Debarking a Sheltie - Paw Talk

petluvr01 · #1 12-09-2007, 10:10 AM

Anyone who has been around a sheltie knows that they bark loud and A LOT. My puppy is only 6 months old, and he barks constatly and our neighbors golden retreiver, and at my little twin brother and sister. We are afriad that our neighbors will get fed up with him and call the spca or something. I have heard on a website (for shelties) that many people often debark their sheltie. If you don't know what I am talking about, I will explain, if you do, then you can just skip over the next part!

Debarking is a simple process of going in and surgically removing some tissue from where they bark. It is simpler then getting them fixed even. Debarking a dog doesn't take their bark away, but just reduces the volumn of it. They will still be able to bark and evering thing just like normal, it will just be 50% quieter.

We are seriously considering the option. Although we will wait for a while, b/c he is being scheduled to get fixed here shortly and we don't want to put to much on him all at once. We are hoping that after he gets fixed, he will settle down, b/c--also another sheltie trait-- he jumps constantly. It wouldn't be a problem if he didn't jump on my two year old brother and sister, who when he jump is taller than them.

So baisically what this gets down to is: How many people who have debarked their dog ( or sheltie) and it's been a success? For the people who think this is mean to do for a dog, we (if we end up doing it) are just doing it to ensure that some of our non-animal friend neighbors don't call the spca and have him taken away. We want to correct the problem before it happens. Thanks for any advice!

mulder · #2 12-09-2007, 10:11 AM

ummm, all i can say is best wishes

canadiancritter · #3 12-09-2007, 10:46 AM

Well, I have a sheltie,mine doesn't bark alot.

But I don't really think "debarking" is necessary. Maybe train him to stay quite, bark collar or anti-bark type system thing.

Whenever he barks , tell him to sit stay to take his mind off it, you could also just say "no" in a firm voice and thats how we get our dog to stop barking.

Anyways I hope you make the right decision. . . good luck .. .

**Scarlette** · #4 12-09-2007, 11:05 AM

Training should help solve most of the barking and jumping issues.

I'm not sure vets will even do the debarking procedure anymore.

Amethystbelle · #5 12-09-2007, 11:09 AM

Debarking is a banned proceedure in the UK so have not experience with it but it is not something i agree with. Any dog can be trained not to do something, maybe look at some other alternatives such as training him not to do with clicker training it as he is only 6 months old and at that age they can be trained so easily especially with something like clicker training

petluvr01 · #6 12-09-2007, 11:25 AM

ok, Thanks. I just thought I would ask about it, b/c I saw it on a website. I am not sure if vets do it here in the US either. I want to take him to some obedience training things, but my mom wants to wait till spring or summer, b/c of the weather and all. I am truely not sure how to work with clicker training. I will look it up. Thanks for the advice!

canadiancritter · #7 12-09-2007, 11:58 AM

Oh, and for the jumping, whenever he jumps up tell who ever he's jumping on to fold their arms and turn away ignoring him, and that should help with the jumping

HappyDancer · #8 12-09-2007, 01:19 PM

they have a no barking colar that spray citranila in their face everytime they bark, it doesn't hurt them just startles them, we did this with my grandmas dog and along with some training it worked amazing...there are still vets where I live who will do it, but most here refuse, you should try everything else, debarking just seems so unneccesary...the collars go for pretty cheap on amazon...good luck

Sharni · #9 12-09-2007, 01:33 PM

We have a dog at obedience classes who has been debarked. He's a normal little dog other than he cannot bark.

They tried training, collars the whole thing, nothing would stop this little beast. He was on his last warning from the local council, so they opted for the debarking procedure. Both he and they now live a much better life.

I have no problem with debarking, provided the other methods of bark control are used first

***Jade*** · #10 12-09-2007, 01:38 PM

*putting my mod hat on a moment*

I just want to say thanks for keeping this civil thus far, and remind everyone to keep it civil as the thread progresses.

tarita2004 · #11 12-09-2007, 01:59 PM

I concur with others that you can try many other procedures to avoid the surgery. At my parents house we have 3 Pomeranian's (very yappy dogs, lol!) but anyways... we trained them by rollin up a paper (no, we've never hit them with it) and when they'd bark we'd sternly say NO! and if they didn't listen we'd hit the paper on the ground to make a loud noise and say no again. So now whenever they start barking like crazy for no reason we just pick up the paper and they stop

we usually dont even have to say anything

Perhaps it could work for your dog too

Angelnstuff · #12 12-09-2007, 07:49 PM

Allie used to bark like crazy at every little sound.. a Squirt bottle worked wonders! we bought 2 new squirt bottles and wrote "Bark-Be-Gone" on them so people would know there just for the dogs.. when ever they get loud or too routy all we usually have to do is pick one up and they settle down.

altho it helps that both our dogs seem to hate water.

kathydip · #13 12-09-2007, 08:54 PM

I was going to suggest a squirt bottle too.
Frank was a barker and still is a bit. It was suggested to me to teach him to bark on command - in hopes he would then not bark until told to. You can also try teaching "shh" or "quiet". Frank does not seem to have picked up any of those but oddly enough he know "not one word". He would always bark at our neighbors (they have since moved) sweet lab. I started telling him to not say one word to her. I have no idea why that phrase worked. But I have to say it before he sees anyone and starts barking. Sometimes I repeat it to remind him when he's out there.
I can understand the frustration. Some days I threated to debark him myself!

And - why is a dog that has never been hit with a paper still afraid when you smack it against something? I am always amazed by that. Frank and Belle stop dead when I do that yet neither of them have ever been hit with a paper. It's not like it's that loud.
Doggies aree funny!

Vanilla_Rat · #14 12-09-2007, 09:56 PM

Thats because dogs have sensitive ears and loud noises startle them and sound louder to them then they do to us.

Anyway I agree with the above posters.I am not a fan of debarking dogs,because thats what dogs do...they bark.To me it is the same thing as a person who talks alot.We don't cut their vocal cords out and I talk alot sometimes and sometimes I am loud (ask anyone who knows me) - but if it bothers people,they can tell me to be quiet.My point is look at other options to making your dog hush then going for the extreme.

My foster dog Andy barks alot too.Squirt bottles work wonders I have to say and now he doesn't bark if he sees a squirt bottle and also if I say "don't you bark" in a stren voice,he won't bark.He is a sensitive dog tho and tends to get offended easily.

But there are other ways to hush a barking dog (in most cases) without cutting out the vocal cords or even a piece of it.

Sheltiemum · #15 12-19-2007, 05:01 AM

I have a 6 month old Sheltie too. He is a moderate barker. Luckily we live in the country where we don't bother the neighbors. We've been teaching him to do an "inside bark". He is learning to bark much softer on command. Shelties are so smart, and they are quite trainable.