On the advice of a friend, I started analyzing why and when my dogs bark.

Here's some preliminary ideas: - They all bark for different reasons.

Huld, my oldest, barks to let me know that she understands something. She also barks to discipline the others. Really.

Kata barks for a reason - a squirrel or something in her territory. Most of the time she doesn't bark.

Korpur barks when he's excited or proud of himself. He also does not bark often. He's too regal, he thinks.

Kria is a pointless barker, like her daughter Totty.

Totty goes out the door barking and continues all around the yard. She barks at nothing and everything. I call her and her mother pointless barkers because there is no reason that I can ever see for the barking. With her collar on, she almost never barks now. - but she does give me some pure evil looks! Both of them also seem to get very excited and assertive towards the others when they get on a barking jag. I do not leave Totty's collar on all the time.

Pila rarely barks - never in the house. She does bark when she's at school if other dogs, usually big ones, like Rotties, Black Russians, GSDs and Dobes, start. She is also Kria's daughter and I'm glad that she, at least, did not inherit that gene.

A very good friend suggested that I try electronic bark training collars. I was reluctant at first but the collar she recommended can deliver a vibration as a warning and then either a short electric shock or a long electric shock. The strength of the vibration or shock can be regulated. There is a digital read-out screen on mine so I know the strength of the vibration/shock.

There is a remote control hand held device that controls 1. the vibration or shock and 2. the quick shock or longer shock plus 3. the strength of the reaction on the collar.

I have found the vibration - which is harmless, of course - to be more effective than a shock. Surprisingly. It must be more irritating - maybe because they have tender tracheas??

Totty almost never barks when her collar is on. She knows when it's on. It only took her two or three times to figure that out. If she does bark, the vibration stops it and she comes running back to me.

The batteries of my collars and hand device are rechargeable.

They are expensive. The company produces many models at various prices and you can choose one that meets your needs. I love mine mostly because there are so many options when using it.

My collars are "dogtra 280NCP Platinum Series". I thnik you can Google it. I talked with w very nice knowledgeable lady by phone before buying one and got what I needed. Again, expensive but I do not want my very tolerant neighbors to ever have to complain.

Many people refuse to talk about this behavior problem in Icelandics. The barking has been bred in for centuries because barking is a herding thing. Some dogs bark very little (Level One). Some dogs bark about as much as any average dog (Level Two). However some dogs bark lots (Level Three) and may even nip - that's also a herding thing. (The collars can discourage that as well.) I suppose it's possible to breed the barking gene 'down' a bit. I believe that two Level Three barkers should never be bred together. (I just made up those levels but I think that might work and explain some things.)

I would call Huld, Kata, Korpur Level Two barkers. Pila is a Level One. Although Kria and Totty only bark outside, I would still call them Level Three barkers.

I have only been using the collars for a few weeks.

On another related note, I trained Huld and Kata and Korpur to bark less by starting early and being consistent long before I had even heard of collars. It took months to reduce their barking but I was persistent and it worked. My point here is that training should work except with the small percentage of pointless barkers. This is not a 'yappy' breed.

All bets are off when company comes to the door. There's three minutes of chaos followed by tranquility.

Every breed of dog has good and not-so-good things about their health and temperament. Icelandics are no exception. This issue is not a biggie, in my opinion. The unconditional love and their amazingly friendly temperaments far outweigh any negative issues.

I have a sign that says, "If you don't like dogs, why are you here?"

I am grateful that my friend recommended the collars. They saved my dogs and my sanity. She also uses them when she takes her dogs for walks.