We have tried a couple of different products, namely the PetSafe Outdoor Ultrasonic Bark Deterrent (the one shaped like a birdhouse) for outdoors, and PetSafe PBC-1000 Ultrasonic Indoor Bark Control for indoors. The Outdoor unit worked reasonably well, but our dog figured out pretty quickly that if he got far enough back from it (it was placed near the property line to deter barking at the sidewalk), he could still do his thing (including harassing the mail carrier when they got to the front porch.) The Indoor unit seemed to work for about a week, and then lost its effect (I even put brand new batteries in it, but it just seems the noise it emits doesn't bother him that much.)
After reading reviews for virtually every "no bark" collar on Amazon and other sites, we selected the Dogstra No Bark YS300. Unlike the ultrasonic bark deterrents we had been using before, which rely on an unpleasant noise to stop barking, this collar detects the bark and then delivers a "shock" to the dog. I should add that our dog is trained on and completely comfortable with an electric fence, so to some degree he gets the joke of what it means to get a shock. We have been using this collar for 2 weeks, and so far it works like a charm. The first day that the mail arrived, our dog began his usual barking, and immediately received a corrective shock. He let out a little yelp (exactly what he does when shocked by electric collar for invisible fence), and not only did he stop barking, but he settled down, and never went into his "beserk" mode. When he is in his "beserk" mode at the mail carrier, he often shreds the mail. Not this time. Apparently by stopping the barking, it stopped the whole destructive mode.
The dog very quickly figured out that bark = shock, and I think he has only received one or two shocks subsequently. He has also figured out that a low growl does not trigger the shock, nor does a very quiet "woof" that is almost more like a grunt. So he can still alert us if he believes something is not right (like a squirrel has entered his yard.) I should add that the collar has 7 levels of shock severity, and we have it set on the mildest one.
The last thing I will adress is the battery. The Dogstra YS300 uses a rechargeable lithium battery. So far it seems to need charging every 4 days or so. This is not a big deal, we simply take it off of him at night and charge it as you would a cell phone, an i-touch, etc. This may sound like a lot of charing, but we have been thru so many battery ordeals with his electric fence collar and those batteries are so expensive, that I actually like this method better. I've tried several no bark collars from different manufacturers. I really like this one best because it has a vibration feature that warns the dog before he gets barking. It is easy to adjust and is rechargeable. My dogs are barking herders and these work great.
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I have a mini schnauzer and a lab mix who think they need to bark and scream incessantly whenever a car comes up the drive. If you want to visit outdoors with the neighbor, forget it, because they bark the ENTIRE time. I ordered one Dogtra YS300 to use for both dogs.The pros:
1. It says for small to medium dogs, but is very effective with my lab mix also.
2. It has a vibration warning before the correction.
3. It can be set to vibrate only when the correction is learned.
4. The battery is rechargeable in about 2 hours.
The cons:
1. Even on the LOWEST setting, it is a little too strong for my mini schnauzer. She squealed on the correction of "2" which I did not like. (However, I can set it to vibrate only for her which works well.)
2. The strap is very long, but it can be cut to fit, so not a big "con"
3. My dogs do already know that they can bark when the collar is off, however the duration is shorter.
I will have to update my review in the future in order to address durability.
To make a long story short, I like this collar, and will be ordering another one so that both dogs will have one to wear when we go camping, etc.
Edit to add: It has been two years and the collar still works great. I have absolutely NO problems with this collar. I highly recommend it.
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I have one large and one medium sized dog (75 and 55 pounds respectively). I bought the YS500 for the smaller dog because her weight was on the cusp. When it arrived it looked way to big for her so I gave the 500 to my larger dog and ordered a YS300. Finally, the collars looked appropriate for each of them.I didn't want to use the collars because I wasn't thrilled about shocking my dogs but the smallers habit of charging the front door and barking was getting worse and worse. Finally, I put the collars on periodically without being turned on for several weeks at the advice of my dog trainer so they would not learn to associate the shock with the collar.
Last week I finally turned the collars on. The YS300 at the lowest setting has totally freaked out my small dog. She shreaks when it goes off. She is scared to death. I have been dealing with this and trying very hard to ignore her reaction as she is avoiding the front door so I guess it is working. This has been very upsetting for both myself and my dog.
Here is the warning. If you have more than one dog please be aware that the YS300 can be set-off by another dog. It took a few occassions to be sure of this. My poor little dog has been shocked 3 times now by my larger. Once they were playing and he barked and shocked her. Once they charged the front door and the larger dog barked and shocked her and once my larger dog hacked and it set off her collar. Yes, he hacked and my small dog because she was standing next to him was shocked. Each time she shreaked in fear and doesn't have any idea what she did wrong.
I called Dogtra and they told me that the YS300 has a sensor that can be set-off by other dogs. I wish I saw this in my research. Is this published anywhere as a warning?? It should be! If I had this very important piece of information, I certainly would not have bought the collar. Dogtra's customer service was friendly and told me to mail them the YS300 and they will "make the sensor less sensitive". I guess this is a reasonable customer service response but I'm not really sure how willing I am to keep experimenting on my poor dog.


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