Do you agree with debarking your dog?

Question

My sheltie was debarked before we got her. When I found out what that meant [taking the voice box out] i felt HORRIBLE. We didn't know that they had done it to her, but the woman we bought her from had already had her debarked for free because she has a kennel, etc. It makes me so depressed when she trys to bark because it sounds like a cry. But when I hear my other little one bark like crazy it makes me glad it happened. I guess it depends on the situation but I don't agree with it personally! Have you ever considered/done that to your dogs and why?

http://www.americanhumane.org/site/PageServer?pagename=faqs_debarking

please stop talking to me like im a idiot. its just a question and i made it clear that i dont agree with it. just wondering other people's opinions

Answer 1

No, it would not be something that I would do.....but it is far from cruel or inhumane.
The dog doesn't know it is debarked. It still "barks" and the behavior is still there.
I have seen people that had no choice make that decision. If it is that or wear a muzzle every second the dog is outside, I would choose the surgery.
Some people have teally bad neighbors that lead to that kind of thing!!

Answer 2

Debarking a dog should not be done.
First of all, the vocal chords can grow back, therefore, the dog is put through major surgery and the related problems and pain with the surgery, and it may be all for nothing.
The dog needs a voice for many reasons, not the least is to sound warnings to their people and others.

Barking is a behavior that can be reversed without the need for surgery but through training and patience on the part of the owner.


If someone really wants a dog that doesn't bark and doesn't want to take the time to train the dog properly, then a Basenji is a good option. These are great mid-sized dogs, who naturally do not bark.

Answer 3

I don't agree with debarking if it's a lazy person's fix it solution because they couldn't be bothered to commit the time to consistently training a dog to behave in an acceptable manner. However if a dog is a persistent barker, training fails to address the issue & it carries on with nuisance barking which can constitute an actionable nuisance in law or if the owner is renting & they may lose the roof over their head or be forced to owner-surrender the dog to a rescue. Debarking doesn't prevent a dog from barking, but it does lower the range of sounds it can make & extreme cases debarking is the better option for the owner, dog & neighbors who will be able to live their lives without a dog serenading them!

Answer 4

No I do not agree with debarking,but that is my opinion.I have rescued animals for over 15 years and I have dogs now that could not be rehomed after rescuing them.Physical,mental problems etc.And I have 1 dog that barks I think just to bark.He has been diagnosed basically as mental retardation.Hes my lil man.But he will bark at the drop of a pin..Even though at times I think Im gonna go mad and lose my mind, I always think well,he is talking to me,or one of the other dogs or yelling at one of the cats.LOL he is definatly a hand ful.But If I didnt hear him bark,I promise u I would feel lonely and worried.I have had him checked out by 3 dif vets before I was told he was not mentally right.He also suffers with a skin allergy(gets fed Nature's Recipe Healthy Skin).But vets figured that he was abused badly(before being rescued) or was born with the mental part.Either way,I luv him.And even though I do not agree with it, I can not push My beliefs on others owners.I do feel sorry for ur lil doggie though.I bet he thinks he is as loud as Crap and dont relize it.I have only met one woman with a debarked dog.And she had him(pedro) for 9 or 10 years before., she had to move. They told her either to get rid of him or find away to break the bark.So she did debark him.But perdo lived to almost 16 and he after a few weeks was fine,His lil welps to him was giant barks.She loved pedro and I can see why she had it done.Everyone told her to move somewhere else.She was elderly on a fixed income and That apartment was her only hope away from homeless.So in some instances for certain ppl I guess its their only choice.And hun U can not help what happened to That dog before u got her.I am proud of u for giving her a home and That is all that matters.Dont let some of the answers on here upset u,I get alot of disagreeing ppl too.But yahoo ppl are allowed to opinions.Thats what makes yahoo so great, we all have dif opinions and visions on life.

Answer 5

Since you have shelties have home, do your dogs talk a lot? Shelties love to talk. Also, debarking is not "taking the voice box out". The dog doesn't even know they are debark. Imagine if you have to let your dogs out in the morning at 5am on a weekend, you don't want your dog to bark to every little noice, right? If you go to shows, you will see quite a bit of dogs are debark. Why? Because certain breeds love to talk and you have a mean neighbor, you don't want police come to your house for your barking dogs.

Answer 6

Although I prefer not to, in some situations I think it is the best thing. I would rather see a dog debarked than lose it's home, and I would rather see a dog debarked than be constantly yelled at or punished for barking.

Some dogs simply cannot be stopped from barking. The dogs I've seen that are debarked do not seem to notice that their voice is not as loud. Now they can bark to their heart's content without anyone getting annoyed at them.

Answer 7

No, I would never ever agree to something like that. It's just inhumane and cruel in my book. That's like taking out a humans voice box and not giving them the right to speak. Dogs barking can get annoying at times but there are far more better ways to control a dogs barking. But glad you personally don't agree with it either. Can't even believe there are people out there that would even consider doing that to an animal its just not right. Im glad you have her now though and something else bad can't happen to her.

Answer 8

Oh, I am so sorry. Your poor dog. This is the ultimate in cruel mutilation of dogs. That woman should be flogged within an inch of her life. Most vets will refuse to even do an operation like that anymore.
If she operates a kennel, I can only imagine what else is going on there. Maybe a call to Animal Control would be in order. Nothing would be better than to make sure she can't do that to any more dogs in her lifetime.

If it was me, I would call the local paper and let them know what she is doing, and petition in all the area businesses to boycott her.

Answer 9

i wouldn't do that because i depend on my dog for home protection.

our house was broken into from the backyard a couple of times. after we got our pitbull, we have not had a break in. i think people wouldn't take him as seriously if he was debarked. also, i wouldn't want someone to not hear him and think there is no dog, then gets attacked and sues us.

also, my dog doesn't bark unless people aggrivate him or if someone comes on our property.

Answer 10

I agree, that's horrible! In my opinion, if people can't train their dogs not to bark or just lighten up a bit and deal with it, they should find a home that will take the dog As-is. To me it's just as bad as declawing cats. I think it's cruel to take away what nature gave them for no other reason than people being lazy and looking for an easy fix. They're made that way for a reason! Seriously, it's a DOG, they bark! People shouldn't get one if they can't handle that.

Answer 11

Since barking is a behavior that can be trained out of a dog, I think that debarking a dog is HORRIBLE!