GROOVYPETS® Dog Remote Dog Training Collar Systems:Rechargeable Dog Collar No Bark Remote Obedience Training Shock Collar System (2-Training Collar Set)

LATEST UPDATE: We are still enjoying peace and quiet with the use of these collars mainly using the VIBRATE setting. Our dogs do not bark when they wear them, and are also MUCH quieter when not wearing them. They are not afraid of them at all. Lucy, the smaller dog (15 pounds), even runs up to me to have me put hers on before I let her outside. Another great thing about these is that when the dogs are outside barking while we are inside, we are able to correct them from inside if necessary. The range is quite impressive.I cannot say enough good things about the customer service. One of the jacks where we plug it in to recharge recently broke after all these months of use. One email to the seller and a replacement is on its way at no charge. I highly recommend to anyone considering these collars to give them a try.UPDATE: Still loving these collars, and we are thrilled with the excellent customer service! Several months after we had these we had a slight problem. It was some sort of glitch with our remote that caused unit #1 to not function, but unit #2 was fine. Keep in mind we live directly across from a dog park and we use these a LOT for our very "barky" schnauzers (vibrate mostly). I wrote to the seller and he immediately responded and sent a replacement receiver (we at first thought it was the receiver). After that didn't work, we knew it must be the remote. He immediately sent a new remote. We are so pleased with the collars and service. I wish he sold more pet related items because I would definitely buy from this seller in a heartbeat. These collars worked wonders for us.Original Review:I purchased a set of these collars for our two 4 year-old miniature schnauzers, Cody and Lucy, who would constantly run the fence and bark at people who walk by our house. We live directly across the street from a dog park, and we have tons of people with dogs walking by all day long from early morning well into the evening. We tried all sorts of things to get them to stop barking, including verbally training/correcting them, spraying them with water, crating them after they were "bad," etc. Nothing worked. Most of the people who went by understood our dilemma, but we had one neighbor who was quite annoyed at the noise. I hated to think of shock collars because I don't want to do anything to hurt my dogs. However, we were desperate. We first tried "bark collars" from a well-known local pet store chain, but they weren't effective. I don't know if the batteries weren't good, or if the dogs outsmarted them. They would shake their heads so the contacts were at the side of their necks (no matter how snug we fitted them), so I believe they were just smarter than the collars. So, after a LOT of research I found these Groovy Pet collars.The shipping was prompt--we received the package only a few days after ordering, and no problems with packaging. Everything we needed was included, however the instructions could have been a little more detailed. The first thing we noticed was that the collars as packaged were way too big for our dogs' 11" necks. My husband started to remove the bone shaped collar units and planned to put them on some smaller collars that we had. I decided to contact the seller to ask about it first because I (wrongly) assumed there must be a way to make them smaller without dismantling them that we just weren't seeing. I emailed the seller via Amazon, and the response was practically immediate. The seller sent us an illustration of how to make the collars smaller by removing some stitching, tightening the collars, and trimming the resulting extra piece so it doesn't stick out. (The seller also said they had now improved the instruction "manual" so, hopefully, others won't experience this confusion.) The "manual" we got was a single piece of paper which was not quite enough for us, and we like to think we are pretty handy with things.It IS necessary to remove stitching to make them smaller, which isn't that difficult, but you have to be careful not to cut any of the nylon collar fibers in the process. I used a simple seam ripper (the little tool seamstresses use for taking out stitching), but you could also use something else if you are careful not to cut into the collars themselves. After the stitching is out, you simply pull on the end of the now unstitched collar to make it smaller, and then fit the collar onto the dog. When you're sure it fits correctly, cut off the extra piece of collar so that it doesn't stick out. I also used a cigarette lighter to carefully "singe" the edge of the cut off piece (just barely melting the edges, not "burning" it) so that it won't unravel and then tucked the flap inside. Problem solved.The next thing we did was to test the collars before using them on the dogs. The battery in the remote was included, but needed to be removed and put in correctly. (I'm sure they put it in backwards for shipping purposes.) My husband, who is braver than I am, placed his hand on each of the little bone units while I pressed the buttons on the remote to try out the "vibrate" and "shock" functions for each collar. The vibrate is exactly what it says, vibration only--no shock whatsoever. It simply makes a buzzing noise and vibrates. My husband described the low shock as being similar to when you walk across a carpeted floor and touch a metal object and get a static shock. Not strong or painful, but enough to feel it and know you got a little shock. We didn't try the high shock because we do not plan to use it. Our dogs are very loved (and, yes, spoiled)! The only way I would ever use a high shock is if it was an "emergency" situation, such as if they darted out a gate and ran toward a street.After we were sure the collars were working correctly and fit properly, we placed them on Cody and Lucy. They don't have to be super tight. Ours have enough room to get a couple of fingers under them after they are on the dog. We found that they actually work better for our dogs if they are loose enough that the little bone units don't work their way up the side of their necks when they shake their heads (and so they aren't too tight to restrict their breathing of course!). We didn't want