PetSafe Outdoor Ultrasonic Bark Deterrent Reviews
We’ve been bothered by a neighbor’s dog that comes out periodically day and night and just barks for 10 to 30 minutes — usually facing our house. We got this product, found a spot in the trees facing the dog, and set it up. It’s really worked as advertised. The dog starting barking, as usual, but then seemed to bark fewer times, and with less noise. As three weeks have passed, we hear the dog give one or two “test” yelps (more than barks) presumably to see if it still gets “zapped’ by the machine. Since it does, it stops barking immediately. No more gritting teeth (for us) for 10 to 30 minutes, as before. So, I’m delighted with this and wholeheartedly recommend it.
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Works good, but goes through a lot of batteries!HERE’S THE SCOOP ON IT:
A new family moved in next door. They brought with them a german shepard looking dog that they keep in the back yard. This dog barks non-stop all day long, and it’s a very deep and violent bark. It boggles the mind how these people next door can be so oblivious to the barking. We couldn’t enjoy the inside of our own home due to the barking. Something had to be done immediately. I read the reviews on here which seem to have mixed results. I didn’t care if it was going to be a waste of money or not because I had to try something. I bought it and hung it on a tree next to our wooden privacy fence. The instuctions say not to hang it higher than 5ft but we had no choice but to hang it higher. It’s hanging on the tree about 7-8ft high and it’s pointed down toward the middle of their yard. IT IMMEDIATELY WORKED. We were amazed. It barked once and I guess it heard the noise and it didn’t bark for 2 days after that. After about the 3rd day it would give a test bark and then it would quit. We thought it was so funny. Finally relief. However, after 2 weeks the dog started on a rampage of barking non-stop again. We were thinking to ourselves that the dog must be used to it. But after taking it down, we noticed the 9 Volt battery was already dead. I guess we just have to replace the battery every two weeks, but we will. I don’t think the 9 Volt lasts very long in the cold.
But, to sum it up, it worked. Also, the dog looks fairly young so I’m sure it’s hearing is acute, meaning that it’s getting blasted when it barks. HAHA, we win.
Update on 02-27-09 – The dog next door seems to have adjusted to this bark deterrent, and now barks when he wants to, although he doesn’t bark non-stop like he once did before we hung this device in our tree. So it worked for a while and trained the dog a little I guess.
OMG, why did’nt I buy this months agoIf you have dogs like mine that bark just for fun, over EVERYTHING, and you want ton fix it buy this birdhouse. It worked instantly! We have 3 very vocal dogs, a german sheppard (THEY ARE NOTORIOUS BARKERS)and 2 little yippy dogs. It has even helped with their indoor barking, they definately think twice before they do it. I am not telling you anything but the truth, I wish I had bought this months/yrs ago. It has helped even our neighbors dog who would get it a bark-off with our dogs. Now they are angels. It has only been up for about 14 hrs. and I feel compelled to promote this product to anyone considering buying it. It is well worth the money!
Choose This Based on Dog size – and stubbornnessWe have two mid-to-large dogs (ridge hound, and black lab mix). The ridge hound is trained, so adding the bark control was no problem. He reacted as expected – only to test to see if the device is still around from time to time. However, the black lab mix is stubborn and will bark every once in a while directly at the device to show dominance. We have a neighbor with a very bark-happy beagle. When we directed the device toward their back yard (approximately 200 feet away – or two lots) – the reaction was immediate, and the beagle stopped barking right away. Per the previous reviews, it is probable that this device may not have the expected outcome for small dogs. A hypothesis would be that 1) small dog pitch does not activate control, or 2) small dog tends to be either stubborn of lacks reasoning with when affected by the control.
Another observation in studying this product is that after about 1 weeks worth of use, there has been a significant decline in Grackles (black birds) in the garden. There may not be a correlation, but we will continue to monitor and report.
So, in short, this is not the end-all product, and gets 4 stars. However, if you are looking for a solution to address mid-size and larger dogs, then this product exceeds expectations. Remember, be kind to animals. Taper the use of this product of the course of a few days. Then, reintroduce this product as necessary to maintain awareness of the control with the dog.
PLEASE READ THIS CAUTION!!We’ve had this about a week and it is working! Our 10 year old Great Pyrenees is quite a barker, and I’ve never been able to train it out of her. I love this product, but PLEASE BEWARE! I didn’t realize the vacuum cleaner was setting it off and my poor dog was suffering needlessly. Also, clapping and other loud noises, even loud voices can set it off. I had it sitting on the kitchen table, and when we set something on the table it went off.
