Advice needed -- potential buyers scared away.

[Texas Proud]

I don't side with the neighbor at all. Dogs are not meant to be left outside to bark incessantly. The dog was not a big problem before, but it is a problem now. Caroline has the right to complain.

I have not read the whole thread... but want to give my vote to the OP... I had a dog that could bark for 20 of a 24 hour day behind me before... when the people were away... one time I watched it bark at the tree in the back yard for hours on end... nothing I could see in the tree, just the leaves blowing in the wind...

I have a friend who has called the Sheriff on his neighbor... she still does not care and will put her barking dogs out at night to wake him up... these are BAD NEIGHBORS...

 

[Texas Proud]

My neighbors have some annoying dogs, and a friend of mine found this device for me:

http://www.ultimatebarkcontrol.com/ds_Pro.htm

However, I got the dogs to shut up about the same time she sent me the link, so I never bought it - I have no idea if it actually works or not.

My friend with the problem tried another brand like this... and it worked for only a short time with one of the three dogs.... he thinks the others can't hear the noise anymore and just bark...

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Heres the process.

Complain to animal control. Read up on any ordinances and the agencies that enforce them. Nearly every town or city has a noise ordinance and most spell out the process to pursue a complaint.

When that doesnt work, and in my experience, it wont, you can try arbitration. If the neighbor is stupid, they will both show up to the arbitration hearing and sign a document making it binding. When they dont follow through with the arbitrators findings at least you have grounds for your civil suit.

File your civil suit, pay a lawyer a fair bunch of money, given decent gathered evidence of the problem and your attempts to resolve it, you may get a settlement and a court order to the neighbor to limit the noise.

Bottom line is a bad neighbor with a barking dog is a problem you likely cannot resolve. Believe me, i've tried, in several towns, in several states. I've heard of a few cases where the animal control guys took the job really seriously and fined the offending owner and eventually mitigated the problem. I've seen a lot of people take it out on the animal, which is sad. I've seen people take it out on the crappy neighbor/pet owner and thats usually entertaining but somewhat counterproductive.

Wish I had better news but the best I've had from personal experience was making life subtly miserable for one neighbor until they voluntarily moved 3 years later.

And yes, in many states you must report neighborhood nuisances and nuisance neighbors during a sale. Although it'd be dang tough to prove and it'd have to be one huge nuisance for a new owner to chase you down.

Maybe you could try a nice bluff. Leave them a note that says:

Things to do about your nuisance dog

1. Keep it in the house most of the time
2. Train or pay to have it trained to stop barking
3. Remove the stimulus that causes it to bark from your yard
4. Put a citrus or electric 'no bark' collar on it until it gets the idea
5. Take the dog to the vet for treatment of the gun shot wound

Of course, you never intend to do #5, but hey...who knows...?

 

[youbet]

I'd never do anything to the innocent animal. It's not her fault her owner is a jerk.

Try to come around to another way of thinking about this Caroline and it will be much easier to solve the problem.

 

[donheff]

[Quote auther=Caroline]
I'd never do anything to the innocent animal. It's not her fault her owner is a jerk.
[/quote]

Try to come around to another way of thinking about this Caroline and it will be much easier to solve the problem.

How about poisoning the neighbor?

 

[mykidslovedogs]

My husband used to shoot the neighbor's dog with a large squirt gun each time it barked until it finally figured out that if it stopped barking, it wouldn't get blasted anymore!

 

[Sarah in SC]

I think the idea about spending more time in the yard is a good one(yes, I know it is a rental and a big hassle to go over there and hang around), but this is your nest egg for FIRE so look at it as an investment in FIRE. Throw the weiners over the fence as suggested, talk to the dog, act like you really like the dog. Get your realtor to do the same. He will probably be somewhat better.

If not, get a small supply of acepromazine and add to the weiners. Don't give but one tablet and see how he reacts. I use it on my dogs a few times a year for anxiety--slows them down pretty good. A small dose would wear off fairly quickly, before she gets home from work probably.

