DeBarking - Page 2

Okay, this is just an out loud thought. Don't get a Bassett Hound or a Corgi or any "yapper" if you can not put up with it or have close neighbors. As I stated before. Find another way, by either giving them away or selling them. I am "guessing" that the dog would miss his bark more than he would miss you. vomv: have you tried a water hose. Tell her no, then when she barks again, squirt her quickly and say no. Keep this up and she will surely get the message. If not, then do not let her out without a leash on her and you on the other end of the leash, and correct her with the old "snap" and a no. A lot of work I know, but what the hey. You love her and you are home all day anyway. Surgery is not the answer. I know that these are two simple and well known ways to break a bad habit, but I am "guessing" that they have not been used. A third way would be to put a muzzle on her, just when she is out. Hard to really bark wearing a muzzle. At least not loud.

I don't honestly think that there is any dog that cannot be trained not to bark; the training just has to be done in a manner which the dog understands. I have several dogs that live with me that *love* to bark, yet none of them bark without reason and stop immidiatly after they are told to "be quiet". Training a dog not to bark involves consistent correction, a correction that occurs every time a dog barks without cause. In the canine family corrections are given by grabbing the nose/neck and shaking. You can do the same, give a shake to the scruff or a firm grab on the nose, the intensity of the correction should be based on your dog's tolerance to correction. If it does not phase the dog, the correction needs to be stronger, if the dog is traumatized by the strength of correction the next one should be easier. Its the same way a mother dog would correct her puppies. It is a correction dogs understand naturally. LOL, I am planning on purchasing a Corgi for show later this year...I guess I will see how that goes.

Do right and blackrooster, I'll say the same thing as Carebear- "you don't walk in my shoes so please don't judge me"! A person asked a damn question and some of us gave our experiences,so don't make us feel bad for what we've chosen to do. At that time, I felt it was right and the only way to control my household. I'm NOT giving away a dog I LOVE just because it barks. It's not that bad to debark dogs, thus now, I'd not do it again. Which is what I said in my first reply. Keep your shitty comments to yourself as I was JUST offering my experience.

Do Righ et al, trust me, I never asked for the bassett. No one else wanted her when her owner went in the Air Force. She was an adult dog very spolied and already set in her ways. I was an experienced dog owner, trainer, and vet tech and I tried everythign I knew to quiet this dog. I knew I was going to have her for another 3 to 5 years until her owner was discharged. She barked 24/7 for the first 2 years and although I lived in an agricultural area in the middle of 5 acres, I had neighbors who were not sleeping well at night. Bringing her inside did no good either as I already had 2 housedogs that hated her and she needed to be crated and kept away from them. Kenneling her with another dog didn't help either, she'd bark and her mate would just stand there looking at her cocking his head trying to figure out where all that noise was coming from. If I brought her inside and crated her, you guessed it, she barked 24/7. I did what I had to to do to save her life andmy onw sanity; I had her debarked. 2 hours after the surgery she was on her feet trying to bark and looking for food. I've seen other dogs debarked when I worked as a tech and the success of the surgery depends upon the skill of the vet. It was either debark the dog or have her put down and her owner would have had no dog when she returned to the states. I ended up with a number of dogs that way, owners rejects ro abandoned at my kennel when I boarded. I was called resuce then, it was called taking dogs no one else wanted so they wouldn't be killed. I would have much rather used the space and spent the money on my own dogs I showed and bred, but sometimes things just don't work out the way you want them to. Sometimes you just do what you have to do.

Olga, since you are a sensible dog person, if you get a Corgi puppy and train it right from the start, you may have success teaching it not to bark. Every Corgi I've ever been around barks every time one of its front feet hits the ground .... it's an expression of joy for a Corgi to bark LOL. I've thought of a Corgi myself, but the barking has put me off. Let us know how you make out with yours. Someone told me that the Pembrokes are normally quieter than the cardigans. Not sure if that's true or not.

Correction: Should have said "it wasn't call rescue then..............."

Interesting thread. In some municipal jurisdictions it is illegal to surgically "debark" a dog, due to gangbangers using "debarked" dogs for security. I am not sure about all places that have this rule, but it tends to be large municipalities where gang activity is high. A dog can be taught not necessarily to not bark, but to stop barking when told to do so. I often have as many as five (5) dogs in the house and if they become excited the noise is deafening. I am able to quickly command all of them to "cool it" and reduce the hard barking to a few barks and some loud whimpers. Outside dogs that constantly bark will definitely annoy the neighbours and can cause serious problems with local law enforcement. Our neighbours have a right to peace and quiet, and we all must respect that. The easy ways to reduce excessive barking for outside dogs is to have the kennel walls constructed in such a way that the loud barkers cannot see each other. A small radio helps as well, as the noise from it will mask light sounds that will cause a dog to bark. When I am out of the house I tend to keep a small radio on inside in order to keep the dogs calmer. It's not just the barking, as I really care if they bark all day inside the house while I am gone. It's just that they can become very excited and start destroying the house and pick on each other if they become too excited. Bob-O

Dear Brandi. (1) Comments were asked for at the start of this thread. (2) You yourself state that you would not do it again (I think that is what you tried to say but the word "thus" has thrown me for a loop. I am taking it as "though". (3) People get judged all of the time by others who "have not walked in their shoes". What the heck do you think a "Judge" is? What the heck do you think a "voter" is. What the heck do you think a psychologist is? (4) Obviously I (and maybe others) have struck a nerve in you and brought forth feelings of "guilt", so deal with your inner feelings and "do right" from now on. Like you stated "At that time, I felt it was right and the only way to control my household." Now you state that you would not do it again. Another convert. My job is done. Shitty as it was :)

vomveiderheiss-- This is an excellent way to get a dog to quit barking when it is in it's crate. Yelling, banging the crate, etc don't appear to work with some dogs, because they feel you cannot get to them in their crate/sanctuary. Even negative attention is some attention, right? Put a pinch collar or choke chain on the dog. Fasten a long leash to it which passes through the door grate or other area where it can be pulled easily. Then when the dog starts it's barking-inside-the-crate-game, some sharp yanks and "SHUT UP" works very well. The dog is surprised you corrected him in his sanctuary. It works pretty fast. I have a howling squawling barker who sounds like an old coonhound when she gets wound up...After correcting her this way, now all I have to do is put the end of the leash in the door without even hooking it up and she goes silent. She is generally also not so bad anymore. I only heard of this from a friend a couple of weeks ago, and it has already improved my life :-) The she makes noise because she is jealous of the other dogs being out of their crates or having attention from me. NO other dogs should have Mom time but her.

I meant to say, I think this might work even when the dog is not yelling in it's crate. I haven't had to try it in that situation yet. Veronica