A barking dog can be quite a nuisance, disturbing and startling pedestrians and children. Keeping neighbors awake at night is also a big no-no. Most housing development have rules specific to dogs and barking. Breaking the rules can result in fines. The barking can be irritating, even for the dog's loving owner. Barking collars can be a cure for wayward animals in need of consistent and humane correction. Before you start a barking collar treatment, make sure you understand why your dog is barking.

Several things can be at fault with a barking dog. If an area is fenced off, but with a clear view of annoyances, like loud cars and noisy kids, he will inevitably bark. If you have a neighbor who regularly walks by, and perpetually yells at or scares the dog, things will only get worse. In this case, talk to the neighbor and ask him to treat the dog properly. Try fencing off the area of the yard that irritates him so much. If he can't see it, he may calm down. Socialize your dog. Places like, Petco, PetSmart, Home Depot and Lowes allow well behaved leashed animals to shop with their owners. When possible expose your dog to loud noises , traffic noise. While exposing your dog to these new things remain calm and act unconcerned. The dog will take his response queues from you.

Other causes of the overly vocal canine can be hunger, thirst, excessive heat or cold. Dogs need food, water, and during extreme weather, a cozy indoor spot. They can bark to no end for any of these reasons. Most importantly your dog needs time you the owner. Even if it is 15 minutes playing ball.  If you've checked all of the above possibilities, barking collars may be your last resort.

There are barking collars that some may consider humane or inhumane, but for the sake of information we'll tell you about all of them. Most collars are designed to trigger based on the dogs vocal cords vibrations. The advantage is they are a consistent consequence for the dogs barking. The disadvantage is most dogs become collar wise and it does not address the cause of why the dog barks.

Spray barking collars are very popular. It has a device in the front, directly beneath the dogs' chin. When he barks, an unpleasant smelling spray is emitted, usually citronella. Dogs don't like a spray in their noses, and the sound may also startle him. This treatment is not painful, and is considered by most to be humane.

Choke barking collars may be scary for your dog, but is supposed to be completely safe. When the dog barks, the collar automatically constricts, in a choking action. It has a sensor that detects the correct width at which to close. Bruising is unusual, but not impossible. The problem with these barking collars is that they have, in rare cases, malfunctioned and choked the dog to death. They are rarely found in pet supply stores.

Shock barking collars are  commonly used. There is an ongoing debate on electric collars because improperly used, they can be cruel and inhumane. They are a consistent measured correction and when used properly very effective. There are several types available specifically for barking. One type of bark collar that is commonly found delivers a short prickling sensation to the dog when he barks repeatedly in a short period of time. Another type of electric bark collar is one that will give a very small electric pulse at first then with repeated barking the device will automatically increase in intensity. 

Tone bark collars emit a silent or in some cases loud noise to startle the dog when it barks long enough to trip the device. There are versions of this device that can be mounted outside or just placed in the area.

Remember, no one likes a barking dog. It's only natural for dogs to bark, so don't punish him for it, just correct the behavior.  If you do use a bark collar take it off when the dog is crated or kenneled for the evening. Most collars warn owners not to leave the collar on for more than 24 hours.