There is something to be said for people knowing what they are getting into with a home purchase--I am really glad that the rednecks that moved in next door to us have late night parties, two ATVs, a Corvette they do donuts in the yard with after some brewskies, etc. Why? Because I have 5 barking dogs. He's oblivious to the dogs, so I figure he's better than what I could have had next door.

Like CFB said, neighbor disputes rarely have good outcomes.
Sarah

 

[bosco]

if the woman doesn't WANT the dog to bark, just doesn't want him inside as she says, invest $100 and buy her a bark collar for the dog.

I had a nuisance-barking dog, and a law office next door. Not a good combo.

I bought a bark collar with 6 settings. I even tried it myself to make sure it wasn't cruel (yes, put it on my neck and barked--not a pretty sight!). It startles, doesn't really hurt.

My dog gave up after level 3 of 6.

Course, then the dog took up digging.... Ended up leaving him inside during the day. But the digging wouldn't be your problem....

 

[Martha]

Well Caroline, you sure have a lot of options. None of which is perfect. Let us know what you try.

--Make friends with dog by giving treats and having people in the yard giving treats, especially the realtor
--squirt the dog
--buy the dog
--pay the owner to keep the dog inside + appropriate disclosure
--buy the dog a shock collar (I have mixed feelings about this; it doesn't work with a fair number of dogs, instead it just adds to their stress) or a citronella collar. Keep those batteries replaced!
--be the squeaky wheel, record the barking dog and complain to everyone until someone tries to do something about the woman and her dog
--wolf urine
--try one of those untrasonic devices (though I have heard that they do not work)

 

[MasterBlaster]

Just Curious...

How exactly does one go about collecting wolf urine ?

That sounds like a real challenge !

 

[eytonxav]

I would send her a registered letter requesting her to do something about this habitual barker that is depriving you of quiet enjoyment of your home and is also causing potential buyers to lose interest, and that if she fails to remedy the situation, you will initiate legal action against her.

Also, I would create a detailed log of the dog's barking and even get it on tape, as well as noting all the times you have talked to the neighbor about her animal. Most towns have ordinances governing such annoyances, but even if they don't, I suspect you would still have a case against her. Certainly there is leverage if you can enlist other neighbors to join you in the fight.

No one has the right to impose this type of nusance on their neighbors.

Good Luck,

Doug

 

[HFWR]

Just Curious...

How exactly does one go about collecting wolf urine ?

That sounds like a real challenge !

Wonder if it's anything like extracting bull semen?

 

[tryan]

Had a similar situation with my neighbor's Rotweiler running loose - no fence. After DW was literally cornered by the beast in OUR YARD I considered a nice sweet bowl of antifreeze (left in our yard of course). Countless discussions with the neighbor - lots of empty promises .... she just die 2 weeks ago. Had to be put down because her hips ... bless her soul.

Money talks ... throw the neighbor a few bucks. But know that this will get expensive if the house does not sell quickly ... as they get used to the cash (price of peace might increase).

 

[samclem]

About 2/3rds of the way down te page on the attached link is a device that blasts out sound waves in response to barking. It uses a filter algorythm you control (number of perks per unt time before it goes off) and you can set the sound frequency (low freq= your neighbor will hear the blast--[this might get you in trouble], higher freq= only Fido gets blasted). This could be the type of device Martha mentioned. I don't know if it would work. My >>guess<< is that it would work--dogs are smart, and operant conditioning is a well proven mechanism. It would probably work best if the thing is set to go off after a relatively few barks (clearest link between stimulus and response. Technically this would be "positive punishment" conditioning.)

Is it humane? I think it is, given the alternative. If you "turn up the heat" on this neighbor (city inspectors, lawsuits, police, etc) until she finally decides to do something, what will she do? If she's inconsiderate enough not to keep the dog inside to keep him from barking, she's probably the type of person who will just take him to the pound. A "barker" may not be a very adoptable dog--and you know what that means.

