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Dusty

How is the emotional health of my dog effected by removing his bark?


Asked by Dusty on Oct 5th 2007 in Other Health & Wellness
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Shelby

From personal experience, if you are removing the bark just to make the dog stop barking, it won't happen.

Instead it just makes a horrible sounding yodel sound.


Shelby answered on 10/5/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 4 Report this answer


Gracie

I'm not sure why you would want to remove your dogs ablity to bark?? I have found that my dogs have many different barks. When they are excited, afraid want to play or go out-side. It is their form of communication. It is how they "talk" to me.


Gracie answered on 10/5/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 5 Report this answer


Guest

I do not believe in de-barking, it stems on the cruel side to me. And as Shelby said, the dog doesn't stop barking, instead it has this horrible raspy sound to it.

At a dog show we went to a lot of the dogs were debarked, my heart broke for them.

Why do you want do debark your dog?


Guest 781681 answered on 10/5/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 4 Report this answer


Pippin CGC

I am not sure but if i were you I'd ask myself how I'd feel if my voice box were cut out & I no longer could communicate verbally with anyone.
I seriously hope you are not considering maiming you dog like this...I can't imagine looking at my dog everyday & hearing it struggle to bark & the noise that would come out...I could not live with myself...Horrible & sick!!!


Pippin CGC answered on 10/5/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 6 Report this answer


Louie - Adopted!!

My neighbors debarked one of their many chihuahuas and I have noticed that all of the others will bark at me for a couple of seconds and then will walk away. The debarked one will just keep rasping and rasping long after the others are gone. To me it seems like the dog gets frustrated that no one can hear him and I can imagine that that has a huge emotional toll on him. I feel very bad for him.


Louie - Adopted!! answered on 10/5/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 5 Report this answer


KAHLUA

This is just my personal opinion, but i feel this is extremely cruel, and self centered, why on earth, would you choose a dog as a pet, knowing that dogs bark, if you don't like barking? Dogs bark, they bark for hundreds of reasons, they arent human, they cant sign to you what they need, or if they're hurting. or if they're scared, alarmed, frusterated, happy, excited, EVERYTHING. It's what makes a dog a dog!

How do you THINK it will effect your dog emotionally? If you're concerned about it at all, chances are you shouldn't do it... trust your instinct. Just like a dogs instinct, is to bark. Makes me sad =[


KAHLUA answered on 10/5/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 5 Report this answer


Lexi

Um - sorry - but that makes about as much sense as removing your own vocal chords. Have you thought about training? There are lots of things you can do. You need to isolate when and why he barks and treat that. Ask a neighbor to help illicit his bark, and to find out when and why, then undo that behavior, OR IF he barks when you're there, that is fairly easy to fix. OR - you need to invest in a no-bark collar, which emits a tiny shock - more like a vibration, when a dog barks. These are less than $100, and there's no cutting on his bodily parts to remove something that comes so naturally to him. What if he ever alerts you to an intruder or something? Please do not cut his vocal chords - please.


Lexi answered on 10/5/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 3 Report this answer


Jack

I'm with those who think that this is a cruel procedure. I think it would be emotionally devastating to any thinking creature, dog or otherwise.

I've been around a LOT of dogs with a LOT of problems, some serious and some trivial.

I've NEVER seen a dog who didn't respond well to a professional training session from a good, educated dog behavioralist.

Please don't do anything like this to your dog. Not only will it not solve you problem (your neighbors will still hear a bark, but it will raspy), it really is an arcane practice that most good vets highly discourage.

I am 100% convinced that if you spend the time and money that you would have spent on this procedure to hire a dog trainer to help you work through whatever barking problem your dog has.

The dog isn't doing anything that can't be solved with some instruction and dedication.


Jack answered on 10/6/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 3 Report this answer


ELVIS 2004 ~ 2008

The emotional health of your dog cannot help but to be affected.
It is AWFUL!
If your dog is barking there is a reason. He could be bored, need more exercise, a health problem. I would see a vet and/or a canine consultant first.
De-barking seems to really bother them. I knew a breeder that had all of her shelties de-barked, 20 or so. Every single one of her dogs constantly made a horrible sound non-stop. It was like they had something to say and it wasn't coming out so as it could be understood....so they tried over and over and over and over again to get the right message out.


ELVIS 2004 ~ 2008 answered on 10/6/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 3 Report this answer


Daisy

I have a link to a post on debarking. You might want to read it before you make your desision.

www.showdog.com


Daisy answered on 10/6/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 2 Report this answer


Tikka

Dusty is only one year old! I think it would be incredibly traumatic and an unnecessary surgical procedure. Please consider training options. If this doesn't work, then you should rehome Dusty with a family that can accommodate him. If you do not like barking, consider a different species other than a dog, like a cat. Or do your research and find a dog that is not known for excessive barking.


Tikka answered on 10/6/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 3 Report this answer


Ferris

I used to think this was cruel until I really understood why people did it and how it is done. The vocal chords are not removed. The vet sedates the dog, opens his mouth, and pricks the vocal chords so that the bark is muffled but not gone. Sometimes, if the dogs are big time barkers, the voice will come back. Maybe not 100% but almost.

Regardless of what some people think, there are dogs out there that simply will always bark. I know some dogs that do flybal and work on the ranch with sheep and yet they never shut up. The Chihuahua the other poster mentioned is a good example. That particular dog probably just loves to bark.

I know lots of debarked dogs and none of them act like they are aware that their bark is different. If they were the alpha before they are still. Other dogs don't even ract to them differently.


Ferris answered on 10/6/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 2 Report this answer


Chloe

As an owner of TWO shelties I experience barking on the "more" side of the scale than other dog breeds.

I agree with another answer about a dog having a certain bark, there's the alert "there's a neighbor around" bark, a "someone on our property-coming to our door" bark, or even a playful bark. What would you resort to if you lost your voice?, (partly - they still have a noise)Perhaps Dusty will resort to destructive behavior to get your attention?

The better alternative is to teach him how to stop, (we use the word "Stop" btw).When barking, say the word sternly & distract his attention - he may just stop out of surprise if you say it loud enough at first. That instant praise,(treat or toy-I use excited sweetness). Distract him by a game of fetch if you need to so he forgets about even barking. If he goes at it again, repeat until eventually it becomes longer or the thing is gone.Do that each time.It takes consistancy but now I can say "Stop" in normal tone & loudness & it works!


Chloe answered on 10/6/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 2 Report this answer


Georgia's Summer Breeze

May I ask why you are wanting to debark?
Just curious.


Georgia's Summer Breeze answered on 10/6/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 1 Report this answer


Jasper

It seems like very few people are actually answering your question, so here's my experience:

Debarked dogs don't seem to know they are debarked. They do still make noise when they "bark", it's just much quieter, and the procedure certainly doesn't stop them from trying to bark!


Jasper answered on 10/6/07. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 2 Report this answer


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