The Teacup Warrior

How do we know she lives next to whole families? I must have missed that part. Or don't singles and childless couples live in suburbia anymore? I was raised by a single-parent shift worker, and used to shift-work myself. Trust me, it ain't that hard. Good lord, you really can't win with some people. Ok, I'm walking - this thread seems to just be turning into pointless back-and-forth. Anyone who would like to continue discussing is welcome to PM me... I'm not sure the turn that the conversation is really adding to the thread.

I suggested moving. Apparently that's unrealistic. *shrugs* Hey, it's all groovy. De-barking for all. You've opened my eyes. The shame I'm feeling right now is unbearable. And my handle has nothing to do with "teacup" breeds. There go those assumptions again... Stop taking everything so seriously people - take a deep breath and smile. I promise, it feels good!

Lack of sleep is why sleeping pills were invented

Hey, I'm the first person to admit I don't know it all! And I would never criticise a dog owner for de-barking. I'm sure there are many loving owners out there who've had it done in what they feel is the dog's best interests. I just don't know that I agree with the procedure. Have I met every dog out there? No. I like to keep an open mind on things. I don't like to say "all" of something is bad. But as a rule, since people seem to want a definite answer, no, I don't understand the need to de-bark. Re the spay/neuter issue, one could argue that desexing reduces the risk of cancer, and therefore is necessary. Dogs don't commit suicide when they're homeless... but they do suffer, starve, get hit by cars, have horrible things done to them by teenagers (which I won't describe), get used as bait dogs in dog-fighting... I think if more dogs had early-age desexing, it would reduce the number of "oops" litters, BYBs and puppy farmers. That said, I don't know everything. Is anybody able to tell me why early-age desexing may not be good for the individual dog? (not being sarcastic, I would actually like to know).

There seems to be a lot of jumping to conclusions here. At no point did I say that people in suburbia shouldn't have dogs. If people can't deal with a barking dog, my suggestion would be that they find some other way to deal with their dissatisfaction. It's noise... it's not like living surrounded by killer bees. Noise can't hurt you. Unless there's some magical element to this dog's barking that I'm not aware of? Perhaps it's causing people to bleed from the ears? If that's the case, slap my wrist and call me a fool... There is no need for the dog to die just because it barks. There is always the option to move to a less suburban area... and no, I'm not saying the OP should do that, I'm just saying life is full of options. I don't think that my post was graphic. Perhaps I've been exposed to more distressing sights than others. Unfortunately, horrible things happen in the world. Brushing them under the carpet doesn't stop them from happening. The OP may choose to get her dog de-barked regardless of what I say- my opinion is totally irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. She may encounter negative reactions from other people who think it's cruel. Unfortunately, de-barking isn't viewed very favourably by a lot of people. Not everybody likes everyone else's opinions. It's not the end of the world. The OP will do what she wants in the end, and I'm not saying she can't. I wish that sharing "horror stories" of puppy mill de-barking were enough to frighten people off de-barking, but let's be honest - I'm an anonymous nobody here, just like everybody else, and I ain't that powerful. I'm not kidding myself here folks. There's been more positive encouragement of the OP having the procedure done than negative - as I said, my opinion changes nothing. I simply don't see why people are so eager to jump down each other's throats here when someone disagrees with them - everyone interprets what's said as if it's a personal attack on them, their mother, their children's children's children... and then it turns into World War 3. Can't we all mellow out a bit?

Of course I desex. Desexing has nothing to do with human convenience, and everything to do with preventing the euthanasia of homeless pets. I'm not opposed to necessary medical procedures like desexing... or cutting out tumours... or caesarians... anything like that. I am opposed to unnecessary medical procedures such as tail-docking, ear clipping, things of that nature. I hope that's cleared up any confusion on my viewpoints?

At the risk of repeating myself, my objection to de-barking is: at what point do we draw the line at modifying an animal's behaviour and body for the sake of human convenience? There are plenty of people who annoy me - I consider the sound of their voice a nuisance. I have bogan neighbours behind me who have screaming arguments at 2am in the morning, frequently. I don't think I have the right to silence them though. I roll over and put a pillow over my head.

I'm aware they were thinking of a properly done de-barking. If you bothered to look at my previous posts, I mentioned not knowing a vet who would conduct the procedure but hoping that they would thoroughly check out one who knew what they were doing. At no point did I imply that the OP was a puppy-miller. My inclusion of puppy-mill de-barking methods was in response to a query from another poster on this thread. Not sure where you're getting the "sweeping generalisation" thing from, I'm afraid.

