Viatek's Professional Bark Stop

by Viatek

Product Features

• Works indoors or outdoors
• Weatherproof control panel
• Dual high output speaker
• Select Tone and mic sensitivity
• For indoor / outdoor use - auto activated up to 50'.

Product Description

Viatek's Bark Stop Professional Ultrasonic Dog Trainer works indoors and outdoors. Microphone senses constant barking and triggers an ultrasonic tone inaudible to humans cure problem behavior. Durable weather resistant design. Works up to 50' and comes with 50' extension cord.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.5 x 3.5 x 6.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000F3XO32
• UPC: 182862000258
• Item model number: BC06
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,154 in Beauty (See Top 100 in Beauty)
  • #32 in Pet Supplies > Dogs > Training & Behavior Aids > Sonic Bark Deterrents
  • #65 in Pet Supplies > Dogs > Collars, Harnesses & Leashes > Collars > Bark Collars

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Must use as a training device, March 23, 2005

By 

BK "Koonie76" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

I bought the bark stop about 2 weeks ago. I had read several reviews either really good or really bad so I was quite skeptical, but my dog (jack russell terrier) would bark at the rays of sunlight coming into the house, so I was desperate.

The most important thing to remember when buying a product like this is that there aren't many things that are both great and easy. When you buy treats for dog to train him, do you simply leave the treats out all the time. No. Because he would never figure out that the treats were a reward for doing what you wanted him to. It's the same thing with the bark stop.

The first thing you should do with this device is put it to the audible setting and then test and see what makes the bark stop actually go off. I found that doors shutting hard, clanging dishes, etc all set it off. So, if the device goes off every 5 seconds, the dog isn't going to think for a second that it's going off because he's barking. He's going to assume that it's a uncontrollable sound that he has to live with.

So after putting the device back into the ultrasonic sound setting, I decided that I would only plug the device in when the dog was barking or when he was in his cage. Also, I never leave the device plugged in when I'm doing dishes slamming doors, or doing loud things. So the dog only hears the device when he barks. I realize that this might be a slight annoyance to walk on egg shells in order to make sure the device works, but I would rather do that than have a barking dog. The way I look at it, is I wouldn't just randoming throw my dog treats in the middle of his training, so why leave it plugged in all the time.

In the end, the first time I plugged in the bark stop, I let the dog bark it out. He barked for about 5 minutes (normally 10-15) and then stopped. The second time I plugged it in, he didn't bark more than twice. The bark stop puts out a ultrasonic beep when you plug it in, so I think that now he knows when he's going to hear more than he wants to. I think that the dog has now gotten more used to it, and will try to out bark it, but for the most part, he doesn't bark much at all while it's on, if he barks at all. The one thing that the manual does say is that if the dog is trying to protect the house, usually this device won't help, which I think is a good thing.

Cons:

When I was testing the microphone (used for taking in the bark loudness) on the device, it didn't seem to matter if the microphone was on high or low. Also, this device would be so much more useful if it came with a remote to turn on or off, not to manage each bark, but to simply be able to sit at the couch and click it on, or to click it off.

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Must use as a training device, March 23, 2005

By 

BK "Koonie76" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

I bought the bark stop about 2 weeks ago. I had read several reviews either really good or really bad so I was quite skeptical, but my dog (jack russell terrier) would bark at the rays of sunlight coming into the house, so I was desperate.

The most important thing to remember when buying a product like this is that there aren't many things that are both great and easy. When you buy treats for dog to train him, do you simply leave the treats out all the time. No. Because he would never figure out that the treats were a reward for doing what you wanted him to. It's the same thing with the bark stop.

The first thing you should do with this device is put it to the audible setting and then test and see what makes the bark stop actually go off. I found that doors shutting hard, clanging dishes, etc all set it off. So, if the device goes off every 5 seconds, the dog isn't going to think for a second that it's going off because he's barking. He's going to assume that it's a uncontrollable sound that he has to live with.

So after putting the device back into the ultrasonic sound setting, I decided that I would only plug the device in when the dog was barking or when he was in his cage. Also, I never leave the device plugged in when I'm doing dishes slamming doors, or doing loud things. So the dog only hears the device when he barks. I realize that this might be a slight annoyance to walk on egg shells in order to make sure the device works, but I would rather do that than have a barking dog. The way I look at it, is I wouldn't just randoming throw my dog treats in the middle of his training, so why leave it plugged in all the time.

In the end, the first time I plugged in the bark stop, I let the dog bark it out. He barked for about 5 minutes (normally 10-15) and then stopped. The second time I plugged it in, he didn't bark more than twice. The bark stop puts out a ultrasonic beep when you plug it in, so I think that now he knows when he's going to hear more than he wants to. I think that the dog has now gotten more used to it, and will try to out bark it, but for the most part, he doesn't bark much at all while it's on, if he barks at all. The one thing that the manual does say is that if the dog is trying to protect the house, usually this device won't help, which I think is a good thing.

Cons:

When I was testing the microphone (used for taking in the bark loudness) on the device, it didn't seem to matter if the microphone was on high or low. Also, this device would be so much more useful if it came with a remote to turn on or off, not to manage each bark, but to simply be able to sit at the couch and click it on, or to click it off.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bark stop ... NOT, July 28, 2005

By 

amazonoid (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

It appears that the Viatek product (Bark Stop Pro) is related to the Lentek design (PC16 ; ASIN: B0002Q89O6) - they are based on a common design by a Lentek engineer. I have used (tried) the Viatek Bark Stop Pro and it definitely DOES NOT work. My experience was the same as another reviewer of the Lentek PC16 who noted that the unit only works on the "Audible" setting - dogs will at least perk up their ears at the high pitch tone ; they completely ignore whatever is emitted on the "Ultrasonic" setting. Furthermore, it is often activated by extraneous noises like birds, banging doors, wind noise, etc.

This really poor functionality is due to either poor design or poor construction / quality. I've tried two different units and they both do NOT work.

The negative reenforcement concept could work if only these devices were tuned to the noise environment and could filter out all except the actual barks.