Nevermind - Wichita,KS

Didn't see your original post. I had all three of my Samoyeds "de-barked". They still made noise - they could bark and howl but it was all way quieter. The only problem was they couldn't whine so I'd have to pay attention to their breathing if they were hurt. My oldest Sammy lived to age 14 and my others are still alive at 14 and 12. The surgery isn't THAT cruel, especially when you love your pets and putting them down or sending them off is the alternative. We tried bark collars and ultra-sonic devices and neither of them worked. Our only solution was the surgery.

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I'm sorry you didn't get the helpful advice that you were looking for. :( I don't have any personal experience with this, but a friend of mine had it done on her dog. They tried everything else (like you said you have) so the debarking was a last resort, and one that paid off for them. I'd recommend talking to your vet about it and doing lots of research on your own. I bet you can Google it and find things from people who have actually had it done.

Good luck!

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Hi C., Missed your original post. Sorry sweety things were not as you expected. Have you seen It's me or the Dog on Animal Planet? There is a lady that trains hard to manage dogs with their owners. She does an excellent job in about a weeks training. She has trained chewers, biters, diggers, howlers of all types. If you can find it on your cable or TV would be great to watch and get tips on training your barkers.
Have no idea what the surgery entails, call around to other vet clinics and ask alot of questions.
thats your 4 legged baby and we would check for 2nd opinions with/and for Paxton I am sure. So check it out hon.

God Bless and deep breathe, will be ok soon
K. Nana of 5

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I didn't see the original response but can sympathize with you because I have a barker too! He was a puppy when we got him in fall of 2007. When spring 2008 hit and he was able to be outside more, he found his bark! Not just a woof, either. But a long stretch of high pitched barks. (He's a border collie mix). He barked at the people walking by, bunnies, the wind. Out neighbors began to complain even though he is not an outside dog. Just outside to play for a while and never past 9pm. We did training but that doesn't really go into enough depth regarding barking. We decided to get him busy chew toys and treats to scatter throughout the yard so he would be busy sniffing and chewing and hopefully distract him. We ended up going through mediation with our neighbors (they insisted we get a shock collar). I did not want to try a shock collar so we decided on training him ourselves. We used the same command and the neighbors have the same command, Stop. Also, part of the mediation required the neighbors to spend time with our dog so she could get to know him. He sensed her anxiety/stress/anger when she was outside. We even scheduled his outside times around neighbors nap times for her children. We both did a lot of work but it has paid off! He is still a barker, but not near like he used to be. He listens now so much better than he used to and our relationship with our neighbors is so much better. It is constant training though, as soon as he barks and we know it is at nothing, you have to be right there to stop the behavior. By the way, our other neighbor has our dogs brother and they tried a shock collar on him and our dog. Didn't work. They are pretty high strung dogs and it didn't seem to phase them. It can be stressful and some of the comments seem to attack you. If you weren't a responsible pet owner, you wouldn't be seeking advice. Hang in there and good luck!

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Please don't do this. Be a responsible dog owner and appropriately teach them behavior techniques to stop barking. Find an animal trainer to help you. Your dogs will be healthier, and it will save you money.

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I didn't see your original post, and it sounds like you got some negative off-topic comments. I'm so sorry; that has happened to me, as well, and it's so hurtful. It sounds like you have dogs that bark. My 2 dogs are family to me, too, so when our dachshund decided to start barking, we bought a citronela collar on amazon.com. It worked like a charm. It's a collar with a small little box on it that contains refillable cironela (the harmless stuff that keeps bugs away!). It's sound activated, so whenever she barks, it shoots out a quick, gentle burst of citronela. Maybe you could give it a try, and good luck to you.

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I never saw your original question, but if your looking for a way to get a dog to stop barking....we bought a colar (not a shock colar, but it vibrates) for our pug that we have had for 8 years and would bark at everything. Just a few days with this colar on she stopped. I've since taken the colar off and only put it back on if she acts up again. We got it off of Petco's website...it was only like $30. Good luck!

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Hi C., love your name, really pretty. I don't know about the surgery, but maybe try to train them with a zapper device, they sell them at pet stores. Our neighbor did that and it has worked, thinking of it myself actually for our two yappy dogs. When you press the button it sends a little shock to the dog thru the special collar. Just a thought...and I'm with you our dogs are our babies and very much a part of our family. Good luck and God Bless.

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Dogs sense our anxiety and if you approach bad behavior with anxiety it's going to only intensify the bad behavior.

Have you sought the help of a animal behaviorist? Not an animal trainer but a true behaviorist. Some one that will not only teach your dogs, but teach you how to approach the situation.

Dogs bark, it's what they do. I don't not believe in shock collars or surgery for something that comes natural to them.
But you can teach them what to and not to bark at.

How's their exercise, do you get them out and walk them for at least an hour a day. I'm not talking about playing in the backyard, they need job and a proper walk helps give them something to focus their energy at.

How do you correct their behavior, do you tell them to stop in a higher pitched voice. Screaming or high pitched voice commands is a big no-no. When the bark go get a treat and have them sit, give the treat. If they go to bark again, have them sit again, then treat.

Pet Connection in Mission, KS has a great classes that are fairly reasonable. They will help you address specific problems.

Good Luck.

