No more barking!!!!

So many of you saw my photo upload of a product I purchased about a week ago called the PetSafe Outdoor Ultrasonic Bark Deterrent. This purchase came after about 6 weeks of non-stop barking every time we walked into our backyard. Lucky for us the wonderful home we purchased in early May is surrounded by five dogs by the bordering three backyards.

Now, Dog #1's not so bad. He doesn't bark too much, only when David is weed eating, which I assume is normal. Other than eating straight through the boards on our bordering fence (seriously), he's a pretty chill dog. 

Dog #2 is the loudest barker. He makes the fence shake when he rams up against it, and reminds me of the dog in Sandlot. Pretty terrifying, never felt safer behind a fence. 

Dogs #3-5 are all in the last backyard. There are two pit bulls and what looks like a Jack Russell terrier. They make for a fun barking adventure because once one barks, they all bark, growl, and fight each other.  Definitely the biggest obstacle to peace in the backyard. 

So I tried to talk nicely and peek through the cracks to try to build a good relationship with the dogs. Hah, you can imagine how that worked (it didn't). Then a friend suggested to throw dog treats over the fence when they start barking to ward off aggression. Knowing my luck they'd be on some special diet and the dog treat I'd give them would have gluten in it or something and our new neighbors (who we are simultaneously trying to build a good relationship with) would sue us and we'd have to sell the beautiful home we just purchased.

That was not gonna work.

So what did I do next? Check the internet. 

I know that there were "clicking devices" on the market for training dogs, but that didn't seem like it was going to work, so I hoped that there were other homeowners out there who had been through the same thing. 

That's when I stumbled upon this birdhouse looking thing that I ended up purchasing. 

I read as many reviews as I could tolerate about the product, and I felt like it was 50/50. Either people love the product and it worked amazingly, or said it didn't work and ended up returning the product. 

Well, if I have five dogs in my backyard, I figured that if it calmed down two or three, it would be worth the money. 

Here's the review: I purchased the bark deterrent for about $60 bucks at a pet store. I know I could have bought it cheaper online, but I wanted the opportunity to return it if necessary. I hung it up on a tree facing two of the fence lines (dogs #2-5) on Saturday afternoon. 

The first two days were silent. I heard no dog barking...but I didn't see any dogs either. I'm thinking that it was just too hot and they weren't around anyways. 

But over the last week, the results have been dramatic. DRAMATIC. The first few times I went outside and the bogs started barking, they barked a few times and then their barks tapered off, (almost questioning sounding?) and then stopped altogether. And I can see them standing near the fence, so I know they haven't run away. Dog #2 still barks, but if I turn the birdhouse to face him, he backs off. Dogs #3-5 growling at each other has stopped as well. 

I've almost felt that it's worked too well. But so far, so good.

I would say (for the bottom line people) that there has been an 80% reduction of barking from the dogs. How's it work? It emits an ultrasonic sound when it hears a repetitive bark is up to a 50 foot radius. It takes a 9V battery that it says needs to be replaced about every two months. 

Minor caveats: It warns that it won't work on dogs with hearing loss (umm...duh?) and users say it doesn't work as well for floppy-eared dogs. And you can't use it inside, you'll have to stick to the Thundershirt. Sorry.

Altogether, I would rate this product 5 of 5 stars. It is safe for the dogs (which I wanted) and can be used for your own dogs or on neighbor's dogs. It also looks like a birdhouse, so it's inconspicuous in case a neighbor freaks out and doesn't know why their dogs aren't barking.

I think it's ingenious an has been totally worth the money. 

So if you've been dealing with dogs barking too much, I'd say it's worth a try. Go for it. See the link at the top (product name) for more information. Hope you're just as happy with it as I am!

Post any questions or responses here, I'd love to answer your questions!