I had this problem when my puppy was younger. I had tried everything from yelling at her, spraying her in the face with a water bottle, ignoring her, using the high pitch tone machine that is supposed to be annoying for their ears, etc. Nothing seemed to work. I always thought that the shock collar was too mean, but I just didn't know what else to do so I gave in and bought the shock collar. It worked SOOOO great! When I put it on her and gave her a few shocks the first time she didn't make a peep for the rest of the week. There are times though when barking is necessary, when strangers are here, etc. She does great with knowing the difference. We do not yell at her if she is letting us know that someone is here. Now that she has learned that if she barks for no reason she will get a shock, all we have to do is use the "tone" button which warns her that she better cut it out or she will be shocked. It really works great!