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Research the surgery. Try the different collars. Do what is best for your situation. It's nice to get advise, but ultimately you have to do what's right for your family. I don't know anything about the surgery, but I bet a vet can give you a good idea of what to expect. Get a couple of professional opinions. Best of luck!

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Why not a bark collar, that is supposed to help. Mine bark if someone goes down the street be it a person, kid, or dog. But both are good with kids, when they have had enough they go hide.

I'm sorry to hear you have a barker. I didn't see your original message, so I don't know what kind of dog you have. We had a pure bred poodle who was a barker. She was actually the first poodle that I had ever had that was a barker. Our long time vet tried valium, then prozac.(This was tried in case she was just a nervous dog.) Finally a bark collar. The bark collar worked somewhat, but I hated seeing her jump. The vet fianlly decided that our beloved pet had a form of "retardation" and her mother had been overbred. He said that is one of the main reasons for a barker. (The other reason is an owner who just doesn't care, but that definitely does NOT sound like you!) I have never heard of whatever kind of surgery you have looked into. Maybe you can see about the medication. It didn't make our dog lethargic, it just didn't work completely for her. Hang in there! Our pets are our babies, too. Good luck with whatever you try. People who haven't had the problem don't understand the frustration trying to solve it.

Hey I didn't see your original request.I am sure sorry you got frustrated.I have had that before,sometimes you can get great advice and sometimes people are just cruel and judgemental.I am against debarking myself,I think it's kind of cruel.I get annoyed by barking dogs but your taking away their voice.I have a Jack Russell and she really doesn't bark that bad only when people are walking down the street,etc.Sometimes the smaller and terrier breeds can be bad about that but fortunately I haven't had to deal with that yet so I don't know what to say.I have since I have been married for 11 years been pressured by my Husband to get rid of every pet I have ever had!He would even complain about the senior sheltie I had when we got married that was a great dog!I know how you feel and you are not picking the dogs over him!If they were tearing up the house really bad or something then that would be different!I was going to suggest the collars but I see you have tried them.I have heard of some people who debarked but don't know how things went when they had the surgery.Have you tried obedience classes?Have you seen that show Dog Whisperer?Maybe you could find someone that could help you to get them to stop on your command?Good luck!

Please think this over before youdo anything you will regret. I am a believer in when we commit to having animals
we stick with it, no matter what! You have had these dogs
for five years? How could you get rid of them? I never
have understood people that let their spouses run their
lives, especially when it comes to animals. My husband doesn't like them, or my wife doesn't like them. Why did
you get them in the first place? There are so many other
things you can do instead of getting rid of them and surgery.
Please think this through.

Your request sounds very frustrated. I tryed the shock collars and did not like the way it hurt my collies. I had the two collies debarked. The surgery went very well. Then the collies tryed to bark and we only heard whispers.
This made my neihbors much happier.
The dogs lived 5 plus years after we debarked them. Collies do not have long lives in very hot areas. We were living in North Carolinia at the time.
I would debark any of my current dogs if need be. My goldens are lazy.

People can be sooooooo judgmental! Some dogs just bark no matter what "counseling" or "training" is done - it's in their nature. I would suggest calling your vet and checking as I know the surgeries depend on the size of the dog etc. My best friend's parents had their husky's chords cut for the same reason and the dog lived until he was like 16! It doesn't hurt them in the long run. Sorry I don't have a vet for you to call - I don't have dogs. I wish you the best and empathize with you.

No one has suggested the Dog Wisperer. I don't know if you ever watch his show Fridays on National Geographic Channel, but he's really good-he's a friggin miracle worker! Cesar rehabilitates dogs and trains people. He also has a web-site: cesarmillaninc.com. Check out his web-site. There is information there that pertains to your circumstance. There's a section on his web-site dealing with behavioral issues. Included in behavioral issues is "nuisance barking." I do not recommend removing a dogs ability to bark. It's how they communicate with us. How would Lassie have ever warned anybody that Timmy had fallen down the well if she couldn't bark? Barks also let would-be burglars know that there's a watchdog(s) in the home. I encourage you to exhaust all other options before even considering having this procedure done on your dogs.

Good luck.

i think you are talking about an opperation on your dogs throat? If it is about quieting your dogs through an operation i had a friend that did that and she said it didn't work to well.

i didn't read your original request, but my ex husband and i got 2 of our dogs "debarked." (we have 4 dogs and 2 are inside that didn't bark much...i now have those 2 and he kept the 2 "debarked" dogs) they are still VERY healthy and happy dogs. they can still make noise and bark quietly, but i mean...it's quiet. it's like a person whispering...so if they need something or anything is happening...you can still hear them. hope this helps and good luck to you. i could NEVER imagine putting my dogs down or getting rid of them.

Hi C., I didn't see your first response, but but a feel for what you were asking. I have a barker - and she's my baby. Actually got her because I wanted a baby something around, but I told hubby that she was for my girls - LOL!! Anyway, Snowflake barks at everything and not just once but over and over and over. I got her one of those shock collers (and yes I got called mean by lots of people), but it worked for her. She stopped barking. We got it at PetsMart on line (but I know that they carry them in the store also - I just don't live near a store). So you may consider getting one of those if you are worried about the surgery. Sorry I can't give you info on the surgery - but I do understand how hard it is to have a barker at home.

Good luck!!