[RGD.]

I've had dogs all my life and there was only one that I barely won half the battles with his entire life. That would be my stubborn stupid beagle (and I say that with affection) whom we lost last year -16 years old. He suffered his whole life from separation anxiety. And he was scared sh*tless of non-family members.

And when young would seemingly bark non-stop when left alone in the house. Any house noise, shadows, vehicle noise, etc would cause an outburst. I eventually turned to a shock collar reluctantly. And it worked - but here were my rules:

01. No automatic shocks.
02. Used for training only - not worn full time.
03. Only used with the command "no".
04. Nobody used the collar except for me.

My purpose was never to have him stop barking totally - only to learn to stop barking when given the "no" command. I very rarely if ever discouraged outside barking - only when he would stand in one place barking at something that nobody else could see. He learned to stop barking at shadows, house noise and vehicles in the street. He knew he could get in one or two barks at the door bell, strangers to him in the house, etc. and then he would shut up.
Once he got the idea - praise was used and the collar discarded.

So - you can say that I don't mind the use of collars with a specific set of rules in place. I'm not a fan of them when used automatically.

I do agree with DC's direction. A trained dog is a happy dog.


Ron