Barking Dogs - Nuisance barking

[energy]

Nuisance barking

Barking Dogs

This should prove to be a lively thread. Dogs that bark for no apparent reason. Their owners. What type of pet owner would let their dog out to bark continuously for hours? I mean, nothing to bark at all. Just about everyone in our neighborhood has a dog. Great alarm system for the home and deterrent for Home Invasions. But, we have to close the doors and windows, turn up the TV and still can hear this particular animal. (Large overweight Labrador Retriever.) Big bark.The Dog Warden works days and cannot respond to hear it themselves. Their preferred method is for you to contact the owner and complain. Say you do this and now have an angry neighbor. The next step is to make an official complaint. They then have to obtain statements from at least two other neighbors who will attest to the fact that the dog is guilty of nuisance barking. Now, we have several angry neighbors.
Alternative approaches is what this thread is about. Here’s one suggested: Mix a meatball with a slow acting Ex-Lax so that the animal messes up the house during the day when the owner(s) are away. But, to me, that just means that the dog will stay outside longer. It has been suggested that the meatball can also be mixed with anti-freeze or Decon. That’s too drastic because we don’t want to hurt the animal. It’s the owner(s) fault because they are too lazy to get off their duffs to discipline the dog or just don’t give a s***. I can tell as soon as someone comes home by the barking sessions. Has anybody have some alternative methods they have heard of, short of harming the neighbor(s)?

 

[Jimmy Olson]

Give their phone number to every telemarketer you can find

 

[CarolX]

couldn't help this

What can Marc do about this barking dog...



Sorry - energy - it was just too tempting.

CarolX

 

[SteelMaiden]

Have you actually sat down with them and explained how you feel in a nonconfrontational way? (I have to ask)

There are training collars available, tell the owners about them, or get all the neighbors to pitch in and buy one if the dog's owners can't afford it. I have a lab, they seem to be prone to making lots of noise. Mine has been caught barking at tree frogs. go figure. Labs are so protective of their families that nearly every living (and most non-living) object poses a possible threat. I just learned to tune out all the barks except for the "there is a person trying to hot wire our pickup in our yard" and the "something is out here, and it is reallllly reallllly big and scary" barks.

Big dogs need big areas to run, maybe your neighbors need to provide a better excercise routine for the dog?

 

[Icy Mountain]

Kindness or Pavlov?

We just had one bark from 10 PM to 2 AM out the back window of the house behind us (300 yards). We called neighbors because we thought someone might be injured in the house since we had never heard the dogs go on for more than the obligatory hihowahya to our dog. Turns out they were just out on the town and left the lab and dalmation alone for the evening with the windows open. Great tenor dal lead with basso lab backbeat at the coyote finishing up a Canadian goose.

Anyway, kindness: Try just plain old loads of dog biscuits or toys. Our idiot neighbor's vicious rotty quit barking at the kids in our yard after about 6 boxes of milkbones and a couple of nylobone chews even he couldn't destroy (neighbor couldn't understand how dog gained weight on starvation rations). We would also take over water since said idiot left dog chained to tree in back yard 12 hours per day while at work. Also, made us a little less scared of the dog since he would run up, sit and beg for bones instead of baring teeth and growling (when he got loose).

Pavlov: We have a ~$50 collar we bought for our very vocal Australian Shepherd. Comes with an assortment of posts to adjust "correction" level. Small vibration sensor allows a few barks then applies "correction". Steps up for several barking sessions, then shuts off until reset by a human (to avoid endless correction to a dog that is barking at the guy with the lockpicks standing on your back porch and won't leave). Retrains the dog to bark a few times then shut up. Offer this toy to your neighbor in a friendly way. "My dog's barking was driving me crazy and I didn't know what to do! Then, I found this Bark-o-matic, and it works great! You should try it on your dog." I've retrained several neighbors this way. Many are at wits end and just have no idea how to get their dog to stop barking.

 

[Randy Stewart]

Take a camcorder with a the date and time stamps, get a picture of the newspaper to verify the date. Set it up outside (we even framed a star so that you would get an idea of time laspe) and record the noise. It doesn't hurt the animal but the only draw back is that it's a good idea to follow the noise back to the animal. Even get some frames of the animal in the yard barking. This does a couple of things; it gives an idea of how far away the animal is (shoot while walking) and it helps prove its that persons dog.

 

[Atul Khandekar]

Barking Dogs
...
Has anybody have some alternative methods they have heard of, short of harming the neighbor(s)?

Try barking back at them !

 

[Jimmy Olson]

I've seen sound activated strobe lights. You could sneak over