De-barking show dogs - Page 1

Hi all,

As an avid GSD groupie I crossed over to the 'other' side one day a few months back when I went to an all-breed show. We happened to walk past a group of Yorkies that all sounded terribly hoarse. When I asked the owner what the problem was, he admitted, quite openly, that he'd had them all de-barked, stating that he couldn't handle the constant racket that they made. Is this standard practice - I was appalled, surely if you can't handle their yapping, you don't breed them - or am I being unreasonable?

Regards,
Vanessa

Dogs that I know who have been debarked continue to bark, whine and vocalize as any other dog does, it's just less noisy, it's raspy.   I doubt very much dogs realize or care they are less loud than prior to the operation.  Frankly it's a lot better solution than destroying the dog because it's considered a nuisance in the neighborhood due to continuous barking.   I doubt the dogs give a damn one way or the other.

I do agree that I wouldn't do it just because a dog annoyed me, it should be the last resort, not just a matter of convenience, but I feel this way because it is surgery and there are always inherent surgical risks, not because I care whether or not it bothers a dog to be less loud.    

In the past I have debarked many, many dogs.  It is probably the ONLY solution to having a kennel full of dogs that bark all day;  you can try bark collars, but for us at the time it was a solution and NO the dogs do not know or care that they have been debarked.  Would I do it now, NO;  but it is a solution to keeping the dogs versus having to get rid of them for noise control.  Yappy dogs sometimes do not stop all day especially if they are fueled by the other dogs, bitches in season, squirrels, birds and etc.  And if you have been near a group of say shelties, Samoyeds, or Yorkies of just plain barkers,  you know what I mean.  It also allows the kennel owner silence so they can have more dogs.??  Go figure.  Nan

I agree with Sue.  I personally wouldn't want to own a dog whose bark I did not enjoy or could not control and use to my advantage and thus will never ever own one of those breeds that is often debarked, but hey they are not my dogs so who am I to say what is best?  We could say the same for declawing cats or neutering dogs....it's mostly a matter of convenience...

I agree with Abby. In most of the European countries de-barking is illigal. Personally I think if you can't stand the barking or don't know how to handle barking dogs, you shouldn't have dogs, never mind breeding them.
And yes, the same goes for declawing cats (which is illigal in most European countries too).
These are both in-humane practices in my opinion.

Do you think it's more humane for people  to euthanize their dogs or give them up to animal control because the dog is considered a nuisance by the neighborhood and subsequently the neighbors have complained enough that the law will force the owner to make this decision?  Just so you know, the animal shelters here in the states are full of dogs, many of which were surrendered because they bark too much, the neighbors have complained too many times,  and the overwhelming majority of these dogs will not be rehomed,  they will be destroyed.  

It's all fine and good to say people should be able to train their dogs not to bark, but this is not a perfect world and many average pet owners either are not equipped,  do not have the knowledge, or don't have the time to train a dog not to bark.  Just because someone can't train their dog not to bark does not automatically make them unfit to own a dog.   So which is the lesser of supposed evils?  

As far as being inhumane, beyond the fact that this is a surgical procedure requiring general anesthesia, (VERY minor surgery, but surgery nonetheless), why do you think debarking is inhumane? 

De-barking is down right cruel, and inhumane, and it should be illegal everywhere. If you choose to live in a neighborhood that doesn't like dogs barking then it should be you that should have to suffer from a painful operation of getting a new brain implanted in your thick skull. People who surrender their dogs to animal control over a simple solution should NOT have dogs or any animals period. Anti breeding organizations love to pinpoint breeders for being responsible for the overpopulation of animals that are in shelters, but it's actually an overpopulation of irresponsible pet owners who are responsible for the many deaths that these poor animals have to encounter with because the shelter cannot handle the excessive amount of animals that they take in.

I always wonder why my Vets collies sounded werid. Instead of barking they make that coughing sound. Later on I found out that she had them de-barked, and guess what I did soon after? I fired her and got myself a new vet to care for my animals. Theirs no way in hell would I allow a vet that performs unessassary surgries like de-barking or de-clawing to handle my dogs. My dogs are my adopted children. They are my life. I won't let them be cared for by a mad doctor.

If people can't handle the excessive barking in their kennels, don't punish the dog by de-barking them.. Why not do the intelligent way by getting rid of some of these dogs? Stop being a Compulsive animal hoarder.

Oh and declawing cats are also cruel. If you cherish your furnitures that bad, then don't get animals! Get a gold fish instead. They make perfect pets. You can train them to follow your finger.

Btrittany:  Though you didn't answer my question directly, from reading your post I gather the reason you think debarking is inhumane is because it's an elective procedure?  What about spaying and neutering, how do you feel about that? Do you think there is any time spaying and neutering is justified?