Seeking Advise – Neighbor's dog barks ALL DAY

[johnnyblegs]

That’s not an exaggeration. At times it’s a constant stream for 5 hours. It’s a boston terrier. They’re new to the neighborhood. Their back door is equipped with a doggie door so it’s free to roam while their away, which I think is a lot. Their house is less than twenty feet from mine.

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If I wasn’t home every day I probably wouldn’t notice it as much. Some days are better than others. I’ve learned to drown out the barking that permeates my window and door barrier with music. Some days it barks into the evening hours as late as midnight which makes it a little tough to sleep. I had some friends over and we were trying to relax in the back. Couldn’t with the constant barking.

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I need to let them know what’s going on. I’m not going to remain anonymous with them, I think that’s important. Does anyone out there have a barking dog that a neighbor complained to you about? How did you remedy the situation so it’s not as disruptive to your complaining neighbor?

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[JoB]

Do you already know these neighbors?

if not.. maybe it’s time to pay an old fashioned hello call with cookies.. or better yet.. beer or a bottle of wine in hand and let them know their dog is causing a disturbance.

i have been known to show up on a doorstep with a blatant bribe in hand saying “i don’t want you to think i am a total jerk but i really need to talk to you about something before i become one”…

good luck.

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[service dog academy]

and please dont recommend an anti bark collar to them. they cause pain and anxiety and can actually make the problem much worse. exercise and training will go a long way in dealing with this issue.

job – love the idea of the bribe!

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[WSeaFam2]

People tend to think letting a dog out in the yard satisfies a need for a walk, it does not. Maybe if they walk him/her it will make the dog less stressed more relaxed about the new neighborhood and help with the barking. Just a suggestion.

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[DP]

johnnyblegs: I went through what you’re going through. (Details at the bottom.)

Definitely try the bribe first. If that doesn’t work, call Animal Control and they will send your neighbor a “barking dog letter.” The barking dog letter identifies the section of Seattle’s civil code that addresses nuisance barking, and notifies the neighbor that there may be sanctions for repeated violations.

The letter alone MIGHT be enough, but if it isn’t, you must be prepared to put in some time, and possibly court action, to follow through and “enforce” the code.

Another option is an anti-bark device, such as the “Dog Silencer Pro.” These devices are activated by the sound of a dog’s bark and emit a high-pitched noise that’s inaudible to humans but obnoxious to dogs. Theoretically, these devices train the dog not to bark.

My story:

I have a neighbor who is either too busy or too irresponsible to give her pound puppy the attention it needs. During the summer, the dog runs in and out all day through its doggy door and barks intermittently—just like your Boston Terrier. I’ve tried contacting my neighbor personally about this, to no avail. For awhile, I was even shouting at her across the yard to bring her dog inside, but that got quite old.

Two summers ago, I tried the barking dog letter with great success. After getting the letter, my neighbor kept her dog inside. At the beginning of this summer, though, she seemed to have assumed that I would no longer be bothered by constant dog barking, and so she starting letting her dog out all day again. So I had the City send her another letter.

No effect.

Two months ago, I bought the Dog Silencer Pro and set it up in my yard. Now, the dog will run out on the porch, give a few yips, then stop. The Dog Silencer is not a miracle cure, but the barking has definitely gone down. And I feel better, too, because I’m doing something about the problem instead of just stewing about it.

One of the plusses of the Dog Silencer Pro is that you can set the device to “audible” so it also makes a loud chirping noise whenever it’s activated. I set mine to audible, and every time it chirps it lets my neighbor know that she’s being inconsiderate by not taking responsibility for her dog. As result she’s more likely to call her dog back in after a few minutes of barking, because now she’s more aware that the noise bothers me. So it’s like I’m training her and her dog at the same time. ;-)

Anyway, that’s my experience.

Good luck to you.

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[johnnyblegs]

Thanks for the advise! I think I will start with the bribe, but maybe in the form of sweets.

DP: You said it well. It IS inconsiderate by not taking responsibility for their dog’s barking. There are three other neighbors in close proximity to the barking and one that’s literally 5 feet from the dog. They also have a pugg and I’m pretty certain they never walk their dogs. Had no idea the city would send a barking letter. Very nice. How much did the Dog Silencer Pro set you back?

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[DP]

The Dog Silencer Pro was about $100 over the Internet. Expensive, I know. But how can you put a price on peace of mind?

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[Carson]

Do you know where they work? Maybe a home telephone number? If being nice doesn’t work, maybe a phone call at 3 am just asking, all nice and stuff, if they planned to leave their dog out all day again tomorrow. They will get the hint, sooner or later..

