Shock Collars For Dogs: The Complete Buying Guide

Training and disciplining a dog may not be as easy as telling it to fetch or to roll over. The mastery of a trick may be elusive due to a number of factors affecting it. Not all dogs are the same, and being owner and trainer would probably requires extra effort, patience and perseverance. It might be a struggle for a regular family to train a dog, while calling in a canine professional can be expensive. And thanks to technology, dog experts were able to apply what they know through years of training into devices that are available to ordinary families nowadays, and dog shock collars are definitely great addition to dog owners for correcting different dog behaviors.

How dog shock collar works?

Dog shock collar was used in the 60s to train dogs and is treated as a deterrent to train negative or unsafe behavior out of a dog, from excessive barking to food aggression and others. Like the conditioning Ivan Pavlov has done to his dog (read more about Ivan Pavlov's test here: http://www.simplypsychology.org/pavlov.html), the use of a shock collar is to associate unwanted behavior with uncomfortable shock to minimize negative behaviors in long run. Some runs automatically while others are designed for dog owners to apply manual training. 

What to look for in barking collars?

Finding the perfect dog training collar is important, since they come in a variety of kinds and features. One devise that is safe for one breed and size may not be safe for other breeds and sizes. And with safety in mind, here are some functions that we suggest you to look into:

• Adjustable settings: Shock collars send electric shock through the collar whenever the dog barks at a loud volumn. It’s advised to look for one with adjustable settings that owner can use to determine the volumn that is acceptable

• Warning system: Some shock collars will administer a beep and / or a vibration as a warning before an actual shock is delivered to your dog. This allows you to give a verbal command with the warning to further disrupt the unwanted behavior

• Tracking software: The more advanced version tracks the number of corrections needed to substantially reduce or eliminate the number of nuisance barks. It comes with different correction levels where intensity will increase with each successive bark until the barking stops. Since dog comes in different level of temperament, this progressive system will customize the level of intensity for different dogs and it will help to avoid “over-correction” too.

• Safety Measure: Anti-bark collar is used to train good behavior instead of to punish your lovely friends, so do look for one that comes with safety measure. Safety feature functions differently for different brands, but in general, what it does is to stop the ‘warning’ if your dog barks for prolonged period even after shocked each time they bark.

Shock Collars For Dogs At A Glance

Before we dive into reviewing the numerous products in detail, we think it’s good to give you an overview of the quality level of each of the brands so that you can shortlist a few to read further.

PetSafe Yard & Park Rechargeable Static Remote Trainer

You can now train your dog even if it is not wearing a leash. The yard and park rechargeable static remote trainer comes with a collar and a remote control with a dial for setting the static unit level. It is available to train dogs and to replace the standard leash that causes choking and tugging of your pets. You are guaranteed that your dog will not wander away even if it is free to roam around.

The Yard and Park Remote Trainer is one of the top choices of experts to use when training a dog. The collar has 8 levels of static correction and doesn’t weigh much, making it the perfect fit for your training needs. It works perfectly in a maximum range of up to 400 yards so even if you are far from your dogs, you can still signal them not to go any further as part of training and disciplining them. The collar as well as the remote controller are both rechargeable and pet owners just need to plug it in and charge it before any training. The yard and park remote trainer comes loaded with a host of good features which are as follows:

- The trainer is tailor-made for dogs the size of 8 pounds and above

- Range of up to 400 yards

- 8 adjustable levels of static correction to suit your dog’s response stimuli

- One tone technology that signal pets with only just a beep

- You can add additional collar if you are training 2 dogs simultaneously

Success rate for Yard and Park Remote Trainer is high and experts suggest to get this kind of unit since it delivers good results in the change of behavior of your pets. Availability for this one will promote a better training and discipline to your dogs and they will learn immediately to behave well and respond properly with the help of this devise.

People with dogs simply love this dog trainer since in enables them to discipline their dog and control their behavior. A lot of them appreciate the fact that it comes with a remote for them to be able to take part in the control. Users consider this model to be very useful and helpful for them and they have been using them during their hikes just to make sure that their dogs would not go very far from them.

The only downside of this collar that I can think of is it comes with black color only, and if you want an equipment with style, you may have to choose something else.

