Debarking

[Zorro_007]

Debarking is a last resort and preferable to having a dog put down. I adore dogs but expecting people to put up with a barking dog 24/7 is unreasonable. The occasional barking here and there is one thing but when a dog barks non-stop then that is quite another. I do think that other options should be looked into before considering debarking but sometimes nothing seems to work and although it does have its risks I believe it supercedes having to abandon a dog.

I don't have any dogs that are debarked but would certainly consider it if absolutely necessary.

[kaywoman68]

Your dogs are not entitled to bark excessively and distrub others.

what do you define as excessive barking?

Edited December 28, 2006 by kaywoman68

[Erny]

Your dogs are not entitled to bark excessively and distrub others.

what do you define as excessive barking?

Kaywoman68 .... I think you'll find that each individual Council have a definition of what constitutes "excessive barking". I'm sure I read it somewhere for mine, but just can't put my fingers on the article at the moment.

[kaywoman68]

Your dogs are not entitled to bark excessively and distrub others.

what do you define as excessive barking?

Kaywoman68 .... I think you'll find that each individual Council have a definition of what constitutes "excessive barking". I'm sure I read it somewhere for mine, but just can't put my fingers on the article at the moment.

I'm not talking about the council. I'm more interested in individual opinions. I mean, we all have a limit on everything. Im wondering what everyone's limit is on barking......

[Benji's Mum]

KW, I asked my neighbours what times suit them.

When one neighbour was over the other night asking for reinforcements if my other neighbours got nasty (he was worried about the party they were having but I politely declined BTW) he promised me that my dogs were not a problem. I asked him when his tenants work and sleep and I've tried to abide by those times.

There may be rules but I find it's best to negotiate with the affected parties.

I even managed to negotiate with the nasty neighbours this morning as they have a new tenant in their rear flat - I considered being sworn at for one bark at 9am unreasonable and told him. He said he's on holidays for a week and I promised (but not very nicely after a sleepless night with a migraine, I'm afraid) I would do what he wanted so he could sleep.

[tramissa]

Unfortunately, it is not our individual opinions that matter, it is your council laws that matter.

If your dog breaches the council law (and some places are only 6 mins a day or less), then you can be issued with a destruction order. If, as you said before you edited, your dogs bark for 10 mins in a day, that would probably be considered excessive and debarking would be a lot better to consider than a destruction order.

[kaywoman68]

Unfortunately, it is not our individual opinions that matter, it is your council laws that matter.

If your dog breaches the council law (and some places are only 6 mins a day or less), then you can be issued with a destruction order. If, as you said before you edited, your dogs bark for 10 mins in a day, that would probably be considered excessive and debarking would be a lot better to consider than a destruction order.

It's not 10 minutes in one lump sum. It will be 1 minute here, 2 minutes there etc. They can't help getting excited from pigeons cooing from the neighbours' backyard.

The council law doesn't state a specific time frame. It is kinda based on individual opinions cos a neighbour wont make a complaint unless he/she doesn't like it. Now this depends on whether they think 4 - 5 times a day or once a day before they make a complaint. In ACT, all complaints are looked at and there's no diary logging now so basically even if my dogs have improved I can't prove it and there's no way of telling until I get hit with an infringement fine.

There's some people I know who are better off not talking at all. Here we are trying to shut our dogs up for under 10 minutes a day and some people talk non stop Looks like I'm going to have to save really really hard to buy a rural property so my dogs can do whatever they want (well....almost )

Once I find out whose dog is barking at 6:00am in the morning for the last week when my dogs have been inside sleeping.........

ETA: and NO, i'm not bitter! I'm merely venting

Edited December 28, 2006 by kaywoman68

[Benji's Mum]

Well, good luck, KW - I know how you feel after my neighbours tried to make my dogs bark this morning from midnight to 1am by whistling, yelling and barking at my fence. To my dogs' absolute credit, they didn't make a sound the whole time.

The rooster has gone, although there may be another from looks alone, so I was planning to ask the neighbours who gave me 3 layers to apologise to the crazies, or maybe as you say, not bother. They are ferals - when they couldn't get my dogs to bark at 1am they made the landlord's dog bark until he yelped.

ETA - Supposed to be 3 layers but one was a young rooster just starting to crow. I warned my other neighbour and he said he hadn't heard him, but, obviously, it's difficult to keep all your neighbours happy. Good luck again KW.

Edited December 28, 2006 by Benji's Mum

[WreckitWhippet]

I have had one dog de-barked ( for want of a better word ). It did reduce his noise, however he learnt to bark from his belly. He no longer had the standard dog bark but made a deep low noise from inside. It was still better than what he sounded like previously.

I also visited a house this week where two of the dogs had also been done, both of the dogs barked 24/7 prior to their operation.

I would do it again if I felt the need to. We are down to virtually no barking since we put up the electric fence. The neighbours dogs are also more quiet than before.

[Tangwyn]

Im wondering what everyone's limit is on barking......

Hi,

My limits vary according to the time of day (and my mood at the time! ). I live next door to a GSD that is never taken out of his yard. His part of their backyard is situated pretty much right near my bedroom and he barks at all hours of the night and through to the early hours of the morning. Lately he has taken to throwing himself up against the colourbond fence that divides my yard from his. :D I have no idea why, as my dogs completely ignore him and aren't even near the fence at the time. On the other side there is a cross-bred dog that barks every time I go near that side of my house. I can't go out into my backyard without inciting one of the neighbouring dogs and the GSD barks even if he hears me moving around or talking inside my own house! The most frustrating thing for me is that I've NEVER heard either of the neighbours chastize their dogs for barking! I'm so paranoid about mine making a sound that I'm straight onto them - and that's not even at 3am in the morning

I have not complained about either of these dogs as I'm loathe to upset anyone given that I have dogs of my own and I definitely don't want to start some sort of "payback".

