Is there any way to mute my dog?

[UnderTheSkyInsideTheSea]

She’s always been very a very vocal dog - she needs to tell you exactly how she’s feeling at all times, which is basically unsettled/annoyed if you’e doing anything other than sitting still, all together, and only moving to fuss her or get her more food. Now that she’s elderly, a bit senile, and completely deaf, the barking has gone off the scale. It really affects our quality of life.

I was wonit possible to paralyse vocal cords with botox injections?

Botox is surgical.

OP I think your best bet will be talking to your vet if anxiety meds don't help. What's her quality of life like? You say she's barking to communicate and she's not distressed - is her communication still good?

Is she definitely permanently deaf? Ask if there's something they can do to help her hearing rather than stop her barking, as presumably she'd be more settled if she could hear what was going on.

@UnderTheSkyInsideTheSea

I think that the person to whom you should be asking this is your vet who may be able to suggest a way forward.

Sadly - of course - and s/he only can advise this might involve the ultimate. It is one of the privileges of animal ownership to be able to provide that at an appropriate time after professional advice

What about a vibrating anti bark collar?

Dementia causes this in elderly dogs. Look up Vivitonin and give it a trial.

@UnderTheSkyInsideTheSea I thought it was funny and I'm sure there is no way you would actually do something to your dog that you thought would harm her.

I sometimes fantasise about getting it done to the DC's

@girlmom21

Botox is surgical.

No it's not.

[quote moderationinWumbsnet]@UnderTheSkyInsideTheSea I thought it was funny and I'm sure there is no way you would actually do something to your dog that you thought would harm her.

I sometimes fantasise about getting it done to the DC's [/quote]
Thanks @moderationinWumbsnet, I would never harm her - the entitled little shitbag rules our entire lives, and is treated like an extremely demanding dowager queen.

Oh and I'd love to be able to mute children, too.

Just an idea, so don't shoot me please. I am needed at home.

Have you thought about muzzling her when the barking is particularly bad and when she stops barking remove the muzzle and reward her? Sort of Pavlov tactics?

UnderTheSkyInsideTheSea
My dog had numerous problems before I lost and had medication for many things fa including doggy Alzheimer’s. She was friend to me for many years so I did my research to do what was best for her that when than post randomly on a board of people I don’t know to ask if I could mute her.

@ILoveYouMoreTheEnd

What about a vibrating anti bark collar?

This would be a cruel punishment for her... she hates things that vibrate. I've reward-trained her to accept me clipping her, but she doesn't like it. A vibrating collar would scare and distress her.

@curlymom

UnderTheSkyInsideTheSea My dog had numerous problems before I lost and had medication for many things fa including doggy Alzheimer’s. She was friend to me for many years so I did my research to do what was best for her that when than post randomly on a board of people I don’t know to ask if I could mute her.

Jolly good for you @curlymom, and congrats on the imminent sainthood.

@girlmom21

OP I think your best bet will be talking to your vet if anxiety meds don't help. What's her quality of life like? You say she's barking to communicate and she's not distressed - is her communication still good?

Is she definitely permanently deaf? Ask if there's something they can do to help her hearing rather than stop her barking, as presumably she'd be more settled if she could hear what was going on.

Her quality of life is grand, @girlmom21, because she gets pretty much exactly what she wants apart from not being forced out for a short walk once a day and not being allowed to eat during every waking minute. Her communication is crystal clear and impossible to ignore.

Yes definitely permanently deaf - hearing noticeably declined from around 9 years old and she's now totally deaf. Vet said just one of those things.

Sorry you are getting so much stick on here from would be experts.

I was interested because I have a dog who has started barking when I leave her. Previously she never did this, but we had another dog who died last year and they were company for each other. The barking is getting worse, so I can either get another dog or do something else.
I hope you find a solution

I'm a vet. Surgical debarking is widely accepted in the USA but, as PP have rightly said, banned in the UK. What you are suggesting would also be regarded as unethical and no vet would do it. Moreover, I don't think it would work. Surgical debarking damages the vocal cords so that the dog no longer produces a loud bark, but a surgically debarked dog is still able to bark in what might be described as a harsh whisper - like a person who's lost their voice. Injecting Botox would paralyse the vocal cords rather than damaging them. This does happen anyway as a disease in some elderly dogs, particularly Labradors, where the nerves to the vocal cords stop working properly so that the vocal cords partly obstruct the larynx. This produces noisy breathing rather than no barking, and is itself sometimes treated with surgery.

So - your suggestion would be unethical and ineffective if not actually illegal. Having said that, canine cognitive dysfunction, like human cognitive dysfunction, can be very distressing to live with. Your vet may be able to suggest other interventions besides the medication you've already tried, or to refer you to a behavioural specialist, but it can be a difficult and problematic condition to treat, I'm afraid.

