A dog trainer has condemned the use of controversial anti-barking collars to discipline dogs, calling the collars a "quick fix" that won't correct behaviour in the long run.
It follows a ruling by Napier City Council which has ordered dog owner Nuzia Scaranci to keep her two dogs Ruby and Simba inside while no one is home; have them wear citronella spray anti-barking collars; and actively discourage "barking at inappropriate times and for inappropriate reasons" following 17 noise complaints about the dogs between 2020 and 2023.
The collars activate using a small sensor to detect when the dog barks to disperse an "unpleasant" citronella spray into its face.
Dog trainer Augusta Grayson said the use of these collars generally work in shutting down bad behaviour because they are unpleasant, not because they are correcting the behaviour.
"It's a very unpleasant way of dealing with a behavioural problem. In theory it works quickly, and I suppose I can see the appeal of a quick fix for neighbours who are stressed about this," she said.
She said the collar may simply create different issues for the owner further down the track.
"If they're just struggling with a separation anxiety when she isn't home, they're just going to potentially dig or destroy stuff so we're always looking for better ways or a better solution."
She said the "quick fix" collars do not get to the heart of treating what might be causing the barking, such as boredom, frustration, or stress from the dog.
"It's certainly not going to get to the heart of any of that and that's what we want to make sure we're getting to fix."
Grayson said owners from the Napier and Hawke's Bay region have been reaching out to her with dogs struggling with separation anxiety, heightened by both Covid-19 and Cyclone Gabrielle.
"I know that the dates in this case in particular are stretching stretch over those years and obviously in Hawke's Bay, I'm still getting calls about dogs who are showing stress from that particular event," she said.
She said some of the displaced dogs in the Esk Valley region have increased their barking or are escaping due to elevated stress levels.
"We've had dogs who were displaced and so they may have been out in the beautiful regions of Eskdale of Papawai and now are in small townhouses while they were finding appropriate accommodation," she said.
"Barking is a big stress relief for dogs, it makes them feel a bit better sometimes, and sometimes it's genetic but we've definitely had an increase in barking and even if they weren't affected directly by the flooding, they've picked up on that stress from us," she said.
Grayson said there are easy ways to help dogs feel less stressed at home by themselves, using various calming strategies including chewing, licking and sniffing.
"Ideally obviously calling in a trainer can be part of it but even calming strategies like how to have their meals, which sounds a bit crazy," she said.
"If that's the way that I can help calm them and manage them each day so they're sleepy, they won't be looking outside for reasons to bark or feel distressed."
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