what is de-barking????? - Page 1

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/picturegallery/6382.html

is this a surgical procedure???  never herd of it before

can someone please explain how the procedure is done.

sounds cruel...

It is a surgical procedure.  I believe it's mainly carried out in the USA (like the de-clawing of cats) for noise prevention.  I think the "vocal cords" are cut/removed, but there's sure to be someone on here that can give you more accurate and detailed info.

 "sounds cruel..."

No more than a castration is cruel.  Look at it this way.  If you have a very high drive or hyper pet dog that barks constantly, and you are in a city or neighborhood where your dog disturbs others, is it more cruel to have to constanty correct the dog, or keep it in all the time, or have a vet snip the vocal chords (the dog will have some temporary, minor discomfort)?  What if you've been reported to animal control for a nuisance and they're threatening to confiscate (and then euthanize) the dog?  A debarked dog can bark to its heart's content, without its owner correcting it constantly.  Debarked dogs still make a sound, but it's more akin to a canine whisper.

I know Sheltie and Collie breeders debark a lot of their dogs, because they're very talkative.  I had a friend whose Collie would get in your face and staccato bark non-stop.  To a dog person it was endearing, but to neighbors, such behavior can drive a person nuts.

Now, I think all training solutions should be exhausted before resorting to surgery, but in some cases, debarking is truly the most humane solution.

YMMV,

Micky

Micky D, What does YMMV mean please?

 Your Mileage May Vary.  In other words, you may have a valid, but different, opinion. 

This guy got away with keeping 37 dogs in a neighborhood of Million dollar homes, due to the fact he had the dogs in a quonset, and all had been debarked.

http://archive.seacoastonline.com/2002news/rock/r1_18a.htm

below describes the surgery

http://www.stopdogfrombarking.com/dogsurgery.html

wonder if i can get it done on my hubby.....yip yip yip

No its not something that i like the sound of dogs bark to communicate taking that away is cruel IMO

Thanks for that Micky D... a new one to me!

Tracie, Cousin Ashby said, if you put one of the ferrets down hubby's throat while he is snoring, the ferret can perform the surgery!

 "No its not something that i like the sound of dogs bark to communicate taking that away is cruel IMO"

The dog can still bark, at least the ones I've seen at shows still bark.  They seem perfectly happy, wagging tails, joy at being with their owners, etc.

Let me modify your statement:

"No its not something that i like dogs mate because it's a basic survival need taking that away is cruel IMO"

So, is spaying or castrating a dog cruel?  It takes away something we may not like, but they experience pleasure from it.  They don't realize it causes overpopulation, and the millions of euthanizations a year.