Solution for barking dog..............................

[Dawg52]

Got a new neighbor about 4 months ago and shortly thereafter she bought a small dog(mutt) that barks non-stop. I literally have to turn on a fan in my bedroom at night to drown out the barking noise. The frigging dog is tied to a tree and is never shown any attention, so I can understand why it barks all the time.

My neighbor is a little old lady so not sure how well she will react to me knocking on her door to register a complaint. BTW, I am a dog lover so I wouldn't harm the thing but at 3:00am in the morning........it has crossed my mind.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Good luck. I've found no solution other than moving.

The owner knows the dog is barking. The owner probably has no interest in making an effort to make it stop. Animal control might make a few calls or send a threatening note, then probably wont do anything. The homeowners association really doesnt care. The police probably wont do anything. Civil suits cost a lot. Taking it out on the owner will land you in jail. Taking it out on the dog is wrong.

Last time this happened, after exhausting my options I got a 'sound soother' from sharper image. Still have it. Makes some nice rainfall, surf, etc sounds. That worked until I decided to move for this and other reasons. Three months after that the shitty neighbor moved.

Talk to the owner. If nothing happens, try animal control. If that doesnt work, try to get the owner into some binding arbitration due to probable county/town/city codes that prohibit barking dogs.

 

[Cut-Throat]

On another electronics forum that I am on someone came up with a device that made a high pitched sound only a dog can hear. It was aimed at the barking dog and was triggered by the dog barking. The dog figured out in 1 evening that if it stopped barking the high pitched whine would also stop.

Worth checking out.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

we have town codes about barking dogs and also in our county you can not tie a dog to a tree. all we have to do is call the police and they will send someone out to monitor & correct the situation.

if i think it will be successful i would talk to the owner first so i voted for that. but if that doesn't work and then you call the cops, the offending dog owner will have a good idea of who called the cops. so maybe better to just do that from the onset.

 

[Goonie]

Around here if there's a yapping dog, the cops won't bother with it during the day, but if it yaps at night they will. They talk to the owner the first time. $50 fine the second and third times. Animal control removes the offending critter on the fourth call.

If the dog appears to be mistreated or neglected, police will have animal control remove it on the FIRST call! At that time the owner is charged with animal cruelty/neglect and toted off to jail, and also given a court date. Judges here are NOT lenient to animal abusers OR neglecters. They give hefty fines, jail sentences, and/or court orders that will disallow the offenders from ever owning animals again in this county!

 

[KB]

First I would speak to the owner.

Then for subsequent barking, I would call animal control, over and over if needed. I have a similar problem that will get worse as the weather gets warmer and the windows are open. I'm about to start my campaign of calling daily if I need to.

 

[W2R]

I have a very nice, quiet, otherwise considerate neighbor who puts her "Hound of the Baskervilles" out at my bedtime every night. The dog doesn't want to be put out, so he barks deeply and repeatedly "WOOF! WOOF!! WOOF!" for a long time. She also has a little yappy dog but he doesn't get put out, I guess, because he doesn't bark at bedtime.

My solution is simple. My guest bedroom is on the other side of my house. If the dog keeps me awake, then I sleep over there instead.

It's annoying, but I look at it this way. A woman like me living alone in this area really should have a dog for self protection. This dog sounds like it eats strangers alive for snacks; he sounds really tough. I don't have to feed it, and I don't have to pay the vet bills, and he would scare off potential intruders, so maybe that makes it worthwhile to occasionally sleep in the other room.

 

[bbbamI]

Since she is a little old lady, maybe she can't hear him bark.

You might want to ask her if the dog is ill...that you were concerned because you heard him bark often. As a matter of fact, you hear the dog bark at night when everyone is in bed, and you were just concerned that he might be ill.

:

 

[perinova]

This old lady might not know what to do herself and is thinking of sending the dog back to the pound? Which is difficult to do but if someone complains she might decide to do it. Or she might decide to take the dog inside (Isn' t it why the animal is barking all night?).

Maybe an anonymous note would help as a start. With a panphlet about dog training.

All other solutions previously offered are good. But if the old lady is not cooperative and there is no police ordinance, you might have to take her to court.
I assume that kidnaping the dog and sending it away somewhere is not a legal option so I didn't offer that as a solution

 

[Khan]

Call the police (not 911); they will issue a ticket.

 

[Meadbh]

Sure, talk to the owner. If that doesn't work, collect data. Set up a videocamera and tape a nightful of the disturbance. Make sure the date and time shows on the tape! Then use the data to convince (a) the owner and, if necessary (b) the police.

 

[Dawg52]

Maybe an anonymous note would help as a start. With a panphlet about dog training.

wil

All good suggestions. I think I might try this first. If this doesn't work, I know a policeman that might make an unofficial call to discuss the matter with her. A uniform will sometimes get a persons attention.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[lets-retire]

We recieved these calls all the time. Normally the first call out to a new place the first question of the complainant was did you talk to your neighbor. If the answer was no then out action was to give the offending dog's owner a verbal warning, then a written warning, then a notice to appear. If the neighbor had already talked to the dog's owner the verbal warning was thrown out and we went to step two. The town ordinance was very clear, basically stating if someone complained it was in violation, but an office had to witness the incident. One person didn't get the hint after the first notice to appear, so, IIRC, they earned a total of four over about a month. Each cost them at least $45.

