I would never consider debarking, I would try the meds, the training, the behaviorist, and as a last ditch effort, I would use a bark collar. My brothers neighbor uses a bark collar on his small dog...rat terrier size little dog....it took them about 2 days to break that dog from barking, and now, they just remove the battery, put the collar on the dog, and it refuses to bark. My cardiologist has a pack of bird dogs that he hunts with. One was not working out at all because the dog got so excited he barked continually when in the field.....apparently they cant do that when they are pointing out birds....he told me he had used bark collars over the years, with excellent results. I would certainly try this before I debarked a dog. I have a female that barks like a maniac whenever she see a man, any where, any time, including my son! It is like he is from ISIS and is here to behead us all!!! She acts like she has never seen him before and Kara has been with us for at least 9 years. I am not in danger of loosing her or my home, so I just tolerate it.....but I would use a bark collar on her if I had to choose between losing her or resolving the barking issue. Now if I did the bark collar and it did not work, then I think I would have to find someone (a sweet little old widow lady that was not looking to remarry!) that had no males around the house and rehome her....I just do not think I could debark any of my dogs! |