[pyrnet] (Sigh) Another Barking Question

[CW <cwolfe@trib.com>]

I have a barking problem and would appreciate some advice on what to do in
my particular circumstance. 

Before anybody says, "Well, duh, you should have thought of that before you
got a Pyr," let me explain.

I got my Pyr, Athena, a year ago. She's now 2-1/2 years old and a wonderful
girl. I was aware of Pyr barking, especially night barking, when I got her,
but I didn't regard it as a problem. First, because I had no near
neighbors. Second because I planned to keep her indoors at night (which I
have done -- although she absolutely hates being inside and would remain
outside 24 hours a day if she had her druthers).

Anyway, as it turned out, Athena was (past tense!) much less of a barker
than some Pyrs, though still far noisier than my two mix-breed dogs.

Then last spring a man and his wolf-dog moved into a long-vacant cabin
about 200 yards from me. No surprise, Athena's barking increased and was
largely directed at that little house. 

The neighbor hasn't complained, and the barking was not a serious problem
until the nights began to get longer. Now, suddenly, Athena's barking has
become constant and obsessive any time she is outdoors between 6:00 p.m.
and 8:00 a.m. We live pretty far north, and by mid-December we'll have only
8 hours of daylight -- so this problem is going to get a lot worse before
it gets better.

The wolf-dog is indoors most of the time and is very well behaved and quiet
except for some muffled howling. So I can't say for sure that all her
barking is in response to him -- though it's still aimed in his direction.
We also have a lot of coyotes and other wildlife around here. But what
Athena's doing sounds far less like alert barking than just barking for the
sake of barking. It's literally ceaseless.

When I bring her inside, she paces around my one-room cabin, pleading to
get out. And she'll sometimes go on like that all night. My vet recommended
knocking her out at night with a dose of Benadryl. That helped a bit, but
only for a few hours. (Anyway, it seems creepy drugging a normal, healthy
dog every night.)

I already know from an experiment with a Dog Watch fence that Athena would
ignore a shock collar. So it seems my two options are a citronella collar
or debarking.

From what I've heard on this list and elsewhere, I'm not too optimistic
about the effectiveness of the citronella collar. I also recall some folks
pointing out that, when working with a dog with such strong guardian
instincts, it might be more cruel to "zap" her for barking than to just
debark her and let her *think* she's barking. At $150 for a collar, the
citronella option would also be an expensive experiment for somebody on a
budget.

OTOH, my vet cautions strongly against debarking, saying two things: 1)
There's a very high risk of serious complications (e.g. breathing problems)
and 2) Athena would still be able to make enough noise for me to hear, even
if my neighbor couldn't. (And I admit I'm as eager to have her quiet for my
own sake as I am hopeful of avoiding problems with my so-far laid back
neighbor.)

So my questions for the list:

1. Are there other options I'm overlooking?

2. With modern laser surgery, is there a high risk of complications in
debarking?

3. Does debarking have enough effect that the sound would be undetectable
from, say, 25 yards away?

4. Is debarking, as so many people claim, a cruel thing to do?

5. If debarking is an acceptable option in this situation, what is the
likely cost range for the surgery? 

6. Does anybody know of a place a person could rent a citronella collar,
rather than buy one?

My vet won't perform a debarking operation, but says she'd recommend a
specialist, if I'm interested. At this point, I hesitate. Debarking seems
like a radical thing to do, and as someone who's always opposed things like
trimming ears and docking tails in other breeds, I feel almost hypocritical
thinking about this.

But after listening to Athena go on for hours, or having her pace through
my sleep night after night, I'm thinking about it a lot. If Athena were
quiet at night, I'd not only be happier and a better neighbor, but Athena
would be happier too. Because then she could have her wish to roam the
property all night. I just don't know what's the best way to achieve that end.

Thanks for the advice.

Claire