Does Bark Collar Work for Whining?

A lot of dog owners will scourer the pet product market looking for anything to stop their dog from whining. In doing so, they often come across an anti-bark collar and think it will be up for the task. However, what they don’t realize is they might be wasting their money.

As you can see from our bark collar-buying guide, there are plenty of high-quality bark collars ready to stop obsessive barking. But, what dog owners don’t realize is the vibration of your dog’s vocal chords activates most of these devices.

Due to this, it’s a particular sound level that causes the devices reactions. Therefore, the whining/growing doesn’t emit enough vibration for the bark collar to activate. Essentially, the collar becomes useless against the very issue you sought to fix.

However, all hope isn’t lost. Remember, I said, “most.” See, some anti-barking collars can help curb your dog’s whining. Most likely, the bark collar you’re looking for will be a spray bark collar because they don’t rely on a specific vibration to send the deterrent.

Disclaimer: Not even spray bark collars are going to be completely effective against whining. After all, it’s not the primary purpose. It’s essential you realize this because companies will insist their product can curb every dog’s whining when they can’t.

Spray Bark Collars

Specific spray collars are sound activated, which means that you can adjust the sensitivity of the collar to activate toward lower level sounds such as whining. In other words, they don’t react to the vocal cords moving but rather to the sound that vocal cords emit.

Otherwise, how these collars work is pretty self-explanatory: when a sound activates the collar, it sprays the dog in the face with a deterrent. In a sense, it’s supposed to make your dog associate annoying behaviors like whining or barking with getting sprayed in the face.

Concerning the spray inside these collars, it’s usually some substance like citronella, water, or lemon juice. Regardless, none of the substances used inside these spray collars are harmful to dogs.

But some of these spray models aren’t very effective on stubborn dogs. And some tend to activate accidentally. For example, if another barking dog is in the same area, it could set off the collar and cause your dog to get sprayed in the face.

If this does happen to your dog, it could get them confused about what sets off the spray. Therefore, it would end up setting your dog back in their training by undermining the association that’s supposed to form between the spray and the whining.

Due to this, it’s essential you find a top-notch bark spray collar. In most cases, these collars are the ones I’d recommend for curbing whining. And luckily inside our best bark collar guide, we have the perfect option for you!

Of course, if you’re not comfortable with using a spray bark collar or it’s infective, there are other ways to stop your dog from continually whining. Below, we’ll give you some tips on how to get your dog’s whining under control.

Tip 1: Ignore Them

In most cases, the reason your dog’s whining is to get your attention. I mean, any dog owner’s going to feel bad and look toward their whining dog. However, giving your dog attention enforces that whining gets them what they want.

So, if your dog starts whining, get up and move away from them. This action will make your dog understand that whining doesn’t gain them your attention. In fact, it does the opposite.

At first, you leaving will only make the whining get louder. In other words, it’s going to be torture for you, but if you want this behavior stopped, you need to power through.

After a while, your dog will learn that whining doesn’t work and resort to other attention-getting tactics. Hopefully, these tactics will be less annoying!

Tip 2: Praise Calm Behavior

As we all know, dogs are prone to whine in excitable situations. Most likely, it’s because they have a lot of excess energy and want to play or get going on their walk.

But if you notice your dog’s calm in an excitable situation, for instance, a guest comes into your house, give them a treat or praise them. By giving them a reward in this situation, you’re enforcing to them the correct behavior, while curbing an unwanted one.

Due to this, you must find your dog’s favorite treat and start using it against their annoying behavior. Honestly, it’s such a simple solution to a very irritating problem. So, please find a tasty treat and get that whining under control.

And if you find yourself without a treat, a simple “Good boy/girl” should do the trick. After all, it’s about finding a way to encourage a whine-free environment.

Tip 3: Resist Yelling

As a dog owner myself, I know how easy it’s to fall for the temptation of yelling at your whining dog. I mean, doesn’t it always seem like they start to whine at the worst possible time?

But regardless, you must resist this urge. See, yelling is giving your dog what they want: your attention. It probably seems weird that yelling would be a thing your dog wants, but it’s called negative reinforcement.

In fact, if your dog’s whining is caused by anxiety, yelling will only increase the amount of whining. Honestly, yelling at your dog is never the solution; so, resist the urge as much as humanly possible.

Tip 4: Get Your Dog to Sit

Of course, there are situations where we must acknowledge our dog’s whining. In these scenarios, a quick way to diffuse their whining is by getting them into a sitting position.

After getting your dog to sit, give them a treat. In doing so, you’re reinforcing a calm environment, while also associating sitting with being a reward worth behavior. It’s a little trick to both curb your dog’s whining and further their training.

Conclusion

In the end, a spray bark collar could help stop your dog’s whining, but the best, most efficient ways are by using positive reinforcement. With the four tips above, you shouldn’t have any problem getting your dog’s whining to stop.

And if you do find yourself continuing to struggle with your dog’s whining, you could always come back to the spray collar recommended in our buying guide. But as any bark collar should be, it’s a last resort meant for extreme cases.