I wish I had found this product 10 years ago. She’s even stopped barking at the mailman. But please make sure you pay attention to what else could set off the controller (it has a red light indicator to let you know) as it really does seem to hurt a dog’s ears.
I have my yard back“This product is fantastic. I have my yard back. The world’s most annoying dogs and their owners have become good neighbors in spite of themselves. When I placed this in my yard, the neighbor’s dogs immediately came over to the fence to bark and growl as they always do. After the very first bark they backed away from the fence. Now when I go out into my back yard, they may bark tentatively once or twice from the far side of the yard, but usually not. These are the same dogs that would try to bite through the fence, now they don’t even approach it.”
Works on beagles!I bought this product because the alternative would have ended up with two dead beagles and probably me in jail. Installed it facing over the fence, and the ridiculous howling has been reduced to one howl followed by silence until their little brains forget and they howl again. I’d say the improvement is in the area of 70%, plus the added fact that the owner now sees a flashing light which he thinks is some kind of recording device. I had read that the product does not work on deaf dogs, which may explain the (limited) continued howling. Though expensive, this product is worth a huge amount when compared to the cost of disruption caused by people buying dogs because they think they look cool instead of doing research and realizing that beagles are actually disciples of satan.
Chihuahuas Live To See Another Day As a Result of This ProductWe have two chihuahua mixes next door (as in, 5 feet of space between their house and ours) that arrived 6 months ago. The owners bought them for a grandmother living alone, dump them in the back yard, and never walk them. The grandmother is deaf and doesn’t hear them barking (or, after months of this, me yelling at the dogs to shut up). Aside from being a hyper breed already, of course with this kind of treatment any dog would become high strung. These dogs barked at EVERYTHING. Squirrels, people walking by (across the street and on the other side of a 6 foot privacy fence), even myself if I was in the back yard area. EVERYTHING. We tried a different product where you point it at them to get them to stop, but that didn’t work. The Petsafe Outdoor Bark Deterrent arrived two days ago and there was an immediate difference. They still erupt into a few barking frenzies, but 90% of the time they self-moderate and pipe down quickly. I have some concerns that they might start ignoring the sound over time, but I don’t even have it set yet to the highest sensitivity level, so I think there’s still some leeway if they go that route. Sigh…I can’t believe some people treat their dogs the way these guys treat theirs.
Give it a shot! (the product, not the dog)Because every dog is different, this bark deterrent may not work on every dog. Therefore, you take a little gamble when you buy this product for whatever dog problem you are trying to solve. Luckily, it DID work for my situation. When I look back on all the disturbed sleep I have had (off and on) for the last several years, it makes me wish I had found this product much sooner.
My problem stemmed from our neighbors, who would go on vacation every summer for at least 2 weeks. Their 2 beagles had the run of the place while they were gone.(They could go in and out of the house through a doggie door) Of course, they had someone come by to feed them every day, but because they were unsupervised the rest of the time, they would sleep through the heat of the day and then wake up at night to bark insanely–not for just a little while…not for just an hour…it would start around 10 pm and continue till 6am. Scolding them made it worse.
This year, after the first night, I was determined to solve this problem (without taking sinister measures, which I had fantasized about), so after some research I decided to try this product and it is WORKING! Every so often, I will hear them bark once or twice, but that’s it. I am so pleased!
I would recommend following the directions closely–ie…don’t hang it higher than 5 ft.; no obstructions; play with sensitivity controls, etc.
If you are contemplating trying this bark controller, I would say “go for it and see what happens”.
OMG, It’s a Miracle!!!We have a one year old Yorkie Poo who is a bark machine. Fortunately I’m home most of the time, so I can go out and either make her stop barking or bring her in the house. We have a corner lot and the mailbox is right next to our fence, so if anybody walks by or tries to get their mail, she just goes nuts. Our poor next door neighbors can’t even go into their backyard, cause she takes it as an invasion and goes beserk. Very territorial!
Finally yesterday I got fed up with the barking, so we went down to PetSmart and bought this product, which I’ve been holding off on, cause I thought it was too expensive.
It was money well spent! Now she goes outside and barks once or twice, and just STOPS! It’s a miracle! Now my husband and I can actually sit and enjoy a TV show without having to shush the dog every few minutes. I wish I’d done this months ago!