SportDOG No Bark Collar SBC-R

I apologize in advance for the long review. Just scroll to the summary at the bottom for a much quicker read.I originally bought this collar for my dog about four years ago. I would like to establish that we have an extremely vocal dog, and we did not simply choose to use such a collar because it's easier than other methods. We would have to find a new home for the dog if it wasn't for this collar. He barks at EVERYTHING, including, but not limited to, birds, people walking by, cars, other animals, the wind, to express sadness, to express happiness, to express excitement, to express disapproval, to play. I think you get the idea. When we take him to the dog park, he is the only dog barking and he barks non-stop the entire time we are there. We have tried everything we could think of to train him not to bark and it is just not possible.This collar is the ONLY thing that will get him to shut up. It does work, but not 100 percent of the time. When we first put the collar on him, we used the progressive setting, which starts at a vibration and gets harsher with consecutive barks. He would push through the first three or four barks, eventually stopping when it got too much for him. Afterwards, he would remain pretty quiet for the rest of the day. We eventually changed the setting to the mode in which the collar learns what it takes to get him to stop and starts at that mode the next time he barks. This mode seemed to work better for us, and he only needed to bark once or twice before he figured out that he needed to keep quiet. He never quite understood that the collar does this and he tests his ability to bark almost every morning when we let him out. If we forget to put the collar on or don't put it on tightly enough, we can rest assured that we will get texts from our neighbor with a complaint about his barking (it has already happened at least four times in the past six months). The collar is a bit of a hassle in that it should be taken off and put back on every day. We usually take it off in the evening when we have him in the house and we put it on when we let him out in the morning.The collar that I bought for my dog four years ago worked well for about three years. Over that time, it endured quite a bit, but worked fine. We simply charged it about once every one to two weeks and it did what it was supposed to do most of the time. (I must note that the collar needs to be positioned just right and must be tight enough to work. If you don't put it on right or if it shifts, it will not work. The two mental prongs work best if they are snug to the base of his throat nearest his vocal chords.) After three years, it seemed much less effective, like it wasn't holding a charge well. We figured the cost was worth it to spend for peace and quiet, even if we need to repurchase every three years. We purchased the exact same collar since we already knew that it worked. That was about 5 months ago and the new collar is still going strong.SummaryPros:-Works well to stop barking-Rechargeable-Different settings-Durable/waterproof-Uses both sound and vibration to detect barking which prevents shocking the dog for movement or other dog barking (cheaper collars I have seen use only vibration and could shock the dog while he is quietly playing)Cons: (I knew of most of these before I purchased, so nothing was major enough for me to deduct a star)-Must be put on and taken off of dog every day-Must be snug and positioned just right for it to work-Potentially uncomfortable/painful for the dog-Stopped working well/holding a charge after about three years-Price (Much more expensive than other collars, but worth it in my opinion)

I wish I could give this thing 100 stars.We have an almost-8-year old Wheaten Terrier. If she knows you, she'll lick you to death. But if you're a delivery person, a dog she finds particularly uncool for any reason, a "suspicious looking" child with a backpack walking to the bus stop, or anything else she feels like barking at - look out. She'll go bananas. She turns into Cujo. But not anymore, thanks to this miracle device! I don't know how or why we waited this long to try a bark collar, and going forward, I will never NOT use one on a dog with problematic barking. It'll sounds like I'm exaggerating, but I promise you I'm not - this collar transformed our dog, but only in the ways that needed transforming.We have an electric fence at home, so our pup is no stranger to shock collars, and I assumed she'd figure out this bark collar just as quickly as she figured out her fence collar. Welp, I was wrong. It was quicker! One time with the mailman is all it took. Like the instructions say, I was outside with her for the first time, and I decided to use the mode that ramps up in intensity until the barking stops. The mailman showed up, we went outside, and Cujo...err, I mean, Gracie...did her thing. Except this time after a few barks, I heard her squeal and sorta run away (exactly how she reacts to the beep on her fence collar). Another bark, another squeal, a couple steps taken back. Another bark, one more squeal, and now she's sitting in the yard watching me talk to the mailman. Ordinarily, she'd be racing up and down the fence line barking herself hoarse. I had to do a double-take to see if it was actually my dog sitting there quietly, and I think it was! By the time I finished up with the mailman, I turned around to find Gracie waiting at the door for me. Holy hell, what just happened? I have to say, for the rest of that first afternoon, she was a little confused and timid to go back outside. But she never barked as long as that collar was on, and we had 2 delivery people come to the door - and I didn't need to do or say anything to keep her quiet. She just laid there, as if the delivery people weren't even there. Since then, sometimes I use the collar on her, sometimes I just SHOW it to her when I want her to be quiet - that's how good this thing does its job. Delivery people sometimes ask if we got rid of the dog, because they no longer hear or see her! Not only did the collar stop her barking, but it also stopped her frantic/jumping/freak out (i.e. typical Wheaten) behavior. She still barks sometimes when she's not wearing the collar, and she's allowed to do that. She still plays and runs around like she used to, too. But now she knows there are certain times to be calm and quiet, and she's an A+ student.We use it on walks, and that stopped the need for us to cross the street, or wait patiently, or take a wide berth around some trees when another dog approached. We use it any time we want her to be quiet - when delivery people come, when our daughter is napping, out in the yard if "annoying" dogs walk past our house, etc. I'm flat out ASTONISHED at how quickly and how well this collar has worked. And I may be dreaming, but I think that since we started using the collar a few weeks ago, Gracie's behavior and responsiveness to me when she's not wearing the collar has improved.It's without a doubt the best $90 I've spent on the pup, and possibly the best $90 I've ever spent.

We bought this collar for our 15 month old Lab who tends to bark and whine for attention when everyone in the house is busy with other more important thing than playing with the dog. I originally bought the Petsafe version of the same collar, which by the way, is the exact same collar and is made by the same manufacturer. The Sportdog version performs much better. The Petsafe one didn't work consistently. It would give her a correction when she barked once and then the next time she barked she wouldnt get the correction until after 5 or 6 barks and sometimes no correction at all. With the Sportdog version the correction that is given is very consistent, usually after one or two loud barks. The collar has 3 correction modes. I've been using the first setting which seems to work best for my dog. The correction that is given doesn't actually shock her, just gives her a little static vibration, and you can tell it gets her attention. I can tell when she gets a correction from the collar, her ears perk up and she'll look around to see if anyone is near her. The collar in my mind is very humane, nothing violent in any way. We felt a bit guilty putting it on her the first couple times but seeing how well it works and how she responses to the collar now has eased our concerns. Not only has it helped her occasional attention barking, it has also helped with her puppy energy. She seems to calm down a bit when she is wearing the collar. It's funny, sometimes we don't even turn the collar on when we put in on her. She now understands that it's not ok the bark for attention. Great product.