 

[yelnad]

Contact Dogs Deserve Better to see if they have a representative in your area. They work with owners to come up with solutions in situations like this. They are anti-chains, but will work with the owners on training or fencing (even providing financial assistance). They are an excellent organization.

 

[Andre1969]

I think sometimes people just don't realize how annoying their barking dog can be. Dogs can be like kids, or farts or BO for that matter. You know the old saying about how everyone else's farts or BO smells worse than your own? That's because you're USED to them! Same goes for dogs and kids! So it may not be that this woman doesn't care. It's just that she's learned to tune out the barking.

My grandmother lives right across the street from me, and I can hear the dog bark sometimes when she puts her out, and the dog wants to come back in. Even though we live in a rural neighborhood, sounds can carry for incredible distances. Especially on a cold, clear morning or on a still night.

Fortunately, Grandma is not hard of hearing, so she lets the dog back in as soon as she starts barking.

I have a dog, but he only goes outside on a leash. He barks at the tv though if he sees an animal or animal-like shape on it. Heck, one morning he went ballistic when a "My Little Pony" commercial came on! Wish I could make him stop, but I've found the only way to do it is send him to another room. I have a TiVo, and sometimes I'll pause it when the dog starts barking, but then he just stays there, looking at the frozen picture with his head cocked, waiting for it to start moving again.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Wow you guys have much better police and animal control departments than the ones I had at the four properties where barking dogs kept me up all night.

I worked the system to the fullest extent, but got absolutely nothing.

If you buy one of those devices thats supposed to emit the high pitched noise, make sure the place you buy it from has a good return policy. I tried several and they had no effect on either the neighbors dog or my own dogs.

I have the tv-barking dog too. That was pretty cute for about six months. Sort of creates a little tension when you're watching a show and the baby is asleep...you need to keep the tivo remote close and be prepared for unexpected dog appearances...which it seems every commercial currently made must have in them.

I never knew that dogs made you wanna buy stuff.

 

[Nords]

My FIL just came up with a new twist.

He has an electronic barking-dog alarm (it's named "Sparky"). Sparky responds to IR or noise and barks in a loud German Shepherd voice for a minute before resetting. It's a recording of a real dog and very realistic but if you listen to it for a while you'll realize it's a recording.

Sparky is up against the fence between the properties, able to sense the neighbor dog's noise. When the critter fires up, after a few minutes FIL flips the switch. Sparky starts barking back and the neighbor dog goes absolutely nuts. If it shuts up, so does Sparky. If not, Sparky can keep this up all day.

After about a minute of this the dog is taken inside by its owner and FIL spends the rest of the day in peace. Not a word has been exchanged.

 

[TromboneAl]

Barking dogs are a terrible problem -- I hope you can solve it.

 

[riskadverse]

Good luck. I've found no solution other than moving. . . . .

In the past I had this problem, although instead of moving, I focused on getting the neighbor to move.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I tried that for about six months or so, and as you can imagine I could probably be a little bit annoying.

I think the high point of my antagonism might have been when I called the cops at 3am and told them I'd heard gunshots and screaming from next door.

However, my neighbor was substantially supported by his teenaged son and a bunch of the kids friends, who took turns driving over my lawn in the middle of the night, driving over my trash cans and so forth.

In other words, the shitheads didnt fall far from the tree.

I'll bet he's still pulling tennis balls out of his downspouts though.

 

[bosco]

If other options do not work

buy a pellet rifle. Approximately 3 pumps will sting but not break the skin. When the dog barks, stealthily give him a shot in the hind quarters. Be careful not to hit the head or eye.

The dog will jump and "yip", then try to figure out the source of the surprise, probably by sniffing the ground frantically.

When he starts barking again, repeat, lather, rinse. Eventuallly he will associate barking with stinging. Sort of like a long-distance bark collar.

Don't be spotted by the owner.

This is known as behaviour modification. It is only to be used when all other methods fail.

 

[youbet]

Keep in mind that if you're caught you'll pay a stiff fine and possibly do a little time.

 

[ronin]

try bosco's method on the owner as well and see who learns faster...

 

[thefed]

i say talk to her first...ya never know where you will wont get iwhtout trying to communicate first

 

[bosco]

for the record, I have never used the method. But I did watch it successfully used by a man who had pleaded with the owner over and over. He worked at home and could not concentrate.

I personally think that allowing a dog to nuisance-bark is unconscionable. I had a nuisance barking dog once, and I purchased a shock collar. I didn't like the idea, but I refuse to put my next-door neighbour through it while I was gone during the day.

I put the collar to my throat and tested it, just to see how "cruel" it was. It was more startling than painful.

I think expecting your neighbours to suffer through the irritation of listening to a constantly barking dog is far more cruel.