To be honest, I do not know much about debarking. I have read a lot of material in favor of debarking, saying it is not cruel and it only quiets a dog's barks, that they can't tell the difference, and I've also read a lot of material saying it's extremely cruel and inhumane to do. I've never encountered a debarked dog in my life and I don't even know if they do it around here. Would you ever debark your dog? Is debarking cruel and inhumane? I am ready to learn!

I have very negative connotations of debarking.

I've only heard of it in the context of animal testing labs.

I've never heard of that until now. It doesn't sound very nice. Dogs usually bark for a reason. Why would you want to stop that? There are other ways to make a dog stop barking if it's just nonsense barking.

I don't mean to give you all the wrong idea -- I have no intention of debarking any of my dogs, and I wouldn't ever. I view procedures like that as wrong, but that is my personal view. I wanted to know, though, if it is actually cruel or inhumane to the dogs, or if anyone here has had it done and has solid information on it. I don't like to spout off on things I'm uneducated about.

Arrghh, the forum ate my reply again.

I tried to say, I don't mean to be misunderstood -- I don't intend on would never debark one of my dogs. I am against procedures like this. However I don't know much about it and don't like to spout off on topics I am uneducated in, so I was wondering if anyone here had concrete information on dog debarking.

I don't really know anything about it but the sound of it is awful. My vet once told me about someone wanting him to do it to their dog and he refused. It sounds really cruel to me. It isn't the surgery necessarily, it is what effect it will have on the dog to have their voice removed.

I have never heard of this, it sounds terrible.Unless there is a genuine medical reason for a dog needing this done I would never even contemplate it.

I found this on the web.

Stop barking dog: a surgical solution
I am in no way fond of it at all. We have 9 and they bark, howl, talk, converse all the time.
I think that people who feel they must control a dogs voice is just too hyper to have a dog in the first place. It woudlbe no different that a person cutting outtheir own tongue because they talk too much. Which I have thought to have done on occassion.
I went to the Merck manual onVeterinary care and no where is it recommended for any treatment. Its mor elike lastic surgery.. something to have done rather than need........

Thank you for the article. How can someone say that's humane?!

Okay folks, here goes the other side of the picture from someone who has had many dogs debarked. I bred and showed for many years. Breeders usually have more dogs than one or two, and when one dog barks they all do. Many breeders of smaller breed dogs have to resort to debarking. Having said that, I would not recommend it be done by just any vet. We happen to have, in my area two vets who literally specialize. This procedure, while it sounds like a sick medieval-minded person's thing, can literally be a life saver, not just for breeders but for people who live in apartments and work all day, who have a dog who just will not stop barking. Over many years I have found, the dogs do NOT miss their bark, they make a softer bark, and they are not oriented as much to their own sounds as we think they are, they use bodylanguage and smell more than sound. There are two procedures, one is a simple anaesthetic, then a " punch " type instrument is inserted into the throat, a little hole poked into the larynx and that's it. Our vets here are so proficient that the last two little guys I had done, at 6 months old, were in at 9, and I literally popped in to see how they were doing, at 11 a.m. and they were up and ready to go. The other procedure is a tiny incision made on the side of the throat, that used to be considered the better choice and better results, but I had not found that it made any difference in the quietness of the bark, and was more expensive and more invasive so after some years I went strictly with the "punch" and I can tell you my dogs never missed a beat because of having a soft, whispery bark.....Sometimes dogs have a nervous, yappy temperament, and though I would never breed from such a nervous dog, many people have them regardless and that one fault or problem can mean they have to get rid of their dog. If that's the choice, I say debark.... the dogs really do not miss their voices. That's another area where humans are putting their own characteristics onto dogs, and you can't always do that.... I love dogs, all of them, and am not a cruel or controlling person. There are things I consider cruel and unnnecessary or stupid to do to dogs, this is not one of them.....In these days of apartment living, I have seen many times, where getting a little yappy dog debarked meant that life went on very smoothly for all concerned. Not everyone is home all day, or can access special training classes etc, and I always felt too, that if a dog is a yapper, you can struggle with that dog all its life and the battle never ends. Debarking, done properly, can solve the problem very easily.

Had to say one last thing. I am sure that around the early part of the 20th century, when vets were first starting to get people to spay and neuter, the same cries of " CRUELTY " or " UNNATURAL " were heard from far and near... But who nowadays is so ignorant of facts that they don't support spaying and neutering and vaccinations etc. These things are necessary nowadays because of our modern lifestyles. Debarking in my opinion, for some dogs, is in the same category. Quite necessary in some cases and the best possible option for some.

debarking while I am sure its very logial, is no different than aperson taking a scissor to themselves ot stop talking.
why must we as humans figue ways to alter another beings conversation ability.
HAs anyone other than me ever sat at night and listened to dogs across a way have aconversationw ith their own or another. There s a syntax, pantameter and contiued verbalization. whiel living in an apartment is not smart for pets either, i do feel strngly that snipping their ability to talk, irregardeless of its soft.. is still cruel.

[paintedpaws™]

can a dog still howl if he gets debarked?

[Yogi]

Just to note, you are replying to a post from nearly 4 years ago.
But to answer your question, debarking in most cases still allows the dog to bark and yes howl. What you will notice is that the sound level greatly decreases and sometimes they will sound as if they have a hoarse throat.
Drawback is that over time it is not uncommon for a debarked dog to develop scar tissue on the throat creating a need to dry cough regularly.

[Newfielover]

Don't want to cause a row here, but if someone lives in an apartment and is out all day, they shouldn't have a dog in the first place. I am pretty sure that debarking is illegal in the UK, along with tail docking and ear docking and declawing of cats.

Neutering and spaying can hardly be put in the same category, because they are done for the dog's own benefit and for the benefit of any offspring that could end up dumped somewhere. Debarking, declawing etc, are for the sake of the human who owns that poor animal.