Does anyone here have experience with a citronella no-bark collar?

My neighbors got one for their dog. It was a poodle (small) and would bark incessantly over nothing. When they put it on, it didn’t take long for the dog to realize when it barked, it got sprayed. I don’t know if it was citronella or not, but it was effective. The dog settled down quite a bit.

Thanks, @seawulf575, that’s exactly the kind of info I need.

I was at the vet with my dog to pick up some medication. Somebody came in with a nasty little dog that was barking incessantly, and every time it barked, it’s collar would spray something. (The spray, whatever it was, appeared to have no effect whatever on the dog).

Whatever it was, my lungs did not like it! I asked the lady to remove her dog outside but, by that time I was coughing so hard I could barely talk. It was horrible! If you’re going to use such a collar, please don’t use it in public places!

If it had been any worse I think they would’ve hauled me off in an ambulance.

@snowberry That sounds like serious abuse of the thing, and Ihope the vet read her the riot act on that. I would use such a thing only in very specific circumstances.

Honestly, I hate those things. The water-based ones are bad enough. Citronella is even worse because what is a pleasant smell to us is likely awfully strong for a nose so sensitive that it can detect half a teaspoon of sugar diluted in an olympic-sized pool!

All no-bark collars rely on simple punishment, which comes with significant risks. I have personally seen dogs grow terrified of the spray. In one case a formerly playful dachshund switched to exclusively lying under the kitchen table, shaking uncontrollably at any of the sounds that used to make him bark. A fellow dog trainer also told me of a case where a terrier resorted to biting visitors. He had previously barked, but kept his distance. When that option no longer seemed feasible (because it got him sprayed), he charged.

Any reason you are not considering positive reinforcement? Have you tried that already, or is the barking happening when you are not around?

@longgone, of course I have tried positive methods. I am not asking for advice.
The question is specifically about the citronella collars, which I have only recently heard about, and any actual experience people might have had with them.

@canidmajor I might point out a problem I have seen with training collars. My ex-in-laws tried a shock collar on their dog for barking. They ran into two problems. The first is that when their other dog barked, the one with the collar got shocked. The other was that the dog learned when the shock collar was on and when it wasn’t.

@seawulf575 Shock collar not even considered.

@canidmajor I understand, but the premise is the same. If you have two dogs and one is wearing the citronella collar and the other barks, guess who is getting sprayed? And that will not train the dog, it will confuse it. Ditto that with having the sprayer on the collar. It has a certain weight and feel that the dog will realize if that changes.

@seawulf575, fine, whatever. Does not apply to this question.