I've heard much about eletric bark stopping colars etc but is there actualy something safe and harmless to use on our dogs to stop or minimize barking that anyone knows of?

Would be nice to have a good soloution that isnt going to hurt the dog!

I've seen these collars that squirt water, there is also a device that makes a sound when it hears your dog bark, these dont inflict any pain on the dog but im still not sure about them.

Wouldnt it be better to find the cause of the trouble and solve that?

The best thing to do is to ignore your dog. Although you may think this is a bad idea, your dog must obviously been attended heavily. If your dog barks, that means he is needy and uncomfortable. The dog must learn to know that he should not get all the attention 24/7.

My dogs slowly learning with the ignoring technique, Unfortunatly though he wakes up every morning whining and wont stop and because its so early I have to take him out to toilet etc immediatley to stop his whining or he'll wake everyone

when dutches starts barking all i say is hush!!! and she usually stop and if not i smack my hands together and the she stops

When teething my boy barks sooo loud for sooo long!! heres a nice article http://perfectpaws.com/bark.html

Have heard that anti-barking collars will go off even if another dog barks close to your dog could confuse the poor mite

There is another collar out too that will spray a type of substance by your dogs' nose that will supposedly stop it from barking. Also, there are some breeds that naturally bark more than others. Scent hounds are usualy bad as are herding breeds and terriers. The slower spaniels (Sussexx and Clumber) are VERY quiet by nature. Some dogs are smart enough to fool the shock collars. My friend's Redbone Coonhound has learned that chriping like a bird is very annoying to people and she won't get zapped for it.

The ignore method works. Also, teaching the "speak" command works too because it teaches your dog that there is a time and a place for barking and it is when you say so.

The bark collars are not something I'd recommend, like someone said before they go off at other dog barking or loud noises near by. This could make a sound sensitive dog or even a dog that attacks other dogs for barking. I would do the ignore method but as soon as the dog stops, give a treat.

Is there a specific time when he tends to bark (someone comes to the door, for attention, in crate etc.)?

Thier are methods and tools one can use to reduce the barking behavior depending on the dog and situation. Various methods which fall under the 4 quadrants of operant condtioning have there pros and cons and what might work for one dog undr a given circumstance may not work for another. As mentioned one also has to take into consideration which methods and tools are exceptable to the human.

Shock collars manual or auto sensing,E-collars (tap and nick) ,spraying of chemicals/liquids,sounds/noise,physical corrections,ignoring,redirecting behavior,positive reinforcement,marker/clicker training all have there pros and cons and do not always work for some dogs...depending. If you cannot find a solution Pm me so that I can get some details and I could offer some suggestions on your particular situation. Oh and by the way not all (models designed not to do so) electronic sensing bark collars can go off from a external dogs bark.

cheers

Electrocution collars are preposterous! Not to mention inhumane! My dogs barks like NO other dogs I've met and when she does, I make her go and lay down for at least 10 minutes..and she HATES laying down so that's a punishment for her.

When addressing the issues of excessive,unwanted, or undesired barking there are many ways to solve the issue and
it is obviously a matter of using a approach that hopefully works. Sometimes more importantly than simply resolving the issue with the more quick results the human has to also incorporate what methods and tools are exceptable as the means to the end to which things become more complicated at that point . Reasonably so because of a complex variety of concerns that need not be judged people choose to draw lines in the sand or have variations in levels of critera that we will use as the means to the end that does not equate to the quickest or more reliable solution and can be a BEST that someone else would disagree with.. Hurt can be described in several ways when considering any backlash behaviors or results in the long term> For example many people equate any discomforting stimuli as hurtful and a example would be simply squirting water or chemicals into a dogs face. In order to condition behavior reliably when using force training/condtioning methods and tools a negative or discomforting stimuli must be presented in order to meet the threshold to modifying,changing, reducing, or eliminating a behavior. Many people reasonably so feel that certain tools,methods,and stimuli that result in changing behavior through the presentation of any discomfort is actually a form of "hurt". One more thing to consider is that many people feel that simply a failure to solve the problem regardless of the approach hurts the dog at some point if one understands the many values to "hurt".

Concerning using bark collars..bark collars can use a variation in discomforting stimuli from sound,chemicals,vibration, and shock to which each person should understand in the possibilities to condtioning the behavior not to bark which again works for some situations and not others. In additon there are brands/types of these collars that are designed not to false trigger from external sources. In some cases dogs can associate even the mildest of discomforting stimuli that can result in negative backlash behaviors and also may not respond favorably to harsher or painful stimuli as hoped. I have observed many dogs especially younger ones that do not stop the targeted behavior by the use of shock or other discomforting stimuli and on the other hand do not change there behavior either by positive reinforcement methods and or ignoring such behavior.

By setting certain critera that is defined as safe,non aversive,non force conditioning,positive reinforcement only,punishment only,friendliest (various contrasting definitions),safest,fastest,most reliable, easiest,ect ect. we must obviously understand that this will result in different opinions to approach,methods, and tools and certainly provokes the politics and misunderstandings in how one defines BEST and in seeking the outcome. There in reality is no BEST answer or BEST way when considering that not all dogs respond similary to the same conditioning stimuli and that not everyone has the ability or understanding to carry out a specific approach or process ...so what works BEST for one dog or person in there environment and relationship may not work BEST for another.

In my environment and profession I deal with dozens of different dogs some with nasty dispositions each day across many different situations /venues and in my charge none are *aloud to bark unreasonably and many times at all and thus are easily conditioned to understand that barking unless reasonable or allowed is not tolerated and the issue is solved.

There are many ways and subsets that I incorporate depending on each individual dog and no two are exactly alike.

FOR ME there is no BEST way there are just ways.....I would answer the question by saying that limiting approaches by setting critera like safe,non hurtful,friendly,kind,non aversive,non discomforting,ect you/one also limit/s the chances of success in the primary goal of solving the problem depending on each circumstance..

just another perspective and probably a tad bit more than you wanted to hear. I am just one who does not believe in absolutes when dealing with conditioning behavior.

funny thing. i can tell by my dogs bark what they want. they have distinct barks for going outside, for food, for water and for play. and for warning me when visitors come. and my shepherd lab has a bark for the other dogs to put them in their place. when i hear that bark i tell him to play nice and he grumbles and goes to lay down. or maybe i am trained instead of them.
the only problem i have is that i cannot get them to be quiet when repairmen come to fix things. none are very friendly to dogs, all are scared of them so i have to put them in another room. i can't tell if my dogs are going to be friendly to them either and i don't want to risk it.
i have heard that if strangers give a treat to the dog this can keep the dog happy but i can't ever remember to do this when visitors come. they just don't want to see the dogs.

barking is a communication tool so i dont think all barks should be punished....when our dog was young she used to bark for no reason so we used to make her sit and sat on a rug in the kitchen...she hated it so she dosen't bark for no reason now! all dogs are different and they should be treated differently, but i dont think the collars are right or humane. simple training and disipline is far more effective and a lot less cruel

If your dog barks excessively or for no particular reason at all, do not yell at him. Teach your dog to hush. Use a different tone of voice when reprimanding or praising your pet. Learn to distinguish the barks of your pet too. There are barks that indicate he wants to play with you or if he has something to show you or if he wants to go. Just be patient with training your pet and eventually, the nonsense barking will go away.

well i think you should not take any kind of step that can harm your dog because if you take any step inorder to stop your dog from barking it can even kill your dog so my advice to you is that you must carefully take the step......