Doggy Dilemma

Adelyn and Murphy playing tug of war

Adelyn loves her puppy Murphy. She squeals with delight when she sees him and loves to play tug of war. Recently she has started throwing a ball for Murphy to chase after, granted she can't throw very far yet and I have to help her get the ball back from Murph. Either way, it is really fun to see how much she enjoys him. I really like Murphy too. The dilemma comes from the fact that his barking has been driving me crazy lately. He suffers from small dog syndrome and feels the need to let us know if there is a bird, person, plane etc within a mile of our house. We own a bark collar but I just can't bring myself to put it on him. He turns into a timid sad dog when its on, so I'm not happy then either. In my mind I argue, if the barking is frustrating me so much isn't it worth it to use the collar? If that's his main 'fault,' wouldn't it be worth fixing? But he's still not wearing that collar and still barking. I guess I'm a wimp. Dog Whisper, if you're reading this, can you please come to my house for a week and make my puppy perfect? I don't have what it takes but would love the end result!