Imagine someone cutting away a portion of your vocal chords. Yup. It's that. It is done under anesthesia. "This is a surgical procedure to reduce tissue in the vocal chords. Some vets use a punch to remove tissue. Other surgeons make cuts of varying sizes and I have heard of some using a laser. The goal of the surgery is to lower the volume of the dog's bark and the ability of the bark to carry over a wide area."