@halfsiesonapotnoodle

Dementia causes this in elderly dogs. Look up Vivitonin and give it a trial.

Thanks @halfsiesonapotnoodle - I will. I suspect it's probably the expensive drug that the vet said we could try but that it probably wouldn't make a huge amount of difference to her cognitive dysfunction - it was about £60 a month, I think.

@moredogsthansense

I'm a vet. Surgical debarking is widely accepted in the USA but, as PP have rightly said, banned in the UK. What you are suggesting would also be regarded as unethical and no vet would do it. Moreover, I don't think it would work. Surgical debarking damages the vocal cords so that the dog no longer produces a loud bark, but a surgically debarked dog is still able to bark in what might be described as a harsh whisper - like a person who's lost their voice. Injecting Botox would paralyse the vocal cords rather than damaging them. This does happen anyway as a disease in some elderly dogs, particularly Labradors, where the nerves to the vocal cords stop working properly so that the vocal cords partly obstruct the larynx. This produces noisy breathing rather than no barking, and is itself sometimes treated with surgery.

So - your suggestion would be unethical and ineffective if not actually illegal. Having said that, canine cognitive dysfunction, like human cognitive dysfunction, can be very distressing to live with. Your vet may be able to suggest other interventions besides the medication you've already tried, or to refer you to a behavioural specialist, but it can be a difficult and problematic condition to treat, I'm afraid.

Thank you for this advice, @moredogsthansense, although I'd like to emphasise again that at no point did I say that I wanted or would consider surgical de-barking. Apart from anything else, any surgery would be very risky for her.

So would paralysing the vocal cords impede breathing, then?

You don’t need to be a saint to show love to an animal who loved you for years. Your responses are nasty which shows what you are really like.
Go mute yourself and keep away from defenceless animals.

Not much you can do now the dog is senile. We had some tablets which helped him to settle but then his legs went. Try the drugs

@curlymom

You don’t need to be a saint to show love to an animal who loved you for years. Your responses are nasty which shows what you are really like. Go mute yourself and keep away from defenceless animals.

I think some people are being harsh on OP I wouldn't do it BUT I have a cat who cries. He will cry constantly through a programme so I watch with subtitles He's started now and will continue until 6pm end it is every few seconds, constant annoying meowing and it's not quiet! Have I shouted at him to shut up? Yep Is he bothered? Nope He will cry until he loses his miaow, not for any reason especially. Today it's because he wants to go out, but it's pouring down and I can't get up to let him in and out every few seconds

@Bunty55

Just an idea, so don't shoot me please. I am needed at home.

Have you thought about muzzling her when the barking is particularly bad and when she stops barking remove the muzzle and reward her? Sort of Pavlov tactics?

She’d need to be muzzled all the time, and that would distress and confuse her. Plus she has a very piercing whine, so I’m not sure a constant, sad ‘why are you torturing me’ whine would be better than the sudden ‘give me whatever‘ barking.

She’s actually been very well behaved today after the hysterical barking this morning that resulting in me having to go down the garden in my nightie to hoik her in, slipping in the mud and jarring my back. Maybe she read my MN post.

@curlymom

You don’t need to be a saint to show love to an animal who loved you for years. Your responses are nasty which shows what you are really like. Go mute yourself and keep away from defenceless animals.

You’re being pretty nasty yourself, @curlymom, and you know nothing about me, how much I love my dog, and how much I’ve sacrificed to ensure that she has all her needs met.

So rather than guilt tripping and smearing your sanctimonious judgement all over my thread, why don’t you scroll the fuck on by or go and quietly polish your halo elsewhere? You know you’re not obliged to be on this thread, right?

Thanks @pawpaws2022 - you get it.

OP, I didn't say you had suggested surgical debarking, I was explaining how that procedure works, given that other posters had discussed it, and how its effects would differ from the use of Botox - i.e. surgical debarking would theoretically achieve what you want (which is why it's done in the USA), despite being illegal here, whereas Botox would probably produce other complications rather than just reducing bark volume.

Yes, I think that paralysing the vocal cords would potentially interfere with breathing. Again, I am certain that no licensed vet would be willing to paralyse the vocal cords deliberately. What's more, this would constitute medical treatment of an animal, which is illegal in the UK unless carried out by a qualified vet (or the owner, but that doesn't give you carte blanche to do it yourself either as it would still be regarded as unacceptable). So you can't ask a cosmetic technician who uses Botox in people to do it either; this really isn't an option.

Drug treatment may help, but sadly, as with people, old age sometimes brings cognitive impairment to dogs which significantly impacts the lives of those they live with, if not themselves, and, as with people, medical intervention is not always as effective as we'd like. Hopefully your vet can advise further on what options may help a bit.