When Neb and I were still doing FR we worked on a bark/no bark commands but when we stopped I stopped using it and didn't properly proof it. I am KICKING myself now.

A few weeks ago Neb was sick and Toby was over. I didn't know he was sick until the next day, but he barked all night and neither of us got any sleep. I took him out, went in to shush him, sprayed him with water, gave him food - I know, not good, but I just wanted him to shut up so we could sleep.

The next night I knew he was sick but he was much better. I've had no problems since then, EXCEPT when Toby has been over (just a couple of times).

Even me going in to tell him to shush is giving him attention. One night he wouldn't be quiet so Toby went home and 5 minutes after he left Neb quieted down for the whole night. I bought a bark collar and tried it on him a couple of times when he was barking outside of this (feeding time, otherwise his barking isn't much of an issue - he's quieted down a lot), and it worked. Last night - you could tell he could feel it, b/c he would quiet down, and then start barking again. Toby left, b/c I need my sleep for work, and....within 5 minutes Neb quieted down.

I feel like a lazy for getting a bark collar. But I don't have this problem when it's just me and I'm worried how long it would take to teach and proof a 'bark/no bark' and I would like the deliterious of affects of this on my relationship to be stopped sooner rather than later.

Do we just need to suck it up and let him spend a night barking through with no attention and the bark collar on? Help! Toby also suggested I get Neb used to sleeping with the bark collar on as habit as opposed to just putting it on when he starts to bark.

I'm not exactly an expert, just someone who HATES nuisance barking (enough to buy my SISTER's dog a bark collar;-). I've been lucky: My dogs have tended to be pretty quiet unless there was really something to bark about, but I think my lack of tolerance had something to do with it.

I don't know what the 'right' way is, I just know what I would do (have done) in this kind of circumstance:

If Neb starts getting barky because Toby is there, I would quickly and quietly (without engaging Neb in any real way) put the bark collar on and then ignore him for the rest of the night. I wouldn't make a habit of him wearing it EVERY night, just on nights he starts to bark. Some might disagree with me on that, but that's how I have done it unless I started seeing the dog looking for other 'reasons' to bark. THEN I wouldn't hesitate to put the collar on nightly.

Every time you tell him to be quiet or give him any barking-related attention at all, it reinforces the barking, but you already knew that:-P I would completely ignore him.

I don't think a bark collar is lazy. I think it's a good tool if used properly. I would say preventing your dog from barking all night is a pretty reasonable use of this tool:-)

Oh, it drives me bonkers....and it's ONLY when Toby's over. Just brutal!

That's what I did last night - he slept for about an hour after we went to bed and then started barking. I went in, put the bark collar but didn't say or do anything else, and then went back to bed.

Thing is, he'll bark for a bit, then quiet down (the collar kicking in), then he'll burst out barking again, repeat.

It's that the collar doesn't seem to be stopping him totally when Toby's over (but in my experiments with it when Toby's not around, it does work) that I'm not sure what to do.

Do we continue to ignore and just wait him out? I agree that if I do anything other than ignore he's getting the attention. Arghhh!

I'm thinking of busting out Teagan's e-collar which we never use for the next time Toby's over, so if the bark collar doesn't stop him, I can use that as well....but maybe that's too much. I could use it remotely though so he wouldn't know it was me. I don't know.

I'm lazy, I would put a bark collar on him. Tri-tronics Bark Limiter works great. I just can't do without my sleep!!!

I am putting a bark collar on him! Stupid Husky/Beagle mix....

It works when Toby's not around, but not when Toby is there....

Try a different bark collar? Bring the e-collar into usage to see if that helps?

Hey Jennifer, unless you want to keep the bark/quiet as an obedience thing the bark collar is what I would do. I use the Tri-tronics too, it takes care of it.

I've started marking it again to work on it as obedience, but I guess I'm looking at a 2-pronged approach.

Neb would be the little dude who barks through a collar that stops him in other circumstances. In a perverse way, I'm proud, except of course when he's barking and we're trying to sleep and then I could strangle him (not really, obviously).

I've read that the tri-tronics bark collar is the best....I'm a bit financially constrained so I decided to get the one from Petsmart since it had good revews - $65 plus tax vs. $130....I kinda wish I'd just gone with the $130 in the first place. Dammit. Maybe I can use Teagan's Dogtra remotely to supplement in the meantime - better financially....hmmm.

That reminds me, I'm trying to teach Teagan an alert bark and am having a dilemma....I should post that separately.

UGH! Nuisance barking! I have a command which can't be printed due to adult language and content; not to mention it is only momentarily effective

It sounds like a bark collar is your best alternative. If the problem is only occurring when Toby is over I'd probably only put it on him those nights. I've never used one so take this with a grain of salt but I don't think I would wait for him to start the barking; I think I would put it on him before Toby got there.

So why is it only occurring when Toby is there.....is Neb having issue with a perceived interloper? Not his call; is it possible Neb needs some clarification on who is in charge? Take care of the barking when Toby is there but make sure Neb understands his place at all times everyday. Goodluck!

Is it a bellowed 'STFU!!!!!'???

Neb never barked when Toby was over until a few weeks ago, so I don't think it's an issue with rank/interloper in terms of Toby.

I think it's that Toby was over the night he got sick, and I didn't know that he was sick, so I tried 20,000 ways to get him to shut up and gave him WAAAAY to much attention.

I know better.

But I think now he associates Toby with nighttime barking that gets attention.

Not sure, but it never happened before that night and it's really recent, only since then.

Is using the dogtra e-collar to correct remotely a good idea? What if I have the bark collar on as well? I'm assuming only one?

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

Is it a bellowed 'STFU!!!!!'???

Why; YES it is! Ineffective but feels good

I'm not sure about the collars because I haven't used them and I guess it would depend on your situation.

However; how old is Neb? In my experience when it comes to teenagers both human and canine the issue is ALWAYS rank!