[CFrance]

It is a very tough situation. I had never heard of it until my friend got a rescue from a couple who breeds corgis. She always had a kennel full of corgis, which she raised for show, and she debarked all of them. I was appalled at the time.

However... who's to judge if you have the difficult choice between that and surrendering your dogs to an uncertain future? Some dogs bark and cannot be stopped. I wanted to say, Just keep your dogs inside (which I wish my neighbors over the wall from us would do with their incessant little yappers), but perhaps your situation was different. Hard to keep two labs inside all the time, but were they outside dogs only? Or could you have brought them in when they started barking? Were you in the country where they had the run of the yard and were used to staying outside a lot?

I don't remember retrievers being incessant barkers. A tendency toward barking was one of the things we researched the heck out of before deciding on a breed. Both of ours were/are "single barkers." One bark when they want to come inside, maybe a double "intruder" bark. I'm sorry you have that situation and had to make that choice. I probably would consider debarking before giving up my dogs.

I'm on the fence, Santa, but I understand your dilemma. I also know I'll probably now get slammed!

[gerryann]

It is a difficult decision. Those that feel they would NEVER do this........would you give up your dog or somewhat silent the bark? Seriously, if you have never had a barker, you can not imagine how difficult it can be. I would NEVER, EVER hurt an animal, but if I HAD to do this or give up my dog?????........

[perrjojo]

We had a "barker" and bought a citronella bark collar. When he barked it sprayed a bit I of citronella. It took a short time for him to learn barking was not rewarding. It is harmless and humane and most of all effective. He is now 12 and when he is tempted to bark we say, NO Bark and he stops immediately.

[gerryann]

Originally Posted by perrjojo

We had a "barker" and bought a citronella bark collar. When he barked it sprayed a bit I of citronella. It took a short time for him to learn barking was not rewarding. It is harmless and humane and most of all effective. He is now 12 and when he is tempted to bark we say, NO Bark and he stops immediately.

Tried the citronella collar and she loved it!!! She barked just to get a spray! And kept barking to get more....just didn't work for my barker.

[Bonanza]

Originally Posted by Golfingnut

This is a hard one for me. I love dogs and have a neighbor with a bird dog that barks all the time. It does not bother me, but a few of the other neighbors are distraught over this. I am afraid for the dog and the owner. I have overheard some very disturbing comments about violence to both the owner and the dog. I have talked to the owner about this and they are in fact having a trainer work with the dog. It is a hard case for me to deal with.

Please post information regarding the dog trainer your neighbors are going to use.
It just might be helpful to others.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Bonanza

Please post information regarding the dog trainer your neighbors are going to use.
It just might be helpful to others.

I believe some people around here have used Bark Busters.

[Patty55]

Originally Posted by Golfingnut

This is a hard one for me. I love dogs and have a neighbor with a bird dog that barks all the time. It does not bother me, but a few of the other neighbors are distraught over this. I am afraid for the dog and the owner. I have overheard some very disturbing comments about violence to both the owner and the dog. I have talked to the owner about this and they are in fact having a trainer work with the dog. It is a hard case for me to deal with.

I'd move. Wouldn't want neighbors that made threatening comments.

[sailor47]

We had good friends that had a black Lab that was a barker. They used one of those bark collars that shock 20 years ago. The shock, I believe, is adjustable. I don't think it is inhumane particularly if the shock is adjustable. In any event our friends dog was cured of barking. Sometimes the dog would get a little wound up and start to bark. All they had to do was hold up the collar and the dog would stop and not even think about barking. It does take consistent training even with a bark collar. I personally never had a barking problem with any dog I ever had and I had a lot. They were house pets from boarder collies to springers and various mutts but training always worked. All my dogs were post shock collars so we just used standard training.

Having said all that the OP really should talk to the offending neighbors. They may think this barking is just fine. If that doesn't work start hounding the authorities. Eventually they will do their job. May take some time but it will get done. And finally it would seem the OP has legal grounds to sue or at least file a suit against the neighbors for lost income. The OP would have to document this but that certainly seems possible. If that doesn't get the neighbors attention I don't know what would.

