"I'd become THAT person."
The one shouting at her dog on the landing. Two weeks in, the woman downstairs asked if I'd moved him out.
For the little guard dog who barks at everything
Watch the next doorbell
No shock, no sound, no spray. A 16 mm golden obsidian stone he wears as his off-duty signal: ten seconds at the door, the same words, and he learns the barking isn't his job. One woof, not ten.
What owners say most:"a normal bark, then he stops"
"he lies back down"
"I stopped yelling at the door"

The routine certified trainer Megan Hale, CPDT-KA, teaches with it
412 left in Batch 01. The four gifts ship with this batch only.
The One-Woof Promise: 30 days. Not one woof instead of ten? Every cent back, and you keep the stone.
Fewer than 3 in 100 owners ask for their money back
Real golden obsidian, not goldstone glass: tilt it in daylight and the gold moves.
The Clock-Off Stone: one Hushstone (16 mm golden obsidian on a black braided cord with a sliding closure) in a velvet box, the routine and care card, and The Off-Duty Method by email.
The Pair: two Hushstones, each in its velvet box, the card, The Off-Duty Method, The Clock-Off Playlist, The Good Neighbour Note and The Sheen Cloth.
The Pack Set: three Hushstones, the selenite recharge dish, the card, everything in the Pair, 12 months of Lost-Stone Protection and $20 toward your next order.
Do it at the moments he usually goes off: before the post comes, before a call, when the hallway gets busy. The guide walks you through the 14 days.
Snug, two fingers between the cord and his neck; slide the closure down and trim the tail. Take it off when he's alone or crated, at night (on its dish) and for rough play or tug. Check the stone each week and retire it if it chips. Fits necks from about 20 cm (8 in) to 60 cm (24 in).
Wipe the stone with the cloth or a little warm, soapy water, then dry it. The selenite dish must never get wet: water dissolves it. Rest only a dry stone on it. A chipped stone has sharp edges: retire it, and Lost-Stone Protection replaces it.
Free tracked shipping on every order, 5-7 business days, with a tracking email the day it leaves. The One-Woof Promise: within 30 days, email us and we refund every cent. No return, no form, nobody asks you to change a review.
Golden sheen obsidian from Jalisco, Mexico: natural volcanic glass, lava that cooled too fast to form crystals. The gold is gas bubbles and minerals stretched along the lava's flow, so it slides across the stone as it turns, and no two are alike. Goldstone, the common fake, is man-made glass with copper glitter: it sparkles in points, it doesn't move. If you can't see the gold move in daylight, we send another stone.
A normal Tuesday at yours






He isn't being naughty. He's on duty, and nobody has told him he can stop. Here's what that looks like when somebody does.
"Day 6. One woof and back to bed." Sophie, Manchester
"The note's on my fridge now. As a reminder of how bad it was." Anna, Brooklyn

"One for him, one for me. We both clock off at seven." Kirsty, Glasgow
"The ringleader still barks. The other two don't join in." Maria, Perth








"So me yelling 'BE QUIET' isn't helping?!"a comment with 37,000 likes

You know the moment. The bell goes, he goes off, and before you can stop yourself you're at the door shouting QUIET over him. Then the stairs, where you avoid the neighbour. Then the note: "Your dog barks all day." Then the email from the building.
None of this makes you a bad owner. You'd never hurt him. You just want a normal bark and then quiet. So you've tried things.
Look at the drawer again. Every one of them either punishes him after he barks, or only works while you're standing there. None of them tells him the one thing he needs to hear.
He isn't being naughty. He thinks guarding the house is his job, and nobody has ever told him he's allowed to clock off.
Little dogs were bred to raise the alarm. To him, every van, bell and footstep is a shift he has to work, and your shouting sounds like backup.
Picture a guard whose shift never ends. Nobody relieves him, so he jumps at every sound, all day, every day. Now picture someone walking up, tapping his shoulder and saying "I've got it, you're off." That's the job of the stone.
Hushstone gives him a signal he can read. The stone goes on, you say the same short sentence, you reward him for looking at you instead of the door. Ten seconds, a few times a day, at the moments he usually goes off.
Dogs learn by pairing. Do it for a few days and the stone on his chest starts to mean one thing: someone else is on watch. He still hears the van. He just stops treating it as his problem.
A word changes with your mood. The stone doesn't. That's why it works where "QUIET" didn't.

