Has anyone used the spray barking control collars?

[off2skl]

My dog seems to be barking more and more. When I'm home I can bring her inside so she's not bothering the neighbors, but when I'm gone I worry that she's bothering the neighbors. Sometimes I can understand her reason for barking (noise outside, etc) , but other times she must be hearing or sensing something I can't. I won't use the shock collars because I think they're cruel. I've heard about the spray citronella/citrus collars and am wondering:

1. How well do they work?
2. Can we use this as a training tool and hopefully wean her off of it or is it a permanent solution?

Are there any other ideas out there?

Thanks.

[Ribbit]

A family that I used to work for had a lab that barked like crazy, and they used the anti-bark citronella sprayer on her. It worked like a charm most of the time, but here are a couple of things to consider:
1. If you have other dogs they may get sprayed if they are standing near the barking dog and be confused.
2. If you have other dogs, their bark may set off the sprayer and confuse the dog wearing it.
3. Other loud noises may accidentally set off the sprayer, confusing your dog.
4. YOU may get sprayed if your dog barks while jumping around near you (not horrible, but not really pleasant either)
5. Initially, the citronella cartrige seems to run out quickly, and it's important to keep an eye on it so it is always working.
They do really work, though, and if your neighbors live close by they will really appreciate it!

[Scooter]

Have you talked to a trainer about it to see if there's a behavioral reason behind the barking? If it's fear motivated or aggressive or what? If it turns out to be a cause like that, there are things you can do to help the dog without having to resort to collars like that. Just something yu could try before going to a collar, if the collar isn't getting to the root of the problem.

[ejs]

A dogsitter put one on our dog one weekend and it really screwed our dog up. First, our dog only barks when he plays or the doorbell rings; he's never been a random barker.

After he wore the collar for a weekend, he was not himself for about 6 weeks. He cowered at any noise. He wouldn't bark. He wouldn't play with our other dog. He wouldn't play with us.

We think that the collar was triggered when the dogsitter's own dog barked or something.

We will NEVER put one on on our dogs.

[irish74]

We had one and it worked great until the collar broke. I really need to get it fixed as it really helped cut down the barking at everything that passed by the window.

[klm2klh]

Our dog actually liked the citronella, it didn't really bother him at all. If I sprayed it on my hand he would actually lick it off.