Distracting my dog with a Stopet!

doggyperson · Post by **doggyperson** » Sat May 23, 2009 7:21 am

I have tried all sorts of devices to try and stop my dog barking and not allowing people through the front door.

In every other way our dog is just about perfect, it is friendly, sociable to other dogs and obedient, but when it came to visitors through my front door all hell broke loose.

I tried discs, but these had zero effect. The second method was a training lead that was put on everytime the door bell rang - this method allowed us to lead her away a number of times until the visitor was accepted, or she was put in another room.

Enter the Stopet!

I discovered this at a trade show, and thought it might be worth a try as it was very cheap and the colours looked cool!

It is basically a bit like the old football rattles but miniaturised and held in the palm of your hand. When I got it home, I activated it a few times just to see if there was any reaction - she did not like it!!

A few days later, a ring at the door, dog started to bark! I grabbed the Stopet and opened the door. As I was opening the door I activated the Stopet and told her to be quiet - WOW instant response - A further roll of the wheel was needed as our visitor came in, but then she was perfect - I gave her a treat as reward.

Was this luck or had a 2 year problem been fixed instantly? Over the coming weeks the device was used every time the door bell rang, but the need for it was hardly necessary. After about three weeks it was not used at all and has not been since.

I also get an instant stop when she is barking in the garden (activated from indoors!), and use it to recall when out in the fields.

I did not believe such a simple gadget could be so effective, but it is and maybe others on this forum could also benefit from it.

Noobs · Post by **Noobs** » Sat May 23, 2009 8:48 am

Finding it hard to believe you're some lucky dog owner but instead someone from the company pimping your product. Nice try.

doggyperson · Post by **doggyperson** » Sat May 23, 2009 10:20 am

Reply to Noobs

I thought the intention of the forum was to post useful information about tools we use to inform others who may have a problem

For information I purchased it at Crufts on a trade stand this year but I will not mention who from just in case you accuse me of working for them also!

It really has made a difference

emmabeth · Post by **emmabeth** » Sat May 23, 2009 10:47 am

It is an aversive, albeit not the harshest of aversives you are still distracting the dog using something unpleasant.

As such it is not appropriate to promote on this forum, regardless of whether you work for the company that make them (and you might well this would be the second time ive seen this device advertised in this manner) or not.

Mattie · Post by **Mattie** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:04 am

Several of my dogs would completely freak out if I used something like this on them, I to HAD dogs that would do what your's do but they are very well behaved these days because I trained them, I taught them that people coming to the door meant nice things not being frightened by a terrible, to them noise which just suppressed the behaviour.

whitesam · Post by **whitesam** » Wed May 27, 2009 3:09 am

What's a Stopet? In the States, some trainers use "shake cans", empty soda cans with a few pennies in them to make noise. I have found it's uses limited. When used as a "quick fix" deterrent to scare or intimidate a younger or sensitive dog, the results are short term & unsatisfying. The only real use I could see would be as a distraction to interrupt an unwanted behavior in order to get the dog's attention or to bobby trap the lid of a waste basket to teach a younger dog not to raid the garbage when no one is around.

Mattie · Post by **Mattie** » Wed May 27, 2009 3:29 am

From her description it looks like one of these http://www.giftedoriginals.co.uk/Musica ... rs_Rattle/ This is a football rattle which supporters use in football matches. They make quite a loud noise and will terrify many dogs.

Nettle · Post by **Nettle** » Wed May 27, 2009 5:31 am

What a dreadful device.

Noobs · Post by **Noobs** » Wed May 27, 2009 7:59 am

On the advice of some well-meaning dog owners (before I found this board) I used a soda can with pennies and shook it to distract my dog from peeking into the trash. He's still skittish with sudden noises on the street. I'm sure it's not only because of the shake-can, but it certainly didn't help. The solution ended up being to get a trash can with a foot pedal so he could sniff but not open it and he eventually gave up even sniffing around altogether. I'll never use noise aversion again apart from giving him a warning with my voice like you would with a child..

mj702002 · Post by **mj702002** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:00 am

Hey, I found the actual website for it- http://www.stopet.co.uk/.

Let me ask you guys this - those that are more experienced with the clicker-- after you read how it says you are supposed to use it-- It says you can use it like a clicker for behaviours you want or "roll it" to interupt behaviours you don't.

OK..so my question is, with the clicker you "mark" the behaviour you want with a click, now without knowing what it sounds like, wouldn't "rolling it" have the same sound as the individual click, just repeated?

emmabeth · Post by **emmabeth** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:52 am

Yes it would sound very similar and be very confusing for the dog.

Mattie · Post by **Mattie** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:35 am

It is very similar to the football rattle, we used to get these with comic when I was a child and they made quite a noise, much louder than a clicker but maybe these are not as loud.

It says to first use it to interupt the unwanted behaviour and also like a clicker, how is the dog to understand the difference, it will make the same noise no matter how many times it is used.

I do see owners who use clickers wrong, the dogs are having a wonderful time racing round and the owners keep calling and calling and the clicker is going like mad. The clicker has the same tone but is continous like this other gadget.

mj702002 · Post by **mj702002** » Wed May 27, 2009 10:06 am

Thank You, that is what I was thinking...one minute the sound means you did something great and the next time it could mean you did something wrong.

Cheetah · Post by **Cheetah** » Wed May 27, 2009 12:34 pm

Well I checked out the website and it sounds like a very confusing tool for the dog... I use a clicker here during training, and something like that sounds like it would make my dogs terrified of the clicker!

doggyperson · Post by **doggyperson** » Wed May 27, 2009 4:59 pm

As I have been using this, and started the discussion, maybe I should explain a bit about the noise.

Firstly I used it to distract the dog as instructed, and then when I had attention, gave a treat as reward. It was not just used to startle the dog.

We still use clicker training with a standard clicker, and this works as it did since puppy training - there does not appear to be any confusion between the two. The Stopet makes a sound of repeated clicks but is not over loud and cannot really be compared to any other every day sound.

The literature also makes it clear that it is not advisable to use it for both clicker training and distraction at the same time.

Hope that helps