"The routine is the training. The stone is what makes him remember it when I'm not there to say it."Megan Hale, CPDT-KA
Every bark gadget corrects him after he starts. Hushstone tells him he's off duty before he does.
After the bark: the beep, the spray, the zap, the shout. He barks, something unpleasant happens, he barks again, louder. Or he gets used to it.
Before the trigger: the stone, the sentence, the look. He knows his shift is over before the van arrives. One woof, then he lies down.

No two sheens are alike: yours will be its own. If you can't see the gold move in daylight, we send another stone. That's the Gold-or-Swapped promise.



What to do instead of yelling QUIET, right then, at the door.

1. Stone on, same sentence. Slide it on and say the same few words every time: "You're off duty." Before the post, before your call, before the hallway gets busy.

2. Say his name, reward the look. When he looks at you instead of the door, that's the moment: his name, a treat or a scratch. Ten seconds. He's learning that you're on watch now.

3. Off at night, on its dish. Take it off at bedtime and rest it on its selenite dish. The crystal keepers' way to recharge a stone; for you, it's the end of his shift, every night.
When he does bark: don't shout over him. One calm "thank you, I've got it", stand between him and the door for a second, then the routine. You're relieving him, not arguing with him.
A cord on a dog's neck deserves straight rules, so here they are. We'd rather tell you than have you find out.
Fits necks from about 20 cm (8 in), a chihuahua, to 60 cm (24 in), a lab.


Day 1.
"Did the routine before the post. He barked twice, looked at me, sat. I didn't believe it."Rachel, 12:46 pm
Week 1.
"He's started coming to me when the hallway gets busy, instead of the door."Tom, Vancouver
Week 2.
"One woof at the bell. Then he lies back down. Every time."Jess, Leeds
Day 30.
"The woman downstairs says she can't hear him any more. I never told her about the stone."Anna, Brooklyn
Most owners hear a difference at the first doorbell; some dogs take two weeks. The One-Woof Promise gives you 30 days to find out.

30 days, keep the stone
He still barks when it matters. A stranger at the gate, a smoke alarm, a knock at 2 am: he'll tell you. That's his job and he keeps it.
He stops at "enough". One woof, maybe two, then he looks at you and stands down.
Still a guard. Just off duty. He hasn't lost his spark. He's stopped working a shift nobody gave him.
"It's just a normal bark now. Once I say that's enough, it stops."Dana K., Phoenix
Not for every dog. If he bites, panics until he hurts himself, or is already under a vet's care for anxiety, see your vet or a behaviourist first; Hushstone can sit alongside that plan, not replace it. And if you want a dog who never barks, this isn't it.

86 %
heard fewer barks at the door within 14 days
91 %
were still doing the routine at day 30
79 %
felt calmer at the door themselves
Hushstone owner survey, n = 312 owners, 30 days after delivery, December 2026; self-reported.
| Hushstone | Bark collar | Citronella spray | Ultrasonic box | Calming chews | A trainer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing he feels, hears or swallows | ✓ | ✗ shock or beep | ✗ spray in his face | ✗ a sound he hears | ✗ swallowed daily | ✓ |
| Works before the bark, not after | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| He doesn't get used to it | ✓ the routine builds | ✗ | ✗ often within weeks | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Works when you're busy | ✓ he wears it | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ only while she's there |
| Cost in year one | from $35 a dog, once | $35-120 + batteries | $40 + refills | $28-60 | ~$360 | $120 a session |
| Keep it if it fails | ✓ 30 days, no return | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
A good trainer is worth every cent. The routine is the one they'd teach you; Hushstone is what makes it stick between sessions.

keep it if it fails


One hears a leaf, and it's a full intruder alert in stereo. The ringleader goes, the others back him up. A signal on one dog doesn't stop the choir: each dog needs his own. So the Pair is $35 a dog and the Pack Set $33.33, with the recharge dish for all three stones.
Or one for him and one for you. The cord is long enough to wear yourself, and the routine works better when you're both in it: same stone on, same sentence, his calm and yours.


Megan Hale, CPDT-KAcertified professional dog trainer, 11 years with reactive and noisy dogs, Portland
"I don't sell stones, I teach routines. The trouble is, owners drop them by week two, and dogs only learn what's repeated. The stone is the cue that stays the same when you're tired and stressed. Put it on, same words, reward the look. That's the whole method, and it's the one I'd teach you in a $120 session."
The routine in the Off-Duty Method: reviewed by Megan Hale, CPDT-KA
★★★★★ 4.8 out of 5 · 2,140 reviews
The one shouting at her dog on the landing. Two weeks in, the woman downstairs asked if I'd moved him out.
I wanted something that doesn't hurt him, and this doesn't even touch him. It's a routine and a stone. He's calmer and so am I.
We're doing classes, which take months. This is what we do between them, and the trainer noticed the difference in week two.
I tense up at the door and he feels it. Now we both put ours on at seven, and the evenings are ours again.
I work from the spare room. The courier comes at 2:40 every day. Now it's one woof and he's back under my desk.
The ringleader still lets out a bark. The other two stay down. Wish the cords came in colours to tell them apart.


