When I was a teenager, my mother would say things to me that I swore that, when I was a mother, I would never say to my own children. ( I don't have to give you a reason why! I'm your Mother and I said No!) Now that I am in the same position that my mother was back then, I find, many times, that when I open my mouth, my mother's voice comes spilling out!
I think it's very easy to criticize other people's decisions when you aren't in their position. It's easy to say to people that have a chronic barker that they are bad owners who don't spend enough time with their dogs or that they are taking the easy way out, that they don't spend enough time training, or they need to find a new home for their dog. I lived with a chronic barker (Smooth Coated Collie) for years. She was a rescue dog. Annie was completely obedience trained and my daughter went to State competetion with her 4-H and won. But bark she did, loud, and long and often. We tried everything, from bark collars to distraction training to muzzling her. It was a nightmare and nothing worked. Annie had to be constantly supervised. She barked inside, she barked outside. At shadows, at movement, at noise, at other dogs, at her reflection in the mirror, at the television, at the fishtank, at the dishwasher, at the computer printer, at cars, squirrells, at birds, at leaves falling. To to those of you that think debarking is such a horrible terrible thing, live with a truly chronic barker, then let me tell you what a bad dog owner you are for even considering the possibility of a surgical procedure that would allow the dog to bark happily to it's hearts content without being heard from over a mile away. A surgical procedure that would let your family get one single decent night's sleep without someone having to get up to quiet the dog. To have a dog that didn't have to be constantly supervised that could go out and romp in the yard without a collar zapping it or spraying citronella in it's face, or cans of pennies being lobbed off the top of the house to distract her, or be muzzled or sedated or told constantly, NO BARK! HUSH! QUIET!! Annie lived with us until she passed away with liver cancer. She was not debarked. I would have NEVER considered passing her and her problems along to someone else. Pet ownership is supposed to be a LIFETIME COMMITTMENT, not just until you have a problem you or your dog can't overcome. But...if another dog comes into my house and I have the same problems that I did with Annie, I'd have her debarked in a New York minute and could care less what anyone else thought about it. It's easy to criticize other people's actions until you are living with the same set of problems. It's easy to say what you would or wouldn't do if you've never actually had to deal with it. Other people may live in a perfect world where they never have problems or their problems are easily fixed. Other people aren't so fortunate and we have to make different decisions. I don't wear a fire retardant suit anymore. My skin's already been burned off. So knock yourself out and flame away. :o) Gerri Dueringer ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
