DogtraYS300 Rechargeable Waterproof Compact No Bark Collar

We ordered this collar for our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He is a great dog, very gentle and obedient, but at age 2 has started develop a some pretty annoying barking habits. These range from the harmless but annoying, such as seeing a squirrel out the window, barking like crazy at it and then tearing down the stairs to his basement doggy door; to the embarassing such as going absolutely beserk at the mail carrier and anyone else who happens by our house walking a dog. When he goes into this "beserk" stage, he won't listen and can't be stopped from barking/growling until the "intruder" in his space is gone.We have tried a couple of different products, namely the PetSafe Outdoor Ultrasonic Bark Deterrent (the one shaped like a birdhouse) for outdoors, and PetSafe PBC-1000 Ultrasonic Indoor Bark Control for indoors. The Outdoor unit worked reasonably well, but our dog figured out pretty quickly that if he got far enough back from it (it was placed near the property line to deter barking at the sidewalk), he could still do his thing (including harassing the mail carrier when they got to the front porch.) The Indoor unit seemed to work for about a week, and then lost its effect (I even put brand new batteries in it, but it just seems the noise it emits doesn't bother him that much.)After reading reviews for virtually every "no bark" collar on Amazon and other sites, we selected the Dogstra No Bark YS300. Unlike the ultrasonic bark deterrents we had been using before, which rely on an unpleasant noise to stop barking, this collar detects the bark and then delivers a "shock" to the dog. I should add that our dog is trained on and completely comfortable with an electric fence, so to some degree he gets the joke of what it means to get a shock. We have been using this collar for 2 weeks, and so far it works like a charm. The first day that the mail arrived, our dog began his usual barking, and immediately received a corrective shock. He let out a little yelp (exactly what he does when shocked by electric collar for invisible fence), and not only did he stop barking, but he settled down, and never went into his "beserk" mode. When he is in his "beserk" mode at the mail carrier, he often shreds the mail. Not this time. Apparently by stopping the barking, it stopped the whole destructive mode.The dog very quickly figured out that bark = shock, and I think he has only received one or two shocks subsequently. He has also figured out that a low growl does not trigger the shock, nor does a very quiet "woof" that is almost more like a grunt. So he can still alert us if he believes something is not right (like a squirrel has entered his yard.) I should add that the collar has 7 levels of shock severity, and we have it set on the mildest one.The last thing I will adress is the battery. The Dogstra YS300 uses a rechargeable lithium battery. So far it seems to need charging every 4 days or so. This is not a big deal, we simply take it off of him at night and charge it as you would a cell phone, an i-touch, etc. This may sound like a lot of charing, but we have been thru so many battery ordeals with his electric fence collar and those batteries are so expensive, that I actually like this method better.

Physical Features I liked: At 1.5 x 2 inches, this is a relatively small unit. It fits comfortably on my 15 pound dog whose neck is about 11 inches around. The controls are simple--there is a dial; you set it to the desired intensity (vibrate only--level 7). The collar fits close to the dogs neck. The rechargeable battery holds a charge well and is easy to recharge (in only 2 hours)Why these features matter: I read the online manuals of every no-bark collar I considered. Some had a push button control with an LED light and the owner had to remember what pattern to push on the button to get to various settings. I'd never remember those patterns. Other collars wrapped around the outside of the control device, leaving a gap between the collar and the dog's neck--if the dog gets loose, this gap could get caught on wire fences, tree branches, etc, putting the dog in danger. On this collar, the two sensors protrude through the collar band, keeping the band close to the dog. And who wants to deal with batteries?How it works: Wonderfully. My dog was a real barker, barked at anything and everything inside and out. He'd get frenzied around other dogs and would often get into fights. After about 4 days and not too many shocks, he's calmed down considerably, doesn't bark nearly as often, if at all. The two-vibrations warning is a nice feature, it warns him if he gets agitated. The hardest part was watching him react to the correction, but he seemed more startled than hurt. He's never had to experience anything other than the lowest shock setting.

I have an adorable, but very yap-happy Maltese who is ten years old. I had tried a shock collar on him once before, but he yelped and I freaked out, so that was the end of that. However, we live in an apartment building, and my neighbors certainly don't appreciate his constant need to vocalize, so we gave the shock collar a try again.Pros:• It has the Dogtra name, which I this is trustworthy. I'd previously bought a different Dogtra collar for my larger dog, which worked out great, so I specifically looked for the Dogtra collar this time around because I "trusted" it. Although it is more expensive than some other bark collars, it is worth the price. My dog wears it for most of the day (I always take it off at night) and he hasn't had any irritation issues. He very rarely even scratches at it.• It really works! We have a MUCH more peaceful home now that our pup has been using this collar. I'd say it took about 2 shocks for him to learn that barking was a no-no. He still tests the boundaries sometimes, but very rarely. He no longer barks as soon as we walk into the door, or when people come over, or when my other dog walks by him, and so on. Although he still gets a little testy outside, he usually chills out when he gets the warning vibration.Cons:• a few times, it has shocked him when it shouldn't have. By that I mean that it didn't seem to give him the warning vibration, and that's not cool. I don't know if a vibration that I couldn't notice was somehow caused and he ignored the warning, or if it malfunctioned. Regardless, he was shocked when he hadn't barked, and that's not cool.• My one wish for this collar would be that it be made smaller. I have no idea how the technology in it works, so I have no idea how feasible that is, but it would certainly be better if it was less bulky.All in all, this was $60 well spent! I wish I'd done it 10 years earlier!