The stone is half of it. The other half is knowing what to do on day 3 when he barks anyway, and what to say to the neighbour in the meantime. So these come with it, free with this batch.
Give it 30 days. If he isn't giving you one woof instead of ten, email us. We refund every cent. You keep the stone. No return, no form, and nobody will ever ask you to change a review to get your money.
We can do this because fewer than 3 in 100 owners ask.
Gold or swapped. If you can't see the gold move in daylight, we send you another stone, free.
for one dog

two dogs, or one for him and one for you

three dogs, with the recharge dish

In every box: the stone on its braided cord, a velvet box, and the routine card: "Stone on. Same sentence. Off at night."
"Got the Pair for my two. The little one was the ringleader. Now it's one woof from her and nothing from him."Steph L., Halifax
Less than one session with a trainer, for the routine every day.
Batch 01: 412 of 2,000 stones left. When it's gone, so are the four gifts.
The One-Woof Promise · 30 days · keep the stone
"A normal bark, then quiet. That's all I ever wanted."Dana K., PhoenixGive him the night off · The Pair, $69.99
Because he needs something that's the same every time. Your voice changes when you're tired or cross; a stone on his chest doesn't. Paired with the 10-second routine, it becomes his signal that someone else is on watch. Certified trainer Megan Hale reviewed the routine in the guide. And if it does nothing for him in 30 days, you get every cent back and keep it.
On him, while you're around, yes: snug with two fingers under the cord, tail trimmed. Take it off when he's alone or crated, at night (it rests on its dish) and for rough play. Retire a chipped stone. Lost-Stone Protection replaces a lost, chewed or chipped one for 12 months.
Yes. A stranger at the gate, a smoke alarm, a knock at 2 am: he'll tell you. What changes is the ten barks at the van. "It's just a normal bark now," as Dana put it. Not what you get? The One-Woof Promise.
Most owners hear it at the first doorbell after the routine; some dogs take two weeks. 86 % of owners heard fewer barks at the door within 14 days (survey, n = 312). You have 30 days to see it, or your money back.
Yes: golden sheen obsidian from Jalisco, Mexico, natural volcanic glass. Some sellers call obsidian "fake glass"; it's glass the way a volcano makes it. The fake is goldstone, man-made glass with copper glitter. Test yours: tilt it in daylight and the gold slides across it. If it doesn't, we send another stone.
One each. When one starts they all join in, and each dog needs his own signal. The Pair works out at $35 a dog, the Pack Set at $33.33 with the recharge dish for all three.
It ships free and tracked from our fulfilment partner, 5-7 business days, with a tracking email the day it leaves. Refunds: within 30 days, one email, every cent back. No return to post, nothing to send anywhere, no review conditions.
It's not worn when he's alone: the cord stays off when nobody's watching. What does carry over is the calm he practises with you. Do the routine in the quiet minutes before you leave, take the stone off, say your usual goodbye, and put on The Clock-Off Playlist (in the Pair and the Pack Set): dogs in kennels slept more and barked less to classical music (Kogan, 2012).
The sliding closure fits necks from about 20 cm (8 in), a chihuahua, to 60 cm (24 in), a lab. On a small dog, slide it snug and trim or knot the tail. The stone is 16 mm and about 5 g.
Yes. It doesn't touch, sound, spray or enter his body, so it sits alongside classes, a behaviourist's plan or medication your vet prescribed. Trainers like it for the days between sessions.
Every night. Take the stone off at bedtime, dry it, rest it on the selenite dish. Crystal keepers rest their stones on selenite overnight; for you, it's the end of his shift and the cord off his neck while he sleeps. The dish is in the Pack Set, or $24.99 on its own.
Retire it: a chip has a sharp edge. Obsidian is glass and can chip if it hits a hard floor. With Lost-Stone Protection (free in the Pack Set, $4.99 otherwise), we send a new one.
The stone and cord can: dry them with the cloth before the dish. The selenite dish must never get wet; water dissolves it.
Yes. The cord is long enough for a human neck, and plenty of owners wear one: "one for him, one for you" is why the Pair is our most popular set. Same stone, same routine, both of you clocking off.
Still have a question? Email hello@hushstone.com and a real person, Sam, replies within a day.
30 days, keep the stone