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[healnlaugh]

I dont understand why people have pets when they are gone all day long. I have a cat and the only reason I felt like my home was right for her was because the longest she is alone is for 4 hours and when we take a trip she has someone else taking care of her in my home. I know that is lucky but most animals get lonely and need constant exersize!! It sounds like that dog needs someone to play with or take for a walk….do you know a teenager that needs money? They should advertise nearby after you bring the bribe:)

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[JanS]

carson…you’re a devil ;-)

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[Carson]

Jan,

Its very effective. I used to live across the street from an apt building, every morning at 5am someone would pull up, honk their horn and wait for someone to come out. There were too many units to know where the person lived that was getting picked up, but it was very easy to get the car lic plate and locate the owner of the car. I assumed, if they are there at 5am, they are also in bed early. So I called the woman at midnight. She didn’t quite grasp my point that first night, but she did the second and no more 5am horn honking. Very effective.

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[WorldCitizen]

Just talk to them.

We had the same problem with our dachshund. Whenever we moved to a new place, it took the dog a week or two not to be too freaked out when we left for any time over 10 min. After we left the dog would do this freaked ou yelp/scream/bark nonstop for hours until we got home. We didn’t know until after the first week in the new place. Our neighbors didnt even let us know here was a problem until they were almost crazy with annoyance. Turns out it was a case of separation anxiety. (Sounds lame but true). We talked to some folks and found we needed to give the dog some independence while we were around (no sleeping in the same bed, giving her her own area, short walks around the blocks without her, to get her used to the fact we will be leaving but coming back every time, etc.)

After a few days of the new arrangements, the barking stopped and everything was cool.

The odds are they either don’t know there is a problem or they don’t know how to handle it. Either way you need to talk to them. Maybe point them to a website that has advice for this kind of thing. I find people react well to honest straightforward communication.

(sorry abou the bad typing…sent from my phone)

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[linasenzerrose]

Yup, start with talking to them. We were having a problem with our neighbors that have a few dogs that bark nonstop when they are not home and frequently when they are home. We are on friendly terms but do not really talk or have any sort of relationship. I went over to talk with them and I took the approach of maybe they do not realize how much their dogs are barking and how loud it is. I had a few suggestions in mind to offer too like shutting the windows and drawing shades when they are not home as the dogs see us through the window while we are inside our house and start barking. I also suggested that the dogs had some separation anxiety that they needed to help them with. It turned into a good conversation and it has been much better since, not perfect, but much better. I second WorldCitizen, sometimes folks just don’t know that it is a problem because they are not home. A few resources and knowledge can do wonders and you are not doing them or the dogs any favors by not telling them what happens when they are not home. good luck!

also, my next steps if that conversation did not work was to contact animal control and file a complaint. Luckily, it looks like i won’t have to do this but know that there are next steps if you need to take them.

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[Blend]

maybe the dog knows there is a huge disaster coming and the end is near and he is warning all of us. and we are all annoyed but really we should be running for our lives!!!

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[GoGo]

I belong to a Boston Terrier group, if they don’t want the dog we’ll take him and find him a good home. Poor thing.

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[johnnyblegs]

Well, my wife and I hit the end of our rope the other night. The dog woke us up at 12:30 and barked for 30 minutes before we put on our shoes and went over to talk to them. No one answered the door but we did leave a note in their mail box letting them know what was going on. They had about two days worth of mail in there which made me think they came by, dropped the dog off then took off. My wife nicely stated the situation and left our names and contact info. We went back to bed with cotton balls in our ears. Never got a reply from them but the barking has STOPPED! Just goes to show the direct way is the right way; just do it before you’ve had enough of the situation. Thanks for all your tips!

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[guidosmom]

I would just call animal control and also maybe tell them you are concerned for the dogs welfare if the people are never home and it looks like there is a lot of mail left.

http://www.seattle.gov/animalshelter/ServiceRequest/ServiceRequest.asp

I would want to know if my dogs were barking when I wasn’t home. I hope they can create a better situation for the dogs and you no longer have to hear their barking.

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[dap]

I can tell you how *not* to approach this situation being on the receiving end.

It would have been nice if our neighbors had actually approached us with concerns before calling animal control and canvasing neighbors to do something about it (and the dog owning neighbors should realize that if we move, they’re next as ours are not nearly the loudest, or most obnoxious by any stretch of the imagination). We’re newer to our neighborhood (and fairly nice folks), and only recently have we had a period of the day where we’re both not home, and they still go to dog day care and the park quite often.

We live on a block with approximately a dozen other families with dogs of one variety or another. I’ve seen a Pomeranian, three Chihuahuas, a Pit Bull, a Boxer, a Great Dane, a couple of Labs, a German Shepherd, and a few mutts (all great dogs from what I can tell). That said, as reasonable people would expect, it’s usually a domino effect with barking (and rarely if never starts at our house when we’re home, which is in the between the late afternoon and late morning on average – when we don’t take them to dog day care).

