Anti barking collar?

Question

I bought a citronella anti barking collar for my barking howling beagle. I love her to bits and my neighbours arent happy she can really howl and bark. Now I am a huge animal lover. so before I am attacked I want to say i want peoples opinion, is removing their vocal cords cruel?

Answer 1

Debarking a dog is not "cruel". It isn't my first choice and I, personally, have never done it to one of my own dogs. But if a dog is in danger of losing his home, it may be an option, but should be the last resort.

First, I try training (real training), then the citronella collar, then an electronic collar and only as a last resort would I debark a dog.

You have been receiving some really bad advice on this topic regarding your neighbor and allowing your dog to go on and bark. If you own the dog, you are responsible for the nuisance it causes - including barking (noise). Your neighbors didn't get to vote on whether you were going to own a breed known for barking, howling and carrying on. You dont' have the right to impose your lack of control of your pet on the neighborhood. If you push that angle, you'll lose. All communities have nuisance laws. You can be cited by the police or animal control if you don't tone that dog down. You can lose him entirely. This is a serious matter and you should not have the mentality that your neighbors must endure your dog's nonsense - they won't. You will be fined and you could lose your dog. This is your responsibility and you CAN do something to stop it without causing the dog to lose it's home or possibly it's life. Disgruntled neighbors have been known to poison or otherwise kill an annoying dog if some other legal means of quieting that dog down do not work. You need to address this problem - NOW. Get a trainer. Get some help. If that means debarking - so be it. Your neighbors have already warned you. They are fed up. Be responsible and quiet your dog.

Answer 2

These collars are not meant to be worn constantly. Your dog will be stressed if its left alone all day and it will become anti-social. A puppy must be fed about four times a day and given access to your garden to pee and poo. A puppy that is left alone will never become potty trained/house trained, it will pee on the floor, chew the furniture and cause a lot of damage. A dog also needs several walks EVERY DAY. Some idiots think that they can be locked up in a cage all day. This will only limited the mess to a cage, however the dog will be unhappy. Think about it, could you cross your legs for several hours if you were not allowed to go to the bathroom. At the very least a puppy or even an older dog will be in pain. An anti barking collar is not the answer. Get a cat, install a cat flap and train it to use a litter tray.

Answer 3

Your better off to get rid of your dog as to remove there vocal cords is VERY VERY CRUEL. Would you want yours removed? Beagles are barkers and if you can't put up with that then get rid of your dog. Barking is a dogs only way of telling you something if it's wrong. They also bark to defend there home but you don't sound like your an animal lover if you want to do that.

Answer 4

My dad raises beagles and I can tell you that they love to bark and howl. My dad's do on occasion, and he usually only has to yell from the to quiet down.
I would NOT get your dog's vocal cords removed, that to me is cruel. It takes away what comes natural, to bark, to be able to warn of danger, etc...

I would try that citronella collar and see how that goes, if that doesn't work then try obdience classes. I think PetCo offers some.

Answer 5

Isn't barking one of the things that makes a dog a dog?

You happen to have a breed that is a barker and a howler. If she's in your house and is barking and howlling, the neighbors really can't complain. If she's outside doing it, they might be able to complain. But she's a dog, it's what they do, it comes with the territory.

Before you decide to do this life changing surgery, if this is such an awful issue for you that you would consider doing this, perhaps the best thing would be for you to do some obedience training.

Honestly, if it doesn't bother you....screw who it does bother.

Answer 6

Debarking a dog=Declawing a cat.

Most animal lovers consider declawing cats cruel(or at least I do). Try a dog trainer. As for the neighbors, it's your dog, not theirs. And it's their problem that she's barking and howling all the time. That's what they were made to do, just like babies are with crying.

Answer 7

You already know the answer to that. Yes. It's cruel. Take your dog to obedience school and have someone help you stop her from barking all the time.

And tell the neighbours to shove off. Would you consider removing a child's vocal cords? Because children can REALLY scream...and scream...and scream. Somehow I doubt your neighbours would complain too much if it was a baby, but because it's a dog they just don't care.

Answer 8

look debarking a dog is a surgery, it is not considered cruelity to animals since it doesnt cause them pain or any intense aftermath since they can still act like they are barking jus tno noise will come out. I am sure there are exceptions to this but we debarked a few at my vets and it came out fine.
the collars are a MUCH easier method and is worth a try. try out the citernella first before you ever try the shock collars.
and to teh person who said to go to obdience classes, you obviously have never owned a beagle, its instinct for them to bark like that, and chances are it will take years to train it out of them!

Answer 9

Try everthing first - it is cruel but sometimes a necessary cruelty. If you can't move or find a place for your barker this may be the only way to keep her from the shelter.

Just make sure the vet does it right - sometimes they come out of it with a horrible horse sounding voice.

Good Luck.

Answer 10

I know this is mean but get a Shock collar when ever the dog barks or maks noise it will shock it and it should stop