January 18, 2009

Dog Quieting Device, Make It Yourself

What are we looking at here? It's a tin can with a few pennies in it, of course. And it's one of the few things that can startle Benny into shutting up.

I've been told that an empty soft drink with seven pennies works especially well, but this one works for me. I shake it once for each bark, and I stop as soon as he stops barking.

If you want full instructions, click for a version of the Bad Behavior Stopper.


If you spill any pennies, pick them up so your dog doesn't swallow any. The ASPCA warns that the zinc in pennies is very toxic to dogs.

Benny Spaniel has never been the best-behaved dog. When Scamp was here, he got worse, becoming very territorial in response to Scamp's aggressiveness and barked more than before.

After Scamp left for a new home, Ben continued being territorial. He was ruder than ever to visitors, and even barked at us if we got near his "property" - that is, his crate and sometimes even his bowl. The little memo recorder (on which I recorded his bark) continued to quiet him sometimes, but was losing it's volume and it's effectiveness. Then I remembered the tin can with pennies trick. It's working well.


An air horn works too, but it's as jarring to us as it is to him. And it costs a lot more than a can from the kitchen and loses it's air after a while.

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