my dad has one of those elctric shock collars for his gsd bitch who is very aggressive. he rescued her of an alcoholic who he knew of through running a pub. she had always had to protect her very drunk and abusive owner so was one very screwed up dog. he has been on loads of training courses they have had dog behaviourists and dog psychologists the lot, i dont know the whole story but eventually my dad paid for some private sessions with some bloke who followed my dad round on walks and had the controls of the shock collar as she was lungeing at dogs, coloured people, old men and all sorts. she responded very well to the shock collar and it cost my dad a fortune for all of the things he did over 2 years. she has recently started getting worse again adn he is using it on his own now how the expert trained him to. i wouldnt on principal agree with this kind of thing and cant imagine putting one on max but it worked if only temporarily for my dad so i dont know.....................

Think the most important thing an owner can have to help with the training of an animal, is a sense of timing, get that wrong and you are wasting your time as the animal will not understand what it is you are wanting and just decide that it was their poor luck to be owned by either a jabbering idiot or a bad tempered one.

Providing that you are able to get the timing right then the use of any aid such as a clicker or spray collar will help speed the training or get you over a difficulty, but I can’t see why anyone would need to use a shock collar, if it is used as a punishment that has now been proved to be counter productive, and if to get attention then a spray collar or a whistle would be a much better and successful solution.

The years when clever people trained their dogs and the rest beat them into submission have long since past, thank goodness, and I think everyone except those who live 50 years in the past will accept that reward methods are the only ones that work in the way the modern dog owner requires.

Sorry it took so long to reply...
I do understand my dog.He barks through excitement and thats not unusual with a vocal breed such as elkies.He doesn't bark at home unless someone knocks on the door.
If you read my other post you will see what other training methods I have tried ...maybe you can suggest another cos I've come down to an option of 2....1/ n anti bark spray collar or 2/ let him continue to drive me to distraction in the car( a dog barking loudly for up to 2 hours in a car is not pleasent)and end up having a possible acident.

I would give the aboistop a try archer, the masterplus is better for all round use, but if you are driving, you dont want to be pressing buttons on a remote, so the aboistop might be better

Can a dog behavourist help?

yes that sounds like a good idea.
Archer could pay a behaviourist to sit in the car with her while shes driving and teach the dog not to bark

(sorry couldnt resist ops: ops: )

I think the spray collar would be easiest (and cheapest) option

Rocky....a behaviourist cannot stop him getting excited.The usual route is to take the dog on 'dummy 'trips ...just go out for a drive with the dog and then go home ...no walk.Tried it ,...doesn't work!
CBT....thanks will do.

Done that CBT...hubby drove ...I sat in the back of the car....tried reward based training(gave command quiet...when quiet treated etc etc...as soo as the treats stopped the barking started!!!!.)Tried a water pistol....he got wet !!!!

[quote="Archer"] I don't like any sort of collars, you are training a dog to respond to a collar not you or permanant conditions .
BARKING IN CARS . Things to try. There are two main reasons for a dog to barking a car, fear/anxiety or excitement/anticipation. To begin with get the dog used to going in the car so it is no big deal, a familiar place. As long as the weather is not too hot or cold feed/walk the dog then put it in the car for twenty minutes or so, longer if it falls asleep, if you are working outside in the garden where you can be seen that is good too, do this often, if the dog is fed and walked it will probably go to sleep but does not go anywhere. You can sit in the car as well if you like and read or whatever.. ( I do this with young dogs anyway to routinely get them used to cars as part of their preparation for car travel ) Having done this next you need a bit if time, a newspaper, some ear plugs and a quiet road. Drive off and as soon as the dog starts barking stop the car ignore the dog and read the paper or listen to the radio. When the dog stops barking drive off when it barks stop the car. A crate and blanket can be used to effect with some difficult dogs, replicate the same conditions used in the familiarisation period ie. if you used a crate then do so again. I have trained a number of dogs in no time with this method.

Mini I have tried!!!!!! But a dog that barks CONSTANTLY in a car for 1 1/2 hrs + isn't easily 'put off'.
As soon as he gets in the car he barks...tried sitting in the car with him on the drive and he barks till the neighbours complain.Also tried the stop start method...I'm afraid after about 45 minutes with no improvement I gave up on that too.
This dog was 'vocal' from birth...I used to hear him in the background when on the phone to his breeder!!!!!!
I'm not a novice owner and when I say I've tried everything I mean everything!