CALMDOGS Citronella Spray Dog Training Collar with Remote

One thing worth stating clearly from the start: this collar does not work automatically. It's fully remote-controlled, which means every correction comes from you, at the moment you choose. For some training goals — recall in open spaces, leash manners, interrupting a specific behaviour as it happens — that's exactly the right tool. For bark control when you're not in the room, you'd want one of our automatic collars instead.

Three modes, six levels — and how to use them

Tone first. That's the consistent advice, and there's a reason for it — a beep is the lightest intervention available, and you'd be surprised how many dogs respond to it once it's been consistently paired with a command a few times. Going straight to spray because you're frustrated is the most common mistake and usually the least effective one.

If tone isn't cutting it — typically in high-distraction environments where your dog is just too far gone to register a beep — that's when vibration earns its place. Six levels, starting genuinely low. Find the lightest setting that actually registers with your specific dog and stay there; heavier isn't better, it's just more aversive, and more aversive doesn't mean faster learning.

The spray is there for situations where the other two aren't working, or for dogs that have a specific trigger behaviour you want to interrupt cleanly. Most people use it less than they expect to once tone and vibration are doing their job. The citronella refill is included so you can try it immediately — though we'd suggest getting comfortable with the other modes first.

Range and dual-dog capability

Three hundred metres is a lot further than it sounds when you're standing in a field. At that range your voice isn't reaching anyone — the dog has gone over a hill, or round a bend, or is simply very committed to ignoring you — and having a signal that travels that distance without dropout is genuinely useful for recall training specifically. We tested the range across open ground and it held without issue.

One remote handles two collars at the same time, with independent settings for each. Worth knowing if you've got two dogs with different temperaments or at different stages — you're not stuck with the same correction level for both, which matters more than it might seem when one of them responds to a level-one tone and the other needs level four vibration to register anything.

Waterproofing — collar vs remote

The collar receiver is IPX6. In practice: rain, puddle splashes, wading through wet grass, muddy fields — all fine. It's not designed for swimming but it'll handle everything a normal UK walk throws at it, including the unexpectedly deep puddle your dog decides to walk through on purpose.

The remote isn't waterproof, which catches people out. Pocket it during wet walks rather than clipping it to a bag or lead where it'll get rained on. It's not a fragile thing but it's not sealed, and a wet remote is an annoying problem to have mid-training session.

Fit and what's in the box

The collar adjusts from 7 to 25 inches — small, medium, and large breeds are all covered, and you can trim the strap length if your dog is at the smaller end and there's too much excess. Suitable from six months up; younger than that and we'd hold off on any training collar until they're a bit more settled.

In the box: collar, remote, adjustable strap, charging cable, citronella refill can, and a user manual. The refill means you can use the spray mode straight away if you want to, though as above — tone and vibration first, spray later.

How we use it

This is the collar we reach for when timing matters — when we need to interrupt something at the exact moment it's happening, not a second after. The remote makes that possible in a way an automatic collar can't, because automatic collars react to the bark; this one reacts to whatever you've decided to react to, which is a different kind of tool.

The 300-metre range has held up across a full field without dropout, which is what we needed to know for recall work. Figo going full speed in the opposite direction is not a situation where a 50-metre remote is much help. The three-mode setup fits how we think about corrections anyway — lightest first, add only what's needed, always pair with something the dog is learning to do, not just stopping.

Using it responsibly

The collar is a tool for communication, not a way to express that you're annoyed. Corrections that aren't paired with clear commands and followed up with reinforcement when the dog gets it right are just unpleasant interruptions the dog can't make sense of — and a confused dog doesn't learn, it just gets anxious.

Keep sessions supervised, especially early on while your dog is working out what the signals mean. Twelve hours is the maximum continuous wear — in practice, training sessions are much shorter than that, but it's worth knowing. Don't leave it on an unattended dog and don't use it out of frustration. The results are better when it's calm, consistent, and makes sense to the dog as well as to you.

Specifications

Common questions

— Georgiana & Figo · Calmshops LTD · Est. 2020 · Oxfordshire, UK