Tangwyn

ETA As for de-barking - I agree with it given the right circumstances. I'm sure its preferable to being yelled at or even hit all the time for barking...

Edited December 29, 2006 by Tangwyn

[poodlefan]

My housemates two poodles are both debarked. It was after numerous complaints by her neighbours (at her old address) and the failure of a citronella collar to have impact that she had the ops performed. I KNOW how easily her dogs are triggered to bark so I have sympathy for her neighbours.

Both dogs had great agility careers and have suffered no ill effects from the op. They should like they have laryngitis. My only concern is that they might get lost or caught up in something when we walk in the bush.... you'd never hear them.

[kaywoman68]

My only concern is that they might get lost or caught up in something when we walk in the bush.... you'd never hear them.

I agree with you there. That is a big concern if they ever get lost. I live near paddocks and nature reserve. I once lost Orson for 10 minutes because I fell over when walking them and he saw some sheep and bolted off (couldn't hold on properly). I went over the fence to look for him and it turned out he went back to the otherside of the fence looking for me

[Jed]

Well, good luck, KW - I know how you feel after my neighbours tried to make my dogs bark this morning from midnight to 1am by whistling, yelling and barking at my fence. To my dogs' absolute credit, they didn't make a sound the whole time.

Hmm, I'd be tape recording the neighbours, and complaining to the council about their excessive barking!!!

[Benji's Mum]

Hmm, I'd be tape recording the neighbours, and complaining to the council about their excessive barking!!!

They've been in and out of jail during the 13 years they've been there - I haven't seen them since 1am, they were heading off to **** and other places (some great talent in ACT for single ladies!) but hopefully they got debarked.

Thanks, recording them is a good idea - I played opera music back at them once years ago, poor OH, he says to let it go...last night they got very frustrated when my dogs wouldn't bark!

My little rooster, who I haven't heard crow for a week, was treated lovingly at RSPCA.

They said what a sweet little bird he was.

Edited to remove name of nightclub they went to.

Edited December 29, 2006 by Benji's Mum

[lilypily]

This is going back 4 years ago now, so things may have changed since. I'm in Vic and enquired about de-barking one of my dogs. Vets told me to go to South Australia if I wanted it done.

[Trisven13]

My friend is a breeder and she has a bitch that she acquired from another breeder who has been debarked. I must admit that if this particular dog hadn't been debarked she would have been pretty darn noisy as her raspy bark goes non-stop the minute she sees someone! Given that she lives in boarding kennels & the pound that happens quite a lot.

As we have a lot of dogs at our house regularly we crack down on barking very very quickly - the minute we hear barking we are up, looking at what they're barking at and calling them off if there is no reason. The other night I went out the front and yelled at the dog for barking only for my neighbour to laugh and tell me it was her dog that was barking!!!

We had someone turn up at my house the other day, knowing I had 10 dogs at the house, and she commented on how unbelievably quiet it was - as I said to her then - dogs aren't allowed to bark at our house .

I do, however, own a Min Pin X whose barking is BLOODY ANNOYING and after 8 years of living with him and dreading getting council complaints I would quite happily de-bark him. He will bark at us, non-stop, when we get home. He barks, non-stop, when the neighbours are in their backyard. He barks, non-stop, at every car that pulls into our driveway, which we share with 3 other houses. He barks, non-stop, at every person who walks through our gate, even if they live at our house. As you can see - he barks at EVERYTHING. It is because he is frightened of EVERYTHING. We deal with it by having him crated whenever we are not home but it would be much simpler if he just didn't bark. The other week he started barking, inside, at 5.00am every morning for a week - let him out to go to the toilet and he just kept barking. I could have, quite happily, ripped his vocal chords out of his throat at the end of the week! I wouldn't want to live next door to him if he was owned by someone who just let him walk around and bark and there are some days when I don't like living with him, despite how much I love him.

[morgan]

Renters across the road have a rotty that barks every 2 minutes for a couple of hours in the evening, and then again from about 11pm to 1am or 2am - have complained several times without success. It stands barking at the front gate directly across the road from my bedroom, which is only a few metres from the road. Their lab x often joins in and regularly escapes, coming into our place - nothing changes.

I consider this to be extremely excessive. It barks other times during the day, which doesn't concern me - it is at night that it really cheeses me off.

[Ozstar]

I don't mind if my dogs bark a bit when playing and they do bark when I am feeding them, last only a minute though. I will not tolerate a dog that barks at night or barks all day. I have a shift worker next to me, so I wait till he is normally awake till playing with my guys.

If I did not have then dogs that barked heaps debarked I would of lost my kennel licence and would have to get rid of all but 2 dogs. The dog catcher here loves my dogs and my set up and even gives me a discount on my registrations for doing the right thing and being a responsible dog owner. A lot of council are not tolerant with dog owners anymore and to me the more you can do to have the rights of owning and keeping dogs (especially a few dogs) it is best to do all you can.

It is illegal in SA to debark your dogs. You need a stat dec signed by a JP with the council permisiion stating that you have done everything in your power and this is a last resort. I would much rather see a dog debarked than dumped cause the neighbours complained the dog barks to much.

Leanne