Instructions
Determine what is causing your dog to bark. Generally, dogs bark out of boredom or because they have been bred to bark. These reasons make for a perfect case for a bark collar. However, some dogs may bark out of anger, fear or loneliness. Anger is often associated with an invasion of territory or personal space, and should be dealt with as a separate problem. Fear of certain people or situations or loneliness at being left by themselves should also be dealt with separately. Training your dog to cope with these problems specifically can often eliminate barking that a bark collar cannot.
Deactivate the bark collar, either by turning it off or taking out the batteries, before putting it on your dog for the first couples of days. This will make introducing the collar to your dog much easier, and will make the dog more comfortable with the collar. For the first day, place the collar on the dog for a couple of hours only. Give your dog a treat while it's wearing the collar. On the second day of training, have the dog wear the collar for a longer period, up to six hours. Again, praise and reward the dog for wearing the collar.
Turn the collar on for the third day of training. When the dog barks, it will begin to receive corrections from the collar. It's often best to place the dog in an area with few distractions, so that the dog will realize it is being corrected for barking and not for some other behavior. Observe your dog in this situation, and make sure the dog understands the situation and collar corrections completely before moving on to another, more challenging situation.
Ignore the dog's barking and let the collar reprimand the dog. Praise your dog and reward him with treats when he's quiet.
Continue using the bark collar for several weeks. The dog will test the training method over these weeks, so it's important that he find it's still effective. After several weeks, the dog should be trained not to bark in general situations, and the dog won't need to wear the collar all the time anymore. You can still put the collar on the dog in new situations where the dog is likely to bark. This will further cement the training.
How to Stop a Dog From Barking With a Collar
Training a dog not to bark can be one of the most difficult and frustrating things to teach. Dogs often don't understand that you want them to stop barking, and yelling or getting upset at them can simply make the problem worse. Special anti-bark collars can make training your dog easier. These collars activate when the dog barks, giving it an immediate reprimand, either with a sharp sound, a static pulse or a squirt of pungent citronella. These collars can quickly and effectively teach your dog to stop barking, but must be implemented correctly.