Oh, and for anyone who was actually interested in knowing - puppy mills generally use a variety of methods to de-bark; most common are cutting or "shanking" the vocal cords (without anaesthetic, usually with a knife or screwdriver), heavy blows to the throat, or by ramming a metal pipe down the dog's throat. I'm not "hammering" anyone. I simply wonder at what point do we draw the line at modifying an animal's behaviour and body for the sake of human convenience? I live right next to two barking dogs, and I've never felt the need to whine about the noise - earplugs, turn up the stereo, get out of the house and do something else. Mind you, after being at the shelter, I barely even notice it when a dog barks anymore, I kind of just tune it out. I'm not a big fan of complainers, particularly if they're neighbours. My opinion is that if someone has the time to complain, they've got time to do something useful - like help fix the problem. Unfortunately, in this day and age people live in close proximity to one another. Some noise pollution as a result of that is inevitable. I don't understand why people get so worked up over a little noise (and this is coming from someone who has a neighbour who regularly has loud, obnoxious parties). People today just seem to have no tolerance for anything that they perceive to inconvenience them in the slightest way. Is it really that big a deal? Can't we all just get along for god's sake??? I mean, with all the war, genocide, rape, ethnic cleansing and generally horrible sh*t in the world, people would rather focus on petty carp like whether their neighbour's dog barks too much. I despair for the human race sometimes, I really do.

I know everyone here has different opinions, but I don't understand why some people here act so rudely towards others. It's pretty off-putting for newcomers to the board, to be honest. Yeah yeah, I know - "if you don't like it, leave" - I'm not getting all butthurt because someone I've never even met doesn't like something that I said. I just can't believe how much b*tchiness, sarcasm and aggressiveness comes from some of the posters here. We don't all have to agree, but surely we can at least be courteous - we're all supposed to be adults here after all. How is anybody meant to learn anything here??? It's kind of disappointing.

Then again, the OP did say they've tried medication to calm it as well. I dunno, I still don't like the concept but I do see where the OP is coming from. Too bad you can't just get rid of your neighbours! Or move somewhere isolated... I'd make sure any vet that was carrying the procedure really knew what the hell they were doing though... I can't think of any vet that I know who'd do it?

Call me old-school but I don't like the notion of de-barking (yeah, I know, I know... being put down for barking isn't fair to the dog either). Maybe I just have too many negative associations with it because of the de-barking that's done on a lot of dogs in puppy mills (again, I know there's a difference between properly-done de-barking by a vet and what puppy mill butchers do, don't jump down my throat anyone! If it's only barking with the OP isn't at home, maybe it's a problem with separation anxiety. Maybe it needs a home where it can be with someone who's home all day. Again, not saying that the owner ought to give up the dog rather than de-bark, but it is another option to consider. I suppose what I'm getting at is... is the dog barking because it's unhappy? De-barking it might fix the noise problem, but does that mean that the dog will still be unhappy? If so, then I'm not sure de-barking would be the best option... it'll just be unhappy at a quieter volume.

Plenty of rescue groups will take in strays directly off the street. Yes, they are required to hold them for X amount of days - rescue groups use that time to try to contact the original owner, see if the dog's microchipped etc; if the dog's not being cared for properly some rescue groups will ask if the owner would like to sign the dog over to the rescue organisation. If the dog's not claimed by X amount of days, the dog becomes the property of the rescue group and they're able to re-home. In the meantime, the dog is cared for by the rescue group, fed properly, given shelter and is wormed and flea'ed straight away. Even if the dog is re-claimed, generally the fine that's issued via the council serves as a good wake-up call for the owner to take better care of their dog.

Like the title says folks - if I'm aware of a person selling pups without microchips, who should I report it to? I've tried tracking down some info online and I believe I should be going to the council, but I'd like to see if anybody here has any additional suggestions. I should clarify, this is in relation to a number of "$50 puppy"-type of ads that I'm seeing in my local classifieds lately; I'm guessing that the majority are the result of a "whoops" litter from the family pet, however there is one ad I'm fairly certain is from a dodgy hydrobath operator who's been discussed on these forums before. On-topic responses only please guys - I don't want it to turn into one of those done-to-death arguments about whether people who bring home a free dog can afford to look after it properly or not...

I can relate - sometimes you do feel like giving up. That said, you have to remind yourself that you don't do it for the people - you do it to help the animals. I'd much rather be abused by somebody than feel like I was partly responsible for an animal getting hit by a car because I didn't have the guts to tell them that they were doing something wrong.