Always keep in mind all dogs are trainable some owners are not or are simply too lazy and inconsiderate to do the right thing!!!

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by gerryann

It is a difficult decision. Those that feel they would NEVER do this........would you give up your dog or somewhat silent the bark? Seriously, if you have never had a barker, you can not imagine how difficult it can be. I would NEVER, EVER hurt an animal, but if I HAD to do this or give up my dog?????........

It would be a tough call. I cringe at the idea of debarking. But I think it would be worse to surrender your dogs to a humane society where they would be caged, unhappy, and eventually euthanized. Or worse, adopted by someone who beat them because they barked.

[Golfingnut]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

It would be a tough call. I cringe at the idea of debarking. But I think it would be worse to surrender your dogs to a humane society where they would be caged, unhappy, and eventually euthanized. Or worse, adopted by someone who beat them because they barked.

Agree totally. Mr. Buster don't seem to notice he is blind and deaf, but I fear he would be heartbroken without us in his life.

[MoeVonB61]

DOGS can and do respond to training. You need to start by speaking with the Owners. AND BTW, because virtually all rentals do not take pets (their OK with crayon painted walls from grandchildren though???), MAKE your rental a pet-friendly rental like ours was AND CHARGE THE NON-REFUNDABLE pet fee. NOT ONLY WILL YOU BE AT 80% occupancy with your rental, you will get more $$ and more money for carpet cleaning,etc. We had tenants whose grandchildren destroyed our carpet with Kool Aid and walls with crayons. The tenants with pets ARE BETTER than those with grandkids!..

[TheVillageChicken]

Originally Posted by mrich61

TRUST me on this....wait until about October 2013 when the people who did not advance plan / rent are DESPERATE

There is some incongruity in your statement. If time travel is possible, as implied by your telling us to wait until last year, then why would one ever worry about advance planning?

[SantaClaus]

I have some big plans for my past... (grin)

[rdhdleo]

Barkbusters is great but it requires the owner to work with the dog.So unless the owner is receptive to taking he time it will not work. They will however continue to work with you and your dog as long as it takes for one set price.

[lovsthosebigdogs]

I feel for everyone who has to deal with a barking dog issue. I had Great Pyrenees for almost 39 years of my life. They are barkers. Like the Tibetan Mastiffs spoken about it has to do with what they were bred to do. Pyrs were bred to stay up on the mountains of France, alone, and guard sheep from predators and their first line of defense was barking, not attacking. So pyrs bark all the time to say, "Hey, I'm here so stay away." A pyrs bark can be heard for a mile. And that include through the house walls. When my pyrs barked neighbors could hear it inside their house even if the dogs were inside my house. We had neighbors complaining on occasion, but most of my dogs were pretty reasonable and I could train them to not bark ALL the time. My last pyr, however, barked nonstop. We used a citronella collar first- he emptied expensive cartridge after cartridge. So we moved up to shock collar. He'd get shocked, wince, get shocked again, wince again etc. So we gave it up because he never stopped
barking with it. This is a dog who was a therapy dog and very well trained in all other areas. He felt he had a job to do and with pyr determination, he was going to do it. He couldn't be stopped and he was a huge problem. I live on an acre and all my neighbors have an acre also but they could hear him from inside my house to inside theirs. The police came repeatedly and threatened us. We tried a trainer who had no luck. We tried more exercise. Nothing helped. What should we do? Give him back to the breeder? Give him to the shelter? Put him down? We loved this big, noisy boy and it's not like I didn't have many years experience with the breed and it's not like he wasn't great in all other ways and an excellent Therapy Dog and Ambassador at public events. He just had a big mouth. We were pushed to the edge and had to make a choice. We loved him enough to choose debarking. It cost us $2000 and we did it out of love and wanting to keep our dog. The results were that he was still loud enough to be head if we were living in a situation like TV, but living on an acre it was fine. And that's why we won't have any more pyrs. Can't take the chance on having a nuisance barker. He never knew he was debarked and he continued to go through the motions, but it allowed us to keep him until he passed at 12 1/2. I was NEVER sorry I did it as a final resort and I won't apologize for it.