 |
Your Canine's
Sense of Smell
A much larger part of a dog’s brain is devoted to processing smells than yours. Some search dogs locate people buried under the snow of avalanches, search for evidence in crime, and find people in the water. Cloudy days, mornings, and evenings are the best times for dogs to search. And depending on the conditions, dogs can pick up a scent up to a half a mile away!
Learn more about dog senses, training and agility at this free dog agility teleseminar.
|
|
 |
|
|
You are here: Dogs > Stop Dog Barking
> Citronella Dog Collar |
|
|
|
|
Citronella Dog Collar
Aromatherapy is often used to make people feel more relaxed
or energized, but the use of citronella for dogs may quiet
them for other reasons. You’re probably familiar with
citronella in the form of those anti-mosquito candles for
patios. The smell is kind of lemony and people don’t mind it
at all (although in my experience, mosquitoes don’t mind it
much either). Unpleasant for dogs but not inhumane, the
citronella-spray collar works on the principle that a mildly
unpleasant surprise can curtail barking. The collar emits a
jet of citrus scent (citronella is a natural oil), which
dogs are said to dislike,
|
|
|
when they bark. Since we are nearly at
the end of our list of debarking
strategies, the assumption is that
you’ve tried more behaviorally-based
methods and they haven’t worked. If
that’s true, then it may be time to try
this collar. However, like the shock
collar whose description follows, the
citrus collar is probably mysterious to
the barking dog. He’s just going along
doing what he’s always done, and for no
apparent reason, he’s sprayed in the
nose with something that smells nasty
to him. It may put him in a bad mood
until he figures out that when he
barks, he gets the spray. One website advertising such a collar says that you can
reverse the effect of the collar by removing it from the
dog, but then it says that dogs will learn to associate
barking with being sprayed and will learn not to bark
while they are wearing the collar. This assumes that
the dog will always wear his collar. Another citronella
collar company recommends the dog only wear the collar
for 2-3 hours per day, which makes me wonder how it
could be expected to work consistently if it’s not being
used consistently. Maybe it depends on the dog: how
astute does he have to be to link the citronella spray
with his barking behavior? How long will it take him to
stop barking once he wears the collar, and, once the
collar comes off, will the barking resume?
Another drawback to the citronella collar is that is may
be set off by the barking of a nearby dog – not
necessarily the one wearing the collar. Punishing a dog
for something that has nothing to do with him will
completely confuse him!
The Placerville Veterinary Clinic estimates that the
citronella collar is twice as effective as the shock
collar, and suggests that some dogs may find not only
the smell aversive, but also the hissing sound the
collar makes when it puffs out the citronella.
With all the conflicting attitudes towards the
citronella collar, it seems very worthwhile for a dog
that has not succeeded with traditional Bark Prevention
Training. It doesn’t hurt the animal, although it isn’t
pleasant, and if it works, your problem is solved.
Definitely give the citronella collar a serious attempt
before moving on to more drastic measures.
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Did you find the information you were looking for?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
To find more dog related websites input the phrase
"dog training" directly into the search box below
or simply type in your own search phrase to see over 1
million other canine websites.
|
|
|
|
|
