Dog Obedience Training Rescues Dogs From Debarking Procedures
A top dog trainer might cringe at the thought of putting a dog through debarking, devolcalization, bark softening, ventriculocordectomy, or vocal cordectomy surgery. For a number of reasons, this procedure is considered to be inhumane by many, and unnecessary by others.
Debarking surgery is accomplished when a surgeon removes a portion of a dog’s vocal cords with a scissors, cauterizing tool, or laser.
These surgeries, along with cat declawing, docking of tails, and cropping of ears, have been barred in the United Kingdom. The controversy forges on in the United States, where restrictions and leniencies vary among the states.
In the U.S., the ASPCA advocates debarking surgeries only in severe cases, when all dog obedience training techniques have been employed, and the dog is faced with losing his home or his life because of the barking. Additionally, the American Animal Hospital Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association both agree that vocal cordectomies should only be used when they are the only remaining option, as determined by a professional.
If all dog owners understood that dog barking can be controlled with targeted, positive dog obedience training techniques, fewer would consider devocalization surgery. This understanding would lessen the number of puppies that are put under the knife because their breeds predict that they will be barkers. It would also reduce the number of procedures that are completed as conveniences for dog owners, before any dog training techniques are employed.
Dogs bark for many different reasons, including excitement, communication, fear, boredom, aggression, and self identification. When a dog owner removes a dog’s ability to bark, it doesn’t remove the dog’s desire to bark. Instead, it further frustrates the dog because he cannot voice his excitement, fear, etc. Additionally, a dog needs his voice to warn his owner of fire, danger, intruders, and to alert people of his own distress or entrapment.
Many times, the key to stop your dog from barking is to cut out the unintentional reinforcements that dog owners are often guilty of. For example, if your dog is fearful of visitors, and you comfort him while he’s barking at your great aunt, he’ll think that you’re approving of his vocal display. Or, if your dog barks when he wants attention, and you stop what you’re doing to either yell at him or pet him, his attention barking may never stop; you have reinforced it in his mind.
To curb dog barking, the stimulus for the dog barking must first be removed. Your dog should be rewarded when she is quiet. Positive reinforcement can be fast, easy, and effective when the correct dog obedience training techniques are used.
In conclusion, I believe that devocalization surgery should only be performed after you have used the dog obedience training techniques outlined by a top dog trainer to stop your dog from barking. There will rarely be any case in which these methods are not effective; and there will rarely be a case in which you don’t have the power to rescue your best friend from the prospect of a debarking procedure, with effective dog training.
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