Debarking: Health Issues, Side Effects for Dog already been Debarked

I live in a rural area, so I've had no need to bark soften my pack. However, I'd give my eyeteeth for DS to debark Loki the Papillion. However, I respect her choice not to do so.
 
My three show retirees are de-barked. They all express themselves completely and often and happily. One is still quite loud, one sounds like a hamster, and one sounds dramatically raspy. Suits their personalities, actually. I'm quite sure they haven't been traumatized by it.
 
I am not against it personally and it isnt off the table for my current sheltie who is sound reactive and already verbal with a piercing high pitched bark. I have researched it and there are rarely negative side effects and definitely not emotional ones. It isnt a complete debarking and a less risky procedure than spay/ neuter.

We live in an urban area. We are training heavily and he is young. I can train him out of anxiety or play induced reActivity to most triggers but i cant change or control every new trigger or his verbal nature under normal circumstances. I am giving him until out of his teen months and lots of training before i make a decision. It is t something. Want to do but it has to be more positive than having to be corrected as much. If i had land inwould lve to let him chase things in yard and bark softenenong would not be a consideration. Breeders in urban / suberban areas really have to if they want to keep so many dogs and they often are over their limits at least part of the time. To be honest if / when we get a second dog, i am considering not getting a sheltie just because of bark and i love my shelties!
 
Sorry to say - but I'm really in the huge chock
- is it really right that you must do Debark operations on dogs "Over There" ???

- here it was totally banned in early 2010
- you can get up to 4 months in prison if you do this procedure.
 
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Just a reminder to keep on topic. From the original post

Bailey's Mom said:
I want to learn more about any health, emotional, social issues we might be facing regarding this because I'm clueless...I'm not looking to debate the ethics of doing it. I'm just trying to decide if this is a factor in choosing this animal as our next dog.
Click to expand...
 
Our first sheltie came to us bark softened. He could still bark and did! Just not as loudly or as shrilly as some that have come after. Didn't bother him a bit. He chased every squirrel in the yard and barked at every single chipmunk he could see. And there were a lot. No emotional problems, no physical problems. No problems of any kind.
 
My biggest point would be to make sure that your vet (and any vet in the future of this dog) knows the procedure was done. I don't think it would be a problem other than intubation. (and that's just a possibility if the vet doesn't know about it.)
 
Would I do it to my dog voluntarily? No, but I also wouldn't crop, dock or perform other elective surgeries/procedures. Two of my Shelties came to me debarked. One has significant scar tissue (determined by two veterinarians) and as a result, he does suffer from quite a bit of "hacking" while trying to bark and can have an issue with keeping water down. Emotional side effects? No. My older debarked dog is perfectly fine. She's not a big barker anyway. My youngest is not debarked and will not be. If a dog was a great fit for me, I probably wouldn't turn it down because it was debarked. However, I have passed on breeders that encourage it. That's just my personal choice.
 
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