Talk me down from a citronella collar!!

[reikizen]

My lab (nearly 18 months) has returned to the bad old days of barrelling off after other dogs and yesterday jumping up at people on our walk. I'm beyond miffed as I had just got to the point where I was enjoying our walks. I use a whistle to recall her from playing and she comes no problem, I just can't stop her when she is head down on a mission. Is a citronella collar a bad idea? I have only read bad stuff on here a about them but know a couple of people in RL who swear by them.

I only know one person in RL who has used one. She told me enthusiastically that I should try one on my excited barky dog because it worked so well on hers. Her dog is a sweet, timid thing that had severe separation anxiety and cried and barked when left for 4 hours at a time. She put a collar on it to stop it upsetting her neighbours. I said I'm sticking with training instead because I try not to call people cunts.

Search online and you'll find them described as a 'more effective option than shock collars.' If that sounds like your kind of thing ...

It'll probably work but you run the risk of the dog associating other dogs and people with an unpleasant event rather than the barrelling towards dogs and jumping at people.

If that happens, you might find the jumping and running is replaced with aggression.

If you already say that you need or want to be talked down, then you know that there's something wrong with them. You know it's a thing that it's going to seriously cause distress to your dog. You might mess her up. Just train her, she'll get there if you keep on it.

I have a friend who bought one to stop her dog barking (against advice I would add) and whilst it worked initially eventually the dog took no notice of it at all and still barked! So the collar was a complete waste of money and time.
As others have said, I'd rather work on training rather than use one of these collars

Moral and ethical questions aside, why on earth would you use something which squirts a strong aversive odour on to an animal which has a sense of smell thousands of times better than ours? The scent isn't going to be associated with any specific behaviour if the dog can still smell it half an hour later. It's bad training, in addition to being unkind and potentially dangerous.

Buy yourself a long line and some cheese and train your dog to come when called and to greet people politely.

And she shouldn't be off a lead until she can reliably be near other people or dogs without chasing/jumping on them.

That sounds preachy but it's a statement of fact.

Dunelmdoris, i do understand what you mean about not being off a lead until recall is reliable but I think this is an example of an opinion widely held on mumsnet but not in RL. I have never known a dog with 100% recall. Never. They are animals and therefore unpredictable. We had a lab who at the age of 7 was startled by a firework and ran for at least a mile before we could get him back. Another who was almost lame with arthritis but at the age of 10 took off after a motorbike like the devil was at his heels.
I feel it is a bit like driving. You pass your test, you are not a brilliant driver but you can't become one without practice and some mistakes. My dog is a good natured, idiotic, adolescent lab. I am an imperfect owner who has other demands on my time and energy but is trying to train a happy, sociable dog. I do have a long line, and some cheese (or other suitable treat) and plan to do some more recall work with her.

No dog has 100% recall but it's about risk management. Right now the risk of your dog chasing other dogs or jumping on people is presumably high so you need to take steps to mitigate that.

In addition, when we look at the science of how dogs learn, it is widely accepted that the more frequently a behaviour is repeated, the more likely a dog is to continue to exhibit that behaviour. So prevention of the unwanted behaviour is the first and most important step on the road to a preferable behaviour. The long line allows you to give your dog that freedom so you can train better behaviour before allowing them the opportunity to learn how much fun they can have by totally ignoring you and pissing off after whatever distractions they feel like! :)