PetSafe Elite Big / Little Dog Bark Control

PetSafe Elite Bark Control is very well suited for both big and small dogs as incessant barking is not limited to just one size of dogs. And on that note, it is important to make sure of an effective and harmless bark control device. This collar has brought great success to trainers and families who used them for their dogs since they use a patented Perfect Bark technology to ensure only your dog’s bark triggers the correction. With that in place, other noises don’t affect the functioning of the collar. When your dog barks, he receives a safe but annoying static correction which gets the dog to stop. The collar starts out with low corrections but if the barking persists, then the power level increases in a bid to reach the optimum static correction point.

This trainer is easy to set up and easy to operate. What we like most about the PetSafe are:

- 10 adjustable levels of static correction for you to choose from in order to deliver success in training

- In-built automatic 80 second safety shut-off mechanism

- Affordable pricing

- Lightweight and provides comfortable feel around the necks of your pets

- LED indicator to signal the need for battery change

The down side of this collar is that it is not rechargeable, so this would require you to invest extra on batteries. You might also have to pay attention to the coat of your pets because it may affect the functionality of this training collar. When coats are long, it would fail to deliver signal to your pet’s integument.

All in all, PetSafe Elite is a good equipment to discipline your pets hands-free. Pet owners are choosing it over other brands because of the ease to use and the peace of mind this system is offering.

Dogtra IQ No Bark Collar

Another great collar available in the market today is the Dogtra IQ Bark Collar. It comes in a variety of colors (black, blue, pink and purple) and is designed to have a great fit around the necks of your dogs during training and attaining discipline. The Dogtra IQ no bark collar is a part of the IQ pet brand of Dogtra and it helps to reduce or totally eliminate the excess and annoying barking of dogs without inducing any harm. It makes use of a great dog-friendly learning vibration system that vibrates before correction occurs and it helps the dog to note when they are about to get corrected. The collar has conductive plastic contacts which is great for dogs with skin sensitivity. The collar has a removable strap, making cleaning and customizing super easy. It is adjustable from 8” to 18” and can fir small to big dogs.

Dogtra IQ No Bark Collar is great for the more adventurous families and dog trainers since it is waterproof. The plastic collar is very powerful in conducting 10 levels of shock that is safe and a vibration-only mode depending on how you want to use it for your pet. Here are other highlights of the collar:

- Good to fit a lot of breeds and sizes of dogs, including extra large dogs

- Replaceable coin Lithium battery included has extra-long battery life, and it lasts for almost six months

- Simple operation and very easy to handle and work with

- Lightweight and comfortable to wear and is fully waterproof

- Conductive plastic contact points to avoid skin sensitivity

Dogtra YS-500 Yapper Stopper

Here is another model good for medium-sized or even large breeds. Dogtra Yapper Stopper is automatic and immediately works upon the vibration of your dog’s vocal cords through the use of an advanced sensor technology. It is a completely harmless device to help your dog to accustom to the stimulations and so to cease the never-ending barking. The collar comes with seven intensity levels and you can find the lowest level that works for your dog and avoid inducing any adverse reaction. Other key features to highlights are:

- Rechargeable battery so that you don’t have to buy new ones every time the battery runs out

- LED battery indicator that keep track of battery life

- Waterproof and durable

- Intensity dial that controls the on/off button

However, pet owners may have to pay attention to the weight of this collar since it is of 7.5 ounces, meaning it will be too heavy for small dogs.

SportDOG 10R NoBark Rechargeable Bark Control Collar

Living up with the name of the brand, SportDog collars have made waves in the lives of experts and dog trainers and are designed for the more active dog groups. This dog training collar comes in 10 levels and is automatic and easy to use. It delivers a strong yet safe shock and your dog will be able to learn discipline without having a lot of hard times. If you are an active person and your dog as well, you should get the SportDog brand because it has the ability to withstand of up to 25ft deep in the water and it is made to last with durability and strength handle vigorous and heavy activities.

Key features:

- Patented perfect bark sensor system with 10 levels of stimulations that send small and harmless static pulse each time your dog barks

- Fully automated and will set itself the correct intensity level for your dog

- Rechargeable battery

- Waterproof up to 25ft

Some people find SportDog too strong for their dog, so if you are only finding a device to solve mild problem, the SportDog maybe too strong for you. However, if you are looking for something that’s going to work, you will surely love this collar since it has an intuitive ability of controlling your pets. Once your dogs have learned not to bark, the device itself knows how to operate and reduces its static level down.

