[yorkietalkjilly]

I lived next to 2 of the worst barkers there are for 4 years, Corgis who wanted to herd everyone and every thing but since they were stuck in a yard, they tried to do it with their vocalizing. It was terrible! It was nonstop & it went on for hours at a time, literally, with only slight relief and when it was quiet, you were waiting for the inevitable. The harassing noise was so loud and constant, it got abusive. I had to sleep on the couch in the den many nights to get some rest, though it wasn't that much relief as they were still very easily heard.

But when it came down to it and she had to, the owner found a way to stop their excessive barking and taught them both another, better way. Now they bark like regular dogs and stop within a reasonable time - or the owner stops them. I simply don't condone putting an animal under anesthesia and performing a procedure on its vocal cords to correct a behavior problem. If it is done for a medical reason or something other than behavior-related barking, that is different. But to subject an animal to potentially losing its voice, having a lifelong scarred & potentially painful, problematic vocal cord & subsequent problems mentioned in that article and elsewhere because it barks too much seems barbaric to me. I wouldn't even wish it on those two Corgis during their barking orgies.

Hearing some of the surgically altered dogs barked their choked, raspy, painful sound is awful to listen to for me! I can't stand to hear the little things. I can't imagine what that feels like to try to do. There are just too many other ways to deal successfully with barking than surgical, lifelong alteration and the potential problems to me. I have often wondered if a dog like Tibbe, who expresses himself so readily & freely(and thank goodness for it when a stranger is standing on the porch at night or when I'm gone or something!), wouldn't be psychologically affected somehow if he couldn't bark out his alarm and communicate freely and normally as a dog but could only choke out a chortle. I think it could very easily change him in some basic way.