them too loose so that they don't make contact or can pull off over their head, either. So, again, for our dogs, a couple of fingers under the collar is perfect.NOTE: Our dogs LOVE to bark at the fence. To make things worse, one of them, Cody, has never barked like a "normal" dog...she feels the need to "scream." It is really loud and annoying, and it sounds like she has been injured! (I've had people look at me like they thought I was beating on her!)So, with the collars now fitted and working correctly, it was time to test them out on the live "specimens." We stayed in the garage with the door open and let the girls back out into the yard with their handsome new collars. Almost immediately a woman with two dogs arrived outside the fence. Cody and Lucy tore out after them and started barking and carrying on like a couple of maniacs. I called out, "Quiet!" No response from the dogs, of course. So I hit the little "vibrate" button in the center of the remote, which works on both collars simultaneously. It was amazing! They stopped in their tracks, and ran all the way back to the garage, trying to figure out what that vibration/noise was all about. (The vibration lasts for one or two seconds, and that's it.) I said, "Good quiet!" and gave them a treat. The next passerby arrived less than a minute later, and out they ran again. When they started barking I again said, "Quiet!" This time they both looked back at me and briefly stopped barking, but then proceeded to run out and resume barking. I said, "Quiet" again, and hit the middle "vibrate" button, and again, they stopped in their tracks and ran back to us. (I always say, "Good quiet!" when they stop barking.) They were totally puzzled by the vibrate. It was actually humorous. Third passerby arrived, and they ran out once again. I say, "Quiet!" after they begin barking. Cody stopped barking immediately and ran back to us and I said, "good quiet, Cody!". Lucy, who is more stubborn, kept going. I said, "Quiet" one more time, she kept barking, so I hit the "low shock." She stopped and ran back. "Good quiet!" Fourth time, they ran out, "Quiet!", and no barking whatsoever. I said "good quiet!" and gave them another treat. After that, "quiet!" and then a verbal "good quiet" was all it took. It was truly amazing!That was within under an hour after placing the collars on them. From that point on, when they have their collars on, they will stop barking immediately when we say, "Quiet!" Lucy, the more persistent one, will continue running along the fence and looking back at me once in a while, but she will not bark more than a couple of little "yips" which is completely acceptable and which she stops when we say, "Quiet!". Cody, on the other hand, has stopped running out. She is a little more of a "chicken" about things, and so I'm going to be a little less firm with her. When Lucy runs out and starts barking, Cody, even though she is not barking, will run back as if she is worried we're going to hit "vibrate." She doesn't like it at all, and so she has been a little subdued since we got the collars. (It also didn't help that I one time accidentally hit the middle, simultaneous, button when only Lucy was barking, which made me feel terrible, and which confused Cody!) I have been working more with Cody by taking her collar off and just having one on Lucy. Cody will then venture outside. She is getting more used to it now, and will play with her toys in the yard, tear around with Lucy, etc. with her collar on. However, she still won't run to the fence when a dog goes by. I'm sure after a few more days she will adapt to it. She isn't sad, just very cautious. I don't want to break their awesome little spirits, just want them to learn not to be quite so noisy. They are listening to me MUCH better without the collars, too. I'm pretty sure we won't need them all the time after we work with them more. Will probably just use them as a refresher course once in a while.The last thing I want to emphasize is that it is SO important to use any training collar appropriately. Every dog is different in the way they respond to commands, but please always exercise discretion. Don't be lazy and just press buttons. Use the collars as a tool to train along with verbal commands, and always reward their good behavior with praise and/or treats. You'll have much better and much faster results, and your dog will be much happier and better behaved. They LIKE to please you!We are so happy with these collars, and I highly recommend them. They work perfectly. We have had no problems whatsoever with them malfunctioning. The seller we had was awesome, so if we would have had any problems I'm sure they would have been very helpful. I have only recharged the the units once, and I don't think they even needed it yet, and that was two days after we got them. Of course, we rarely have to even press the vibrate, so we aren't using much battery at all. There are little red LED lights that light up when they are moving around, so you know they are working. I can't imagine that saps much of the battery, though. Don't be afraid to try them. Even if you are against "shock" collars (I still don't like them!), you don't have to use shock. The vibrate function works like a charm for our little dogs.We are VERY PLEASED!UPDATE 02/23/2012: Still lovin' these collars! No problems at all with batteries/charging. Units charge every time, and hold a charge for days on end. We rarely need to use Lucy's now. She is our less persistent barker. Cody need hers on a regular basis, but the vibrate does it for her--no shock necessary. I must stress, the vibrate is really awesome in itself. It doesn't hurt them whatsoever--it only vibrates and makes a little noise--but they really don't like it at all. :)You may want to periodically check the little contacts to be sure they are screwed in tightly. I found that after a few weeks one of them on Cody's collar almost came off and needed to be re-tightened. I may not have tightened it enough when I first put it together because we haven't had that problem since.Another thought is that the collars themselves (the nylon straps) tend to be a little "slippery" after a while, and will loosen somewhat over time. I have remedied this problem by tucking the extra under the buckle part.Overall, I am still very satisfied with these.