SportDOG Brand FieldTrainer SD-425

SportDog Brand FieldTrainer is manufactured using the company’s most advanced technology it has ever developed and packaging it in a portable and modern system at a very affordable price. The device is ideal for training in the yard, open field or for those working closely with hunting dogs and you can do a lot with training for your dogs if you have the freedom of 500-yard range. Another great thing about this collar is you are able to add up to 2 more collars and control them simultaneously. This would save you more time as the owner and trainer of your pets.

The transmitter for the SportDog trainer is great and strong and provides up to 7 levels of setting in order to ensure a designed delivery of shock to your pets. It is made waterproof and can be used for up to 25 ft. If you have a dog that weighs at least 8lbs, then this is the perfect training collar. It is strong enough to send signals to your pets that is safe in nature.

Summary of Key features:

- 7 levels of stimulation which can be adjusted by the owner

- The transmitter and receiver can send signals to each other as far as 500 yards, which is very ideal for training dogs out in the field or in the woods

- It can be extended to up to 3 dogs at once, which is possible by just adding an extra collar

- Long battery life: the Li-ion battery has a life of 2 to 4 days depending on the length of trainings, and can be recharged under 2 hours

- LED indicator when battery level is low

- Water proof up to 25 feet

Dog experts and trainers prefer this type of collar since they have the anticipation during the training compared to the automatic ones that are available. The downside for this one is you need to know how to control the device itself for you to ensure that you are manipulating it properly with ease and correctness.

Bark Solution Bark Dog Collar Training System

The great thing about having Bark Solution is it would make sure that you would put a stop to the excessive barking of your dogs. The collar is very easy to use and it is perfect for heavier dogs with the weight of 15lbs or above. The 7 levels of shock control are powered by one 6-volt battery.

A lot of good reviews were made regarding the automatic collar system that is designed by experts. I would recommend getting one if you are new to dog shock collar since this version is one of the most affordable among the bunch. The down side though, is that this collar is not suitable for small dogs, and is only used to correct excessive barking but not other misbehaviors.

Garmin Bark Limiter Deluxe Collar

The Garmin Bark Limiter is one of the best you can get out in the market. A great way for improving or teaching a behavior is to signal the intellect of a specific organism. Having the dog as one of the most intelligent animals in the whole world, signals felt by them would tell and teach them what to do and how to behave. It is through their nervous systems that controls them apart from the reaction to other parts of their body. You will love this training device as well as the dog trainers who invented this one. It gives you exclusive technology to control the barking of your dogs and the signal that it gives to your dog is automatically distinguished and controlled by the devise itself.

The best I like about Garmin Bark Limiter is “Bark Odometer” which counts the number of times that your dogs bark. With the odometer itself, it has the intuitive technology of delivering a right response in terms of a safe shock to your dogs. Also, it doesn’t matter what dog breed you have and the quality of the coats of your dogs, the device responds properly. This will ensure a delivery of shock since it is engineered by stainless steel that has been integrated with great and responsive contact points. The alternate correction mode is there for you to use either with vibration or manually. It is up to you on how you would like to set the control for this one since it ensures a trainer or an owner that the delivered shock to pets are appropriate and safe.

Families and dog owners simply love this one because it is very effective and responsive from the time they place this around the necks of their pets. They noticed that their dogs have been behaving really well and displaying a different mood and behavior the moment they let them wear it. Families would like to invest a good amount of money for each of their pets to make sure that they are all behaving really well.

Final Words

It is essential to place in our minds that these collars are not devices to torture pets but are invented to facilitate a good return and a change of behavior. The proper use of the devices are the responsibility of pet owners, and we have to make sure proper usage by following instructions clearly, and by observing how our pets response once these collars are in place.

Finding the perfect dog training collar is easy and this will guarantee you the improvement of your dog training skills even without any hired dog trainers. Though dog training collars are not cheap, they are effective to train good behavior of dogs. Whether it is for the home or outdoors, choosing the right one is the best move you can do as a dog owner.

re new to dog shock collar since this version is one of the most affordable among the bunch. The down side though, is that this collar is not suitable for small dogs, and is only used to correct excessive barking but not other misbehaviors.