$350 bucks. Might be money well spent if it works. I'd call the company to see if they offer a warrantee. Heck, you could disguise it under one of those plastic rocks used to hide well pumps, even leave it for the new owners if you want. Better yet, rent it to the new owners for $20 per month. If Fido lives another 18 months you'll be money ahead!
http://www.amazing1.com/pest_control.htm

 

[Zoocat]

If you "turn up the heat" on this neighbor (city inspectors, lawsuits, police, etc) until she finally decides to do something, what will she do? If she's inconsiderate enough not to keep the dog inside to keep him from barking, she's probably the type of person who will just take him to the pound. A "barker" may not be a very adoptable dog--and you know what that means.

$350 bucks. Might be money well spent if it works. I'd cal the company to see if they offer a warrantee. Heck, you could disguise it under one of those plastic rocks used to hide well pumps, even leave it for the new owners if you want. Better yet, rent it to the new owners for $20 per month. If Fido lives another 18 months you'll be money ahead!
http://www.amazing1.com/pest_control.htm

This is a good point. After all the dog is just being a dog. And it's not his fault he has a jerk for an owner.

 

[TromboneAl]

That must be really frustrating, Caroline.

Here's a thought about something to try; it combines some ideas above.

You have a big advantage in that you probably have a lot more money than the neighbor. Think about how much it would be worth to not have that dog there. $1,000? If so, have a friend drop by the woman's house and say

"Hey, that dog is really intimidating, and I need a watch dog right away. I just got this cute pit bull puppy (take him out of jacket), but I need a watchdog today. How about we trade dogs, and I'll give you $1,000?"

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

when i was on the code enforcement board in town we had dog cases come before us a few times. each time, based on good evidence, we sided with the complaining neighbor. cases included barking, dogs running lose and even one involving dog, um, smells. we'd give a date by which to comply or face steep fines per day. i don't recall such a case ever coming back to us.

calls used to come directly to the code section of building department but now you just call our police. they will send a police officer to the area to see which house has the offending animal. first the city will give a warning. if no compliance, a citation is issued and the offender is brought before the board.

one thing you need be careful of when calling code on a neighbor is that it doesn't become a code war. or at least make sure your property is in compliance first.

as to the wolf urine. i raised a hybrid wolf and he was accepted by most of the area dogs as part of the pack. every so often it seemed a dog could tell the difference and then back hairs would be raised. but i don't suspect it will stop any barking.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

My neighbors have some annoying dogs, and a friend of mine found this device for me:

http://www.ultimatebarkcontrol.com/ds_Pro.htm

However, I got the dogs to shut up about the same time she sent me the link, so I never bought it - I have no idea if it actually works or not.

Like most over-priced pieces of cr*p, it does not work at all. A friend's dogs occasionally
bark at people walking their dogs past the property (when they are in the backyard).
The neighbor has a very low tolerance for dog noise and installed this device. It does
not seem to have any effect on the dogs, although it startled them the first few times
it went off.

 

[Andre1969]

My husband used to shoot the neighbor's dog with a large squirt gun each time it barked until it finally figured out that if it stopped barking, it wouldn't get blasted anymore!

I tried that trick with my dog once. Well, rather with a squirt bottle filled with water. Unfortunately, instead of figuring out that if it stopped barking it wouldn't get squirted, it figured out that if it jumped up and knocked the bottle out of my hand, it wouldn't get squirted! This dog was about 4 1/2 years old when we got him, so I'm guessing that in the past someone over-did it with the squirt bottle, or teased him with it or something. Heck, all you have to do is make a squeezing motion with your index finger and make a hissing noise in unison with it, and the dog will jump up and snap!

As for shutting the german shepherd up, I don't know if this would really work, but I saw an episode of "Magnum PI" years ago, where someone gave bubble gum or marshmallows or something like that to Higgins' dogs, and it shut 'em up!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

--try one of those untrasonic devices (though I have heard that they do not work)

Tried it. Didnt work. Made my wifes dogs tilt their head a little when it went off for the first time or two, then they ignored it. Neighbors barking dog seemed completely unaffected.