Ok, let me just start off by saying that I am a real customer who paid my money for this product, though I don't really know how to prove that to you reading this comment. Let me also say that I love my 100 lb LONG HAIRED husky, and that he is an absolute PERFECT dog... MOST of the time. Whenever I leave, he destroys anything in the room. We tried everything from locking him in a room (he would rip up the carpet all the way down to the concrete), we locked him in a steel cage (he BENT the bars), we even tied him with industrial strength chains to a steak that was buried 6ft in the ground and cemented into place (he PULLED the steak out of the ground and broke the chains). He was terrible. Also, whenever I would take him outside, his ears would magically turn off and he wouldn't listen to a thing I said. He would climb the chain link fence in the backyard and take off, or bury holes under the privacy wood fence and get out. Granted, he would stay nearby the house and sit on the porch after a while, but there's a confinement law here and the neighbors were complaining. I had tried every training technique and every discipline I could research, all to no avail. I was almost to the point where I was going to have to give him up.And then I bought these bad boys.Let me say that I had been shopping around for the RIGHT shock collar for a while, and I ALMOST fell for buying one of those $200+ collars, simply because I NEEDED this thing to work. But, I decided to go with this cheaper one, and if it didn't work I would return it and buy a more expensive one. Let me just say, It WORKS!!! When I first got it, I opened it and checked out all the parts that were so neatly packaged; I put the collars and remote to charge. It says to charge them for about 2 hours before first use, but mine were fully charged in about 45 minutes. Although I GREATLY appreciate the cord that can charge both collars at the same time, I had to charge the remote separately because there were only 2 cords instead of 3 - not a complaint AT ALL, just an observation.I immediately put those bad boys to use. I got the receiver all hooked up to the collar - very simple - and put it on my darling dog. We went outside in my backyard and he immediately went about his business. I let him run around for a little while and then I decided it was time to go inside. I told him "Come here!" and, of course, he didn't even turn his ears toward me. Then I told him "Come here" and vibrated him. He was a little confused, but continued on his way. Then I repeated the command, and did the low level shock. He didn't even notice it - whether it was because his hair is like 5 inches thick or because he's just a really big dog. But THEN, I said the command one last time, and gave him the high level shock. He jumped 4 ft in the air and ran straight to me, sat down in front of me and looked up, awaiting my next order. I was AMAZED to say the least. After that, I spent more time outside, showing him what I did and didn't want him to do. When he would go to dig a hole or climb the fence, I would say NO and vibrate him, and he would stop immediately. I even took him out to the front yard OFFLEASH when I went to get the mail. He started to go after a bunny that he saw, but I said NO and zapped him, and he broke out of the chase immediately and came right to my side. Now, we can play outside where ever leash-free and I don't have to worry about him not listening to me. I even took him to 2 different parks today with varying distractions, and he stayed within my prefered radius the entire time, without my having to zap him again, and he ALWAYS came when I called him. He even got to socialize with other dogs and park-goers, something which he has been unable to do in the past because the other pet owners or people fear that I can't control my dog. I have ALWAYS wanted to have an off-leash dog with a free park-going experience, and now I do.We've also corrected most of his separation anxiety issues. Whenever I pretend to leave, I'll listen to him and when I hear him start to destroy something, I vibrate or shock him. So far, he hasn't destroyed anything and he's stayed where I leave him every time. It's amazing.I got the two collars because I do have another dog, a 9-week old lab/husky mix. I feel bad using it on her because of her tender age and because she doesn't really have any behavior issues yet, and I don't want to cause any by terrorizing her with a zapper. I did however fit her for the other collar, just in case I ever need to put it on her in the future. I put it on her today when we went to the parks. She's still learning come here, so I'll give her a little vibrate to get her going in the right direction. I have not and will NOT use the shock on her just yet, so don't think I'm a terrible person. But it was there in case I needed it.This product has done the unimaginable. I thought it would take a while for my big husky to comprehend and learn what I wanted him to do, but after only 2 days with this thing, he's already the free-running, park-going, obedient dog I wanted him to be, despite the 2 previous YEARS of failed attempts using advanced disciplinary techniques. Hopefully, I soon won't even need them and we can go out with him being totally free, but I'll not risk that just yet. ;)Now, keep in mind that I've only had this product for 2 days, but it has already done what I got it to do anyways. I'll come back later and comment on the longevity of this product, but for now, I am one HAPPY puppy lover, with two exhausted puppies from all the outside fun :)