

Any device you use must be considered a training aid, which means you have to be with the dog.

Is the dog outside? Bring him in. If he is not trustworthy in the house, use a crate. As Laura wrote, he is being a good guard dog and needs to go off duty.

[baysidebunny]

I was steaming 2 bushels of asparagus last night...
Those wide purple rubber bands used to hold the bushels come to mind.

[longshadowfarms]

He is an indoor dog. I had thought that he might be hearing our Pyr barking outside but have been trying to pay attention (as much as possible on lack of sleep) and it doesn't seem that he is barking because the Pyr is barking. No idea what triggers it. Probably the mouse sneezing We have crates so I will try that. It is simple and worth maybe getting a good night's sleep. I have one of those hand held gadgets that makes the noise but didn't want to punish the other dogs. Can't figure a good way to use it only on him and not them. I don't know about the charging dog theory. That devise had no impact on our last Pyr. Of course, he was nuts.

[Rouen]

the best thing would be if someone could correct him right away when he does it, like a choke chain and a lead give him a good jerk and they usually stop after 3, I can get out aggressive cocker to accept people into his home that way, but since this is the middle of the night, shock collars work great, they give a warning beep the first time the dog barks then if they refuse to shut up they get a shock, and if the dog is really pig headed and doesn't shut up for 10 seconds it'll continue to shock him till he does, then it'll repeat the beep if he barks again and thats usually all it takes.
I dont think crating him will help, it sounds almost like he's got separation anxiety, since he's doing it when he's alone, what does he do when he's baking, is he running around, licking, chewing, laying down?
and as for the charging dog theory, I'm with longshadow, NOTHING will stop a mad dog thats charging.

http://www.usask.ca/wcvm/herdmed/app...s/anxiety.html

"Whining and barking for an extended period are also common concerns."

just my .02

[kate]

i think a crate will work, with some reinforcement, like as soon as he barks , loud NO, if he keeps it up a loud swat on the crate, and a big NO, this usually gets them the idea, that barking is not wanted. every dog should know a few words and obey, come, no, good dog, and so forth. and undisciplined dog usually ends up in the pound, cause he becomes such a problem for anyone and everyone.

[TwoAcresAndAGoat]

I vote for the electric shock "Anti-Bark" collar. It works when you are not in the same place as the dog.

Don't use the rubber bands it will interfere with blood circulation.

Swatting the crate will possibly make the dog fearful of you or the crate (I've seen it happen)

Teaching the dog to lay down on comand will help, I seldom see dogs barking while they are laying down. This takes time to master and you will loose sleep in the meantime.

The nice thing about the shock collars is the dog doesn't connect the correction from barking with you, some boogie man is doing it They can, however, learn to bark when they don't have a collar on unless you follow the training instructions that come with the collar.

[bare]

Can't help you with the dog problem, I just popped in to see if there was some solution to my mile away neighbor who's dogs get awfully irksome some quiet nights.

I sure am interested in bayside's TWO BUSHELS of asparagus though. If you could find me a couple bushels cheap, I'd sure consider a drive to Washington.

[MaKettle]

When Darling Dog rode in the car with us, he would let go with high pitched barks and yelps right in our ears if he saw something that needed barking at--like another dog. Hurt. In desperation the passenger seat person would swing around and clamp his muzzle shut to try to preserve our eardrums. We found that dogs can still bark with muzzles clamped shut, although not at ear drum piercing velocity.

Darling Dog would bark and howl at night if left outside. He had belonged to some neighbors, and would do his routine over at our place, so he sure wasn't trying to protect anything. Wasn't in his job description, anyway. When we inherited him, we kept him in at night. No bark or howl.

We tried a Barker Breaker on one dog. It looks like a garage door opener. Push the button and it makes a high pitched sound that is supposed to annoy the dog and it will stop barking. Doesn't work. Loaned it to a friend. Didn't work for them, either.

Good luck!

[Little Quacker in OR]

Hi! Can't see your house of course or follow your routine, but is this the old Lab? Are you sure there are not some anxiety or pain issues going on? How's the hearing on this dog?

I would take the approach this way without really knowing the dog of course: First, complete check by your Vet whom I know you trust. Then if all seems well you can start trying to figure out if its anxiety....pain? What is it? Will he sleep in the bedroom(with you or the kids)and be quiet? How is the dogs urinating? Normal or really frequent? And thyroid can make a dog anxious...do you think this could be it?

I really don't think off hand that this is a discipline problem. Do you think so?

With this dogs history I am really wondering if a change of diet would help. I know you have tried some things along this line but it would be worth some serious investigation and cutting out any foods with grains or poultry in them just for a start.

Just some thoughts here.......button up your overcoat!

LQ