We’ve also taken measures of our own volition prior to any complaints and we’ve tried multiple types of collars (the audio triggered ones are bad for multiple dogs, as one will trigger it for the other and send the wrong message while trying to train them) and fences. We opted for the citronella collar that has a remote control so that when we’re home, we can cull the behavior… and now they stop at the beep sound. None of our direct neighbors have any issues with them (in fact, they say they’re well behaved), and tell us they only bark when dogs walk by or when we come home because they’re happy to see us. We know this, as both neighbors are typically home during the day because they work in the evenings.)

That said, we have some grouchy, nosy neighbors that have filed reports with animal control multiple times, and all animal control can say is that our dogs are healthy, well loved, and that the noise ordinance law is vague (who’s also enlisted other neighbors to canvas for signatures against our dogs). This neighbor has also walked by the house and instigated the pups (we’ve heard the same story from multiple other neighbors) and has made threats to their well-being (as well as telling my girlfriend that we should keep them in the garage all day while we’re at work).

On one hand, I truly feel for anyone who’s bothered by the dog noise. I know that dogs can bark often (that’s what they do), and it can be annoying. On the other hand, I know for a fact that they’re not the culprit for at least 2/3 of the day when we are home (as we’re actively training them to not), and that there’s a slew of other families not getting complaints or threats that have dogs that are louder, have higher pitched barks than our puggles, and are far more of a nuisance to the neighborhood (regarding the type of noise complaints that have been directed at our dogs).

Had these people approached us without attacking us (as you can catch more flies with honey), then I would have not only explained how the collar works, but I’ve had worked with them to understand when the behavior is most prevalent and would schedule the day care visits around that time. We don’t have a dog door to replicate walking, or dog park time… and we’re not going to crate them for longer than a couple of hours. The reason we have it is so they can do their business outside, and so that the puppy doesn’t look for projects in the house (dog owners will understand that one).

Now we can’t let them out when we’re not home, as we’re afraid that the nasty neighbor will throw poison food over the fence, or some other brain-damaged / demented maneuver.

Long to short: calling animal control is perfectly acceptable as a last resort, or if there’s a neglected or abused animal… but really? Barking when dogs walk by during the afternoon? When they’re far from the only culprits, but getting singled out for no reason (we don’t know them from Adam and vice versa). Just talk to your neighbors if they seem approachable… and be as reasonable as you’d like your neighbor to be without making threats to safety.

(NOTE: We now are recording audio/video, and if they keep up the physical harassment, I’ll be handing over footage to the Police and will let them use the data to tell its own story.)

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[Smitty]

We bought this a fews years back and it worked like a charm. We may have been the exception.

Bark Free

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N2N9DU/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0001GKZDU&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1DFA4HAGG2XY2X1BP1J4

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[SeattleLady]

Dealing with the neighbor yourself can be a BAD idea. If you have a good relationship with the neighbor, sure, talk to them. But I tried to deal with my neighbor (well, around the corner) directly (following the advice on this thread) instead of calling Animal Control with a nuisance barking complaint and I seriously regret it. I wrote a note in case they weren’t home after being woken up in the morning by the dog barking (after weeks of near constant barking). The dog was let to just bark out an open window all day. I walked over and knocked on the door. No one answered even though it seemed like someone was home. So I left a note asking if they could reduce the barking, and mentioning that maybe not letting the dog look out the window at the passing people/dogs on the sidewalk would do it.

A few days later the dog owner stopped me on the street, asked if I left the note, and when I said yes, told me how the dog is a puppy (she told me this 4 times), and a litany of complaints about her life. I let her talk thinking once she got whatever she needed to say off her chest we could have a discussion. Well it turned nonsensical fast and then she was yelling and asking where I lived. Of course I told her I was not going to give a woman yelling at me on the street my address and then told her that if she was going to yell at me the conversation was over. More yelling, so I walked away. More yelling as I walked away and a “Go ahead and call the police!” taunt. I walked past my house while she stood there watching me and doubled back around when she finally walked away.

Now I’m concerned that this unhinged woman may vandalize my car or home, endanger my dogs, etc.

Not worth it, people. Err on the side of calling Animal Control and letting the professionals deal with inconsiderate and/or unhinged people. They may not be either one of those two things, but if they are, now you’re their target.

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[JoB]

SeattleLady

i am sorry talking with your neighbor turned out to be a negative experience.

i talked to mine and got chocolates and a nice note in return …

goes to show you never can tell.

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