Ultrasonic Bark Collars May Not Be the Best Way to Stop Your Dog Barking

There are three main types of anti-bark collars on the market: Electric Bark Collar; Citronella Bark Collar and Ultrasonic bark collar . There are those that provide a correction through a mild static electric shock, there are those that use a brief spray of citronella spray to discourage barking, and there are ultrasonic bark collars, which emit a tone that is inaudible to humans, but irritating enough to a dog to distract it from its barking.

Of all the three types of bark collars, citronella spray collars are considered to be the most humane way to train a dog not bark, while shock collars are probably the most controversial of the anti-bark collars, but the most effective.

An ultrasonic bark collar, such as the PetSafe Ultrasonic Bark Control Collar, sits somewhere in the middle, when it comes to how humane they are, but how effective are ultrasonic bark collars and are they really any more humane than any of the other types of anti-bark collar?

How an ultrasonic bark collar works

Most ultrasonic bark collars are triggered automatically by the sound of the dog barking, although some models are operated via a remote control. When the collar is triggered, it emits an ultrasonic tone, which most humans can’t hear, that is designed to distract the dog and deter it from barking. Whilst that may sound like an effective and humane way to train a dog to stop barking, there are a number of distinct disadvantages to ultrasonic bark collars when they are compared to citronella spray collars and electric shock collars.

Effectiveness

You only need to have a quick read of the customer reviews on a product like the PetSafe Ultrasonic Bark Control Collar to see that many people find that ultrasonic collars are not as effective on dogs as the other types of collars are. In many cases, dog owners even report that the sound of an ultrasonic bark collar simply irritates a dog and makes it bark even more. The Best Dog Training Collar can be viewed as a great product to train your dog not to bark

Sensitivity

A lot of people also report that ultrasonic dog collars are far too sensitive and they can be set off by background noise, cars passing by, or other dogs barking. This leads to false corrections, which are both unfair to the dog and can be confusing for it as well.

They affect other animals as well as your dog

Whilst humans may not be able to hear the ultrasonic tone, dogs and other animals can. That means that when an ultrasonic dog collar is triggered, any nearby dogs will be affected by the correction as well as the dog wearing the collar.

We really don’t know how humane ultrasonic dog collars are

Since we cannot hear the tone ourselves, we have no idea how distressing an ultrasonic dog collar might be for a dog. If we were to hear a very high pitched sound in our ears that we couldn’t get away from, it could be quite painful and very uncomfortable.

Dogs can get used to the sound

Another issue with ultrasonic bark collars is that, even if they do work to begin with, dogs can simply become used to the sound and learn to ignore it. Also, if your dog is deaf or hard of hearing, an ultrasonic bark collar won’t have any effect at all.

In our opinion, citronella spray and static shock collars are the most effective ways to train a dog to stop barking. If you are concerned that a shock collar might be too much for your dog, try using a citronella spray collar instead, because the disadvantages of an ultrasonic dog collar far outweigh any perceived advantages they may have.