Bark Away is presented as a humane way to get your dog to stop barking when they’re not supposed to. It’s a collar they wear that either vibrates or emits a high pitched frequency to deter them from barking. But do these kinds of collars work, and are they really humane?
Overview
Dogs are great because they can alert us to an intruder or danger, but when they’re barking just to bark or because they’re overexcited, it can be a too much to handle. At these times it can be difficult to get them to stop barking, because they are most likely using it just to get attention. One option is to take your dog to dog training lessons so that they can teach you how to properly instruct your dog not to bark at the wrong times. That can be expensive and take a long time, so many dog owners look for an easier alternative.
The Claim
The makers of Bark Away say that it has two modes, one that uses vibration to get your dog to stop barking, the other uses a blast of sound that only your dog hears. Both ways are designed to make it so your dog thinks twice before barking. They also say it has three levels of intensity depending on the size of your dog and how they respond to the vibration or sound. This is good because you’ll be able to adjust things to fit your particular dog, and it’s not a one size fits all proposition.
The Hype
The hype is that this is supposed to have two different options, where most bark deterrents only have one option. Both are claimed to be a humane way to get your dog to stop barking.
The Cost
The 2 in 1 Bark Away collar sells for $36 and you end up getting two of them. They add the second one on to boost the order total, but it might come in handy for those who have two dogs. It can also serve as a backup in case your dog chews through the first one, or it ends up getting damaged some other way. When you pit this against the other dog bark collars on the market, it’s much less expensive, but you have to wonder if they can make a durable, effective dog collar like this at such a low price.
The Commitment
This is the biggest draw, as you are only required to put the collar on your dog and it should take care of the rest. When your dog barks the unit should vibrate to discourage them from barking, or you can set it so that it will emit a high pitched frequency that only dogs can hear.
Evaluation
The use of two different methods is a nice feature on the Bark Away, and both seem like they are humane, but there’s no way to tell what the sound it emits sounds like to a dog. Is it an ear piercing sound that is actually painful to them? The vibration method seems like a more humane way to go, but there’s no guarantee that vibration is going to get your dog to stop barking, they may be able to simply ignore it.
Luckily people have been trying to stop their dogs from barking for quite some time now, and there are dozens of products that have already been released to the market, tried out in real world situations, and generated positive feedback. This means it’s likely a better idea to just buy something that is already peer tested and approved.
Final Bark Away Review
Bark Away is getting our Risky Try rating because it looks chintzy, is overpriced for what it is, and is priced in a way that you are paying so much for shipping that you can’t return it without losing $16 plus the cost of return shipping. The main concerns you have to have when looking for a device to get your dog to stop barking is that it doesn’t harm your dog, and that it consistently works and doesn’t give them any false-positive shocks. They did not explain how the device knows when your dog is barking, whether it’s picking up the sound of their bark, or the vibration from their throat. Without that info it’s hard to buy into this since you don’t know exactly how it’s working.
Our Recommendation
There are bark collars out there that have already earned a ton of praise from dog owners saying that it works. For example check out this well-reviewed No Bark Collar. Sure it’s more expensive than the Bark Away collar, but then again, it’s proven successful, has many of the same features, and includes free shipping, so you’re paying for the actual product and not paying to have it shipped.
