The man's side of it!

Cassie told me not to post this because I'd get a lot of PETA people on my case, but since I'm a rebel and I'll never ever be any good, I did it anyway.

We have a two year old Yellow Lab named Buddy. He is an adorably stupid dog. When we first got him he was cute and cuddly and it was fun for the first couple of days. Then the devil got him! I mean, how could a puppy so cute and lovable turn into such a problem almost overnight. First it was the constant tearing stuff up, then he started barking when ever we would let him out or if he was by himself. Cassie and I have a nice fenced in back yard. Most dogs would have been quite overjoyed to have a playground like this. Not Buddy, as soon as we let him out he would do his business and then sit in front of the door barking his fool head off. Or worse, find something and tear it to pieces. He is very vindictive.

We consulted all kinds of publications, the Vet, the Internet to get advice on how to get him to stop his incessant barking. We tried a squirt bottle, a can of pennies, rewards, I then saw an add for a bark collar. The collar was designed to allow him to bark a few times then give him a mild shock, as the dog continues to bark the jolt gains intensity. Eventually the dog, through the collar and reinforcement, stops the barking, in theory that is! This was our only hope!

At first it seemed to work. Buddy got the message right away after a few days of the collar. Then he must have gotten used to the shock because the lowest setting wasn't working anymore. So I set the initial setting higher, again he settled down a bit. Once again he started barking his head off. I thought that the collar wasn't working anymore or that maybe the battery died. It had a test feature, so I tested it out on me. Yow! what a jolt I got! Okay it was working! Again I increased the voltage so it didn't start from a mild shock, it gave him a full jolt as soon as he barked. You think that worked? No way!

I would watch buddy at the door as he was howling to get in, every time he barked I could see his body twitch, like you or I would if we touched both poles of a car battery. It looked as if he was getting off on it! Time went on and we had to keep him in the house whenever we went out, all the neighbors hated us because of the barking. We even had the animal control officer give us a warning. This went on until about two months ago. That darn dog was getting on my last nerve wit all his barking. I was determined to do something! I told Cassie if that dog doesn't shut up I'm going to shoot him!

All day long the dog was barking, in the house he wanted to go out. Outside he wanted to go in. Barking all the time. It drove me crazy! Finally I had enough! I went into my office and got a CO2 pellet gun I'd bought a few years ago from a friend. I loaded the CO2 cartridge, loaded the 177 cal. pellets and went to the back door. Buddy was in the pen, (Oh yeah, I had to build a pen to keep him from destroying our house and property when he was outside!) The darn dog was barking so load Cassie couldn't take a nap. I opened the door a crack took careful aim at his feet and fired! Buddy was startled for a second but went back to his favorite pastime, barking! So I took aim again and shot him in the foot! This time Buddy associated the pain with my action and yelped and slunk to the back of the pen where he was out of my sight.

Buddy kept quiet for about four or five hours that day. I started to think I'd found a way to shut him up. He started to bark again later, so I got the gun and fired a shot at the ground in front of him. He was quiet the rest of the day. YAAAAAAA! It worked! The next day Buddy would start barking and I went to the door with my gun, he took one look and shut up and slunk to the back of the pen. He was quiet the day! I felt very bad later that I had to resort to shooting the dog but nothing else worked. He wasn't permanently damaged so I soon got over the guilt. Now every time he starts to bark all I have to do is open the door a crack and poke something black at him and he shuts up and slinks to the back of the pen.

Today Cassie and I were enjoying a nice chat while sitting on the patio outside, it was a beautiful day for it. Buddy was in the pen starting to get rowdy I picked up billy's water pistol from the table and pointed it at the dog, He immediately quieted down and went to the back of the pen. Cassie started to chuckle and Buddy would come back to the gate and fuss. I'd point the toy at him and back he'd go. I had told Cassie what I had done from the get-go but that was the first time she'd seen it in action. I had finally found something that works.

I love animals and I hate to see them being harmed, but I had tried everything else and nothing worked. Out of complete frustration I shot the dog in the foot with a pellet gun, and I use it to threaten him when he starts to bark, If PETA, the SPCA or any other animal rights nut has a problem with what I did they are welcome to come and take the dog home with them! Please!

LMAO!!!!! I can picture you shocking yourself with the collar... That is tooo funny.... Hey if it worked and buddy listens now then so be it. And this comes from a dog lover!