My 60 pound German Shepard dog has a bad habit of barking at people or other animals he sees passing by. He is a house dog at night but spends most of daytime outdoors in our 1 acre fenced in yard. I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with bark deterent collars. I don't like the shock collars, but am considering either a sonic collar or citronella spray collar. Which is the most effective?

The citronella collars work pretty good. From experience, the ultra sonic bark collars/devices just drive the dogs crazy.

My mother bought a citronella collar for her Great Dane.
Stopped the barking within 3 days!
After a week she didn't need to put the collar on him any more, if he went to bark she just picked the collar up off the table and he would look at it and run away!

Very impressed.

It might not work on all dogs though, some react very well to the citronella collars, while others just ignore then so it depends on your individual dog.

Thanks for the responses, I'm going to try the citronella collar and see what happens. Is there any particular brand or model that works best? I'm not really concerned with the cost, I just want something that is the most effective. Sure would appreciate any input and advice. Thanks again for your input.

Can't really help you with brands, hopefully someone from the US an recommend one.

Another thing you could try with the barking is getting him to learn to focus.
This is just done by using something that grabs his attention (a toy or a treat) and use a word like "look" or "focus"
Start training him at home by holding the treat and getting him to look at at while saying your command word, hold for a few seconds then give him the treat. Make how long you get him to stare at the treat for longer each time.

Eventually you an try just going out into your front yard and using the treat and command and if he does well get a friend to walk past and see if he reacts.
If he turns to look at the person walking past, just correct him and regain his focus on the treat.

Eventually you should be able to get him to a level where he will be focusing on the treat instead of people walking past. So if you see someone with a dog coming towards you you can just get him to focus on you, not the dog.

The brand name is Premier. You want to make sure to buy the citronella spray can with the same brand name. There is another bottle you can purchase that is cheaper, but its not real citronella. Premier sells the real deal. You can purchase the device at any petstore, or of coarse online.

Here's their webpage
http://www.premier.com/

Can't really help you with brands, hopefully someone from the US an recommend one.

Another thing you could try with the barking is getting him to learn to focus.
This is just done by using something that grabs his attention (a toy or a treat) and use a word like "look" or "focus"
Start training him at home by holding the treat and getting him to look at at while saying your command word, hold for a few seconds then give him the treat. Make how long you get him to stare at the treat for longer each time.

Eventually you an try just going out into your front yard and using the treat and command and if he does well get a friend to walk past and see if he reacts.
If he turns to look at the person walking past, just correct him and regain his focus on the treat.

Eventually you should be able to get him to a level where he will be focusing on the treat instead of people walking past. So if you see someone with a dog coming towards you you can just get him to focus on you, not the dog.

Thanks for your input, we have been trying this method of training and it works really well when he is indoors or no one else is around, etc. But as soon as he spots a person or another animal passing by, he just goes nuts and completely ignores us and our treats, etc. So I think I'll give the citronella spray collar a try. Thanks again for response.

The brand name is Premier. You want to make sure to buy the citronella spray can with the same brand name. There is another bottle you can purchase that is cheaper, but its not real citronella. Premier sells the real deal. You can purchase the device at any petstore, or of coarse online.

Here's their webpage
Premier Pet (http://www.premier.com/)

I appreciate your response and advice. I checked with the local pet store and they do carry the Premier line, so I'm headed there first thing in the morning. I know I could get it a little cheaper online, but my wife said heck with the cost, get it NOW! Thanks again, Premier it is!