BARKING DOG!!

I feel like I am living next to a dog kennel. Whenever my neighbor is not home her very large dog barks non-stop. It is driving me crazy. I think when people move from the city they have a different perspective on noise, especially in the summer when windows are open. In a way I feel sorry for the dog because it moans between the barking.

What's your neighbor say when you talk to him/her about it?

Have you told the neighbor nicely? They may not know that this goes on all day. Sounds like the dog may have seperation anxiety

smoochie said:
Have you told the neighbor nicely? They may not know that this goes on all day. Sounds like the dog may have seperation anxiety

Agreed. If the dog mainly barks when the owner isn't home, there's a very good chance that she has no idea. I was in that position a long time ago, and I was grateful when our neighbors (who loved our dog otherwise) politely let us know. It was separation anxiety in my dog's case, and we wouldn't have known that we needed to address it if the neighbors hadn't told us

Unfortunately,it barks when they are home also. They yell at it constantly to shut up.

mauras - How did you address it?

I'm a big fan of not confronting people who already know there's a problem. If they know their dog is a barker, call in a noise violation when they're not home.

No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain any dog which habitually barks or cries continuously at any hour of the day or night.[Amended 10-7-1980 by Ord. No. 1564

^

This. Unless you're good friends with them, in which case I'd mention it directly. But if it doesn't stop too long afterward (allowing for them to treat it) then I'd still go to above route. You're thenout a few friends, but at least you have your sanity back.

galileo said:
mauras - How did you address it?

Our dog's separation anxiety wasn't all that severe, so we had success with some basic things like playing with her intensely in the mornings 10 minutes or so before leaving so that she'd be tired out for a long while. For us, what worked best was to do that and then ignore her completely for the few minutes right before we left. No petting, no goodbyes at the door in a sad tone. We'd do that on our arrival home, too. The idea was to not make a big deal of our comings and goings. But I know people who have had good luck with giving treats as you walk out the door, too--so the dog associates your departure with something positive

RobB said:
I'm a big fan of not confronting people who already know there's a problem. If they know their dog is a barker, call in a noise violation when they're not home.

No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain any dog which habitually barks or cries continuously at any hour of the day or night.[Amended 10-7-1980 by Ord. No. 1564

I agree now that I know the owners are aware of the problem (and aren't really addressing it--yelling does nothing except make the dog fear you).

mauras said:
I agree now that I know the owners are aware of the problem (and aren't really addressing it--yelling does nothing except make the dog fear you)

True---or they think ,as pack animals, that you are joining them in their ruckus.

Try recoding the barking for a period of time, and then speak to, and play it for, the neighbors. Suggest a trainer (give them a card) and pray they follow through.

you can approach people nicely and if they ignore, call the cops

But if you approach them nicely and then call the cops, they will most likely know that it was you who called the cops on them, possibly making a tense situation even worse.

Or you could make an ass out of yourself, which doesn't help relations with your neighbors either... :sheepishgrin:

cupoftea said:
But if you approach them nicely and then call the cops, they will most likely know that it was you who called the cops on them, possibly making a tense situation even worse.

One of my dogs was a barker - the lady up the street threatened to call aspca on us for dog abuse-- we werent abusing the dog -- our dog was going NUTS as she was putting cans of cat food outside for the feral cats which was driving my poor coonhound crazy trying to get out of our yard and to the food and cats- to make matters worse she would come to the house and feed him treats -- essentially training the dog to bark for her to come and give treats---it was a very tense situation

so being on the barking side we were informed there was a problem and it took us a while to figure out the root cause--

Sharing this story as our other neighbors thought we had an out of control dog when we really had an instigator of a neighbor creating the situation.

The other issue was the dog was barking outside when i wasnt home but my son was - he was totally oblivious -- so I had no idea it was all happening.

Are the adults of the home aware of the barking? It takes a conversation and possibly some work to figure out whats driving the dogs behavior--- but your neighbor has to be part of the solution as utlimately its thier problem and they need to be aware - it IS a problem...

New20740. The owners are aware of the barking. They yell at it to stop barking all the time. This is not something new Today the dog was alone and outside. The continuous barking went on for hours. I went out to do some errands and now there is quiet. I have a feeling the owner is home. I am a dog lover but enough is enough. Thanks for listening to my complaint.

It is incredibly rude to leave a barking dog outside!! I hope this gets amicably resolved, for your sake. Tension among neighbors is draining.

