I bought the bark stop about 2 weeks ago. I had read several reviews either really good or really bad so I was quite skeptical, but my dog (jack russell terrier) would bark at the rays of sunlight coming into the house, so I was desperate.
The most important thing to remember when buying a product like this is that there aren't many things that are both great and easy. When you buy treats for dog to train him, do you simply leave the treats out all the time. No. Because he would never figure out that the treats were a reward for doing what you wanted him to. It's the same thing with the bark stop.
The first thing you should do with this device is put it to the audible setting and then test and see what makes the bark stop actually go off. I found that doors shutting hard, clanging dishes, etc all set it off. So, if the device goes off every 5 seconds, the dog isn't going to think for a second that it's going off because he's barking. He's going to assume that it's a uncontrollable sound that he has to live with.
So after putting the device back into the ultrasonic sound setting, I decided that I would only plug the device in when the dog was barking or when he was in his cage. Also, I never leave the device plugged in when I'm doing dishes slamming doors, or doing loud things. So the dog only hears the device when he barks. I realize that this might be a slight annoyance to walk on egg shells in order to make sure the device works, but I would rather do that than have a barking dog. The way I look at it, is I wouldn't just randoming throw my dog treats in the middle of his training, so why leave it plugged in all the time.
In the end, the first time I plugged in the bark stop, I let the dog bark it out. He barked for about 5 minutes (normally 10-15) and then stopped. The second time I plugged it in, he didn't bark more than twice. The bark stop puts out a ultrasonic beep when you plug it in, so I think that now he knows when he's going to hear more than he wants to. I think that the dog has now gotten more used to it, and will try to out bark it, but for the most part, he doesn't bark much at all while it's on, if he barks at all. The one thing that the manual does say is that if the dog is trying to protect the house, usually this device won't help, which I think is a good thing.
Cons:
When I was testing the microphone (used for taking in the bark loudness) on the device, it didn't seem to matter if the microphone was on high or low. Also, this device would be so much more useful if it came with a remote to turn on or off, not to manage each bark, but to simply be able to sit at the couch and click it on, or to click it off.
I bought the bark stop about 2 weeks ago. I had read several reviews either really good or really bad so I was quite skeptical, but my dog (jack russell terrier) would bark at the rays of sunlight coming into the house, so I was desperate.
The most important thing to remember when buying a product like this is that there aren't many things that are both great and easy. When you buy treats for dog to train him, do you simply leave the treats out all the time. No. Because he would never figure out that the treats were a reward for doing what you wanted him to. It's the same thing with the bark stop.
The first thing you should do with this device is put it to the audible setting and then test and see what makes the bark stop actually go off. I found that doors shutting hard, clanging dishes, etc all set it off. So, if the device goes off every 5 seconds, the dog isn't going to think for a second that it's going off because he's barking. He's going to assume that it's a uncontrollable sound that he has to live with.
So after putting the device back into the ultrasonic sound setting, I decided that I would only plug the device in when the dog was barking or when he was in his cage. Also, I never leave the device plugged in when I'm doing dishes slamming doors, or doing loud things. So the dog only hears the device when he barks. I realize that this might be a slight annoyance to walk on egg shells in order to make sure the device works, but I would rather do that than have a barking dog. The way I look at it, is I wouldn't just randoming throw my dog treats in the middle of his training, so why leave it plugged in all the time.
In the end, the first time I plugged in the bark stop, I let the dog bark it out. He barked for about 5 minutes (normally 10-15) and then stopped. The second time I plugged it in, he didn't bark more than twice. The bark stop puts out a ultrasonic beep when you plug it in, so I think that now he knows when he's going to hear more than he wants to. I think that the dog has now gotten more used to it, and will try to out bark it, but for the most part, he doesn't bark much at all while it's on, if he barks at all. The one thing that the manual does say is that if the dog is trying to protect the house, usually this device won't help, which I think is a good thing.
Cons:
When I was testing the microphone (used for taking in the bark loudness) on the device, it didn't seem to matter if the microphone was on high or low. Also, this device would be so much more useful if it came with a remote to turn on or off, not to manage each bark, but to simply be able to sit at the couch and click it on, or to click it off.
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It appears that the Viatek product (Bark Stop Pro) is related to the Lentek design (PC16 ; ASIN: B0002Q89O6) they are based on a common design by a Lentek engineer. I have used (tried) the Viatek Bark Stop Pro and it definitely DOES NOT work. My experience was the same as another reviewer of the Lentek PC16 who noted that the unit only works on the "Audible" setting dogs will at least perk up their ears at the high pitch tone ; they completely ignore whatever is emitted on the "Ultrasonic" setting. Furthermore, it is often activated by extraneous noises like birds, banging doors, wind noise, etc.
This really poor functionality is due to either poor design or poor construction / quality. I've tried two different units and they both do NOT work.
The negative reenforcement concept could work if only these devices were tuned to the noise environment and could filter out all except the actual barks.
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The microphone on this is sensitive, as mentioned by other reviewers. But when we used it, the dog would get a few barks out, then let out a frustrated grumble before stopping completely. She figured out when her barking triggered it, and it worked to stop her nuisance barking.
I recommend putting it AWAY from the tv/radio or areas that you sit and talk. That will lessen the false alarms.
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Could not adjust sensitivity low enough. Put a coffee cup down on the counter and it goes off. Blow your nose in the room, goes off. Would not recommend this for anyone. If I could have rated it as a "0", I would have.
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This is an excellent training product and is not cruel. I fitted it to my arm and jerked on it as hard as I use it on the dog. It was uncomfortable, but not painful. The prongs are not sharp. It has been very effective with my lab puppy who has been pulling very hard on his leash to the point that he would gag and cough. After one walk with this collar his pulling behavior was completely eliminated.
