C W.
Relief--sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. After two weeks, I think he barks less from boredom. He's a big territorial barker--but the DS Max can be battery loaded and carried with you: Not anti-boredom-bark training, but at least I get satisfaction against a dog barking at me for being in my own yard !
Boredom barking:
I stationed DS Max in an upstairs window--on ultrasonic mode, to avoid static with the neighbors; he soon began to favor the FAR side of his lawn and we started noting breaks in the woofs.
Territorial barking:
When he's "dogging" us being close to our side of his fence, that's the worst ! But when he barked at me in our yard today, I had the DS Max battery-loaded--at each bark I hoisted the DS Max and I beamed Audio at him. That's our third handheld DS Max encounter with him--he always flees around the far side of his house after a minute or two.
So even though the DS Max is really just for boredom bark, if you're being "dogged" with territorial barking, there may some satisfaction: Carry your battery-loaded DS Max with you. If the dog is too excited to respond to ultrasound, kick up to Audio.
Yard obstacles:
When the dog's right up against his fence territorially "dogging" our footsteps, his high solid fence shields him from ultrasonic--that sucks, those barks are the worst ! However, when he barked at me in our yard today, I went away from the fence, inspiring him to go away from his fence too--uphill, to get a look at me--so I raised the battery-loaded DS Max and got him until he fled. Alas, you have to improvise your own way around ultrasound-blocking obstacles--you have no guarantee of getting around any of them, such as my neighbor's fence that blocks the ultra.
Timeline:
In the first two or three days the dog started favoring the FAR side of his yard for his boredom barking. After two weeks I suspect he may have developed a tolerance for ultrasonic--despite my keeping brand-new NiMH rechargeable batteries filled to the brim--he stood barking for a while as I pinged him in ultra mode last week. But Audio still shoos him.
Product-improvement suggestion:
I shuttle DS Max between windows--battery-loaded, for convenience. It takes six AAs, here rechargeable NiMHs are $2.50 each--I bought two sets (partly because the cheap AC adapter power cord frayed without much wear), so I spent $30 on batteries I keep charged.
Although the green LED that flickers each time the box is activated is great, it's useless to me: The box faces the dog--I'm looking at the BACK of the box. And, I use ultrasonic mode mostly (wife afraid Audio mode would start static with the neighbors)--and unfortunately without the LED facing us nor the the benefit of audio, I can't confirm the box is responding when the dog barks, say a week after placing the DS Max in the window when rechargeable batteries might be flat. I wish Good Life would move the LED to the back of the box, or maybe even have it on top--visible 360 degrees around.
JOHN T.
I will use this review to give my "report". I moved in to this house and "inherited" two back neighbors with dogs, one has FOUR dogs of varying sizes, the other one huge dog with a massive bark. They all bark at anything and nothing, set each other off barking over the fence, and trade barks with other mindless barking dogs blocks away. What I ended up having to do was "cover" both the yards with two different DSMax units, as the photo shows, both extending about 8ft in the air over the fence. I got instant results with the first four-dog yard. The very next day the various dogs who used to go into barking fits all over their (pretty square and open) yard got caught up short as they triggered the DSMax, which was hitting maybe a 40-foot yard length & width. Over the following 10 days or so, the pattern that developed is that the more bark-prone dog (little terrier of course) would give a flurry of barks at something in the morning, and maybe again sometime during the day, and that would be the end. The one "hole" in the effectiveness for that yard is the "blind spot" of a porch that is hidden by an extended hallway out the back that the DSM waves can't get to. So they have learned to gravitate to this porch and do a little barking, but never for long and the overall barking is drastically reduced. I got similar results with the 2nd yard (big dog), for two reasons: 1) the pack next door was no longer setting HIM off around the clock, and 2) the DSMax was hitting him pretty much full on in the part of the yard he mostly goes too. The "hole" in this setup is that the yard is long and has two very thick and tall trees along the fence which the DSMax can't get through, if the dog happens to go down that way (which regrettably happens when I'm working down that way). But this again is a MAJOR cut-down in barking as he would previously go into extended (5-10) minute barking sprees, repeatedly through the day. Also, I think because of his size and toughness, he might be a little more resistant/tolerant of the ultra-waves, but also the angle I mounted my 2nd DSM I think is not quite right, a little too pointed down, so I'm going to adjust that, and I'm guessing it will help. So, to anyone asking "does the DSMax really work?", I will assure you that YES, IT ABSOLUTELY works, and instantly, but you have to allow for some physical/geographical oddities. With my setup, one could say that the 1st DSMax, with it's 65-degree broadcast radius, "should" have covered over the fence into #2 dog, but it just takes more coverage. To totally cover the #2 dog, I would have to put DSM's in 3-4 spots all along the fence, and I might add one more, but might not. Also, theNote also that I set the sensitivity pretty much on "max". It is a pretty quiet neighborhood, not a lot of loud vehicle traffic to set off the DSM unnecessarily BUT there are so many other loud barking dogs in the nearby houses that, what the hell, if they happen to set off the DSM on my problem dogs, so much the better. Added teaching-association for ANY bark.
Also, I'd like to note this: I didn't speak to either of these neighbors first, I didn't call the cops on them, and I didn't ask their permission or give them any warning that I was going to prop up an ultrasonic device over their fence to handle their stupid dogs. I just did it. And in spite of being in plain sight to both neighbors, if they bothered to look, I haven't gotten one comment or anything else back from either of them, and they haven't shot out the DSMax's with a BB gun or anything. I figured since they didn't ask MY permission if they could keep a bunch of mindless dogs barking in fits around the clock, then I wouldn't bother asking THEIR permission if I could train their dogs, for free. I should send them a bill for it. Bold moves always win. And who knows, they might just be appreciating not having to suffer all that barking themselves, and wondering what calming thing got into their dog's blood all of a sudden. Whatever, the things work like a bomb and I'm very happy about it! Congrats on some fine engineering.
Kenneth Z.
I getting ready to package it up and send it back. I have had it up for about month now. I have not noticed any impact. I live about 50 feet from my neighbor with a direct shot at their yard. I installed as instructed, put in brand new copper top batteries, even using the remote has not reduced the barking. I am going to try another location and plug it into AC but I really do not have much confidence that this going work.
Carol G.
The people who moved into the rental house behind us have a couple of Black Labs
We have been listening to them bark for over ten years now, they are so loud we can hear them over our television. They bark ALL day and night, they wake me up in the middle of the night. If we are looking at our fruit trees they are barking and hitting the fence, they have broken through the fence and have been in our yard. We have small house dogs and we have to be careful when they go out. Our first bark control was really working so well someone jumped the fence and took it. So thankful to have another one and we are keeping our outdoor cameras on, hopefully they do not take this one.
Stevie D.
The device doesn’t work for us, unfortunately.
Kenneth F.
The Dog Silencer® MAX is the best purchase I have made all year. My neighbor's dog tucked tail and ran away from the fence after I turned the unit on. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I'm a believer now. Thank you for restoring peace and calm to my back yard.
William A.
After several weeks the neighbor's dog, 75 feet away, still barks.
David L.
I think I am taxing the range and penetration of the units sensitivity. I seem to get some response when I use the manual remote and close in on the transponder/sending unit. I'm going to keep up the "treatment" on an "intermittent reinforcement" basis.
Ward S.
All was quiet for years until my next door neighbors adult son moved in with his aggressive guard dog. Immediately from 8:00 am to as late as 10:30 pm the dog barked consistently at nothing but the wind, running back and forth from the back yard to the front yard gate. If I went out on my deck or front driveway the dog went crazy barking. Our peace and quiet was shattered. I work from home and could not concentrate. Bought a $22.00 stop bark unit. Batteries wore out in 2 days. Dog kept barking. Had to have a high powered (40%) higher frequency electrical plug in stop bark unit. That is why I purchased this unit.
First 15 min I used it by mounting the unit to a tall Wooden board facing the neighbors yard, higher than the fence. Put it on the highest setting. The dog instantly started to cut his bark tone. I suppose the signal made that much of a difference. It was almost as if the dog has been kept inside their house for at least 3 weeks now. The dog still barks only once or twice a day but for only less than 5 min. Hopefully the neighbor tried to figure out what I errected pointing at their house and thought I was so
disturbed that I was taking extreme measures and acted on it. Either way peace and sanity have been restored! It is well worth paying the $134.00 for mental health peace. So far so good!
Thank you!