And it's so hot out for a big dog to be left outside. It's a sticky situation. I know this may not sound like the best solution, but I would probably type an anonymous letter saying the barking is really disturbing and for the peace of the neighborhood please keep dog inside. Maybe even mention that you don't want to call animal welfare/police but you will be forced to. See how it goes for a week, then call police. If you say something to neighbor directly, they can get very defensive and it could potentially spoil years of living next to them...just my opinion.

I wonder if you live near me. There is a medium size curly haired dog in my neighborhood who seems to be left outside (unfenced in corner property) alone and off-leash whenever I pass by on one of my walks. This dog is constantly barking and has been known to run from one side of the house to another when it spots someone walking by.

I don't think I live near you, Joan. I'm sure there are many barking dogs out there. Today it is all quiet. Perhaps they read this. I did record the barking but I'll just sit back and hope everything quiets down. Thanks everyone for your comments.

Neighbor's dog would be left out and would bark constantly. We would call the cops. Officer said that's what we should do. It was not a happy dog and there was no way we were going to address it with the people there. That stopped being an option when the youngest kid told my husband to go f-himself and they continued to toss poop and broken glass over the hedges. They were the reason we moved out of Maplewood.

Galileo, I feel like we may have the same neighbor. There's a barking dog situation in my hood as well. The owners yell at it all the time. The one near me is a pitbull. When my little daughter is in the yard playing, the dog goes nuts, snarling and barking at her and straining at its leash. All that's separating those massive jaws and my daughter's face is a rickety chain-link fence. It's terrifying. And the barking is disturbing the peace of the neighborhood.

My beloved was a barker and it drove me nuts. She'd bark inside and outside. As she got older, the issue waned but the barking didn't totally stop.

Because it annoyed me, her owner, I had to rightfully assume she annoyed others so did something about it. I purchased a shock collar. I'd put it on her before I left the house for a long period of time and when she started to go in, it gave her a little zap. As time went on, her barking eased (not stopped!) and was much more tolerable.

I don't know how you are coping. That would drive me insane. What happened to quiet enjoyment?

jed said:
Galileo, I feel like we may have the same neighbor. There's a barking dog situation in my hood as well. The owners yell at it all the time. The one near me is a pitbull. When my little daughter is in the yard playing, the dog goes nuts, snarling and barking at her and straining at its leash. All that's separating those massive jaws and my daughter's face is a rickety chain-link fence. It's terrifying. And the barking is disturbing the peace of the neighborhood.

Our new dog is half pit and let me assure you...she's strong as the Hulk. She has pulled up every in ground tie out in the yard and has eaten through dozens of those durable Kongs (the first dog we ever had to do this). I'd be very weary about your neighbors dog.

Many dogs don't like children simply because they are at their eye level. I'd be VERY cautious if I were you. Constant tension on that leash is an accident waiting to happen. Please be careful and consider talking to your neighbor.

Have been having the same issue with a neighbor's dog, which barks uninterrupted (as in: "bark, bark, bark [three-second pause] bark bark bark bark bark [five-second pause] bark bark bark [three-second pause] bark bark bark bark bark bark bark bark," and so on) from the time I get home from work until I fall asleep (which has been requiring that I run the AC to at least partially drown it out). The dog is outside. The neighbors are home. I don't know if they think they're training it somehow or they just don't care, but they are not addressing the situation, and it's going on every night.

I have zero interest in discussing this with them--I don't want to get into an awkward situation with a neighbor. But it has to stop. Who does one call to complain, exactly? And is there anything they can do if the barking is only at night, when, presumably, the animal-control people won't be working and can't come hear it for themselves? (This is in Maplewood.)

i think you need to at least approach the problem with the neighbors so they are made aware of your problem with what they are doing. I am not sure what animal control (still out of Newark at least until the end of the month) can do about a barking dog on its own property, even if the barking were to occur during their business hours.

You can call non-emergency police number. They will come out but will tell you there isn't much they can do. But they will talk to the neighbor if the dog is barking at the time...

joan_crystal said:
i think you need to at least approach the problem with the neighbors so they are made aware of your problem with what they are doing.

Not sure I agree. If the dog is barking while the neighbor is at work, that's one thing. But if it's all night long and they're just sitting in the house watching American Ninja Warrior, call the cops. You're not sharing new information with them - the neighbor knows the dog is barking - they just don't care.

I got a bark collar that squirts citronella for my large dog, and it takes one bark and a squirt, and he is quiet. After that first time or two , he knows he is barking too much when I show him the collar!!

You could leave a nicely worded but anonymous letter in their mailbox and escalate to the police if they make no effort.