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One day one big dog found a way around its bark collar. It’s Magnus, Sandy big St. Bernard who frequently yelled at any animal he could see outside the front gate. It sounded like he owned the street, and every other dog that he could see was violating Magnus’ right.

So for this problem Sandy purchased a bark collar, to instill some needed big dog discipline. It did work, actually, for an entire week. Then Magnus’ barking, though a slightly different bark this time, was back. Turns out Magnus has gotten used to the stimulation intensity of the shock the collar delivered. The collar would release a static correction upon a bark, and would continue to do so, one buzz followed by another, when the barking continued.

The big dog found a way, releasing a low whooping kind of bark, and then pausing - because shock collars can continue buzzing until the dog stopped barking. Sandy thinks it’s a way to momentarily shake off the collar, which has sensor nodes that touch Magnus’ throat’s skin. Then after one whooping bark Magnus would pause, and then give out another same bark, over and over.

The intensity setting on the collar had to be increased since the big dog was tough, and Sandy did just that - spiking it up just right. She also adjusted the collar, so it wouldn’t have enough slack to slide around. That stopped Magnus from barking. The collar’s nodes he could not shake off. With the nodes of the collar touching Magnus’ neck’s skin, the activation of the collar could not be momentarily shrugged off, like before.

Magnus was not happy about this - you can see it on his face. Once he tried to throw a whooping bark, he ended up with an odd, funny look on his face. The dog looked startled, but tried again to bark. Another funny look on his face. As the weeks wore on, he wasn’t barking. Sandy showered Magnus with attention right after he showed signs of avoiding his big barks - which Magnus probably loved, too. He was back to being a big happy dog, but without a big barking problem.

If you have a stubborn as hell big dog who barks, disregarding his bark collar, you must be intrigued by what Sandy did. When Magnus tried to bark, Sandy watched closely. She made some adjustments and observed how those adjustments affected her dog’s barking.

What did Sandy learn from all this? Here’s a summary. You should figure out, through trial and error, which intensity settings work for your dog. The collar must not be hanging loose around your dog’s neck. Think about trying a different kind of bark collar, one with spray as stimulus. Always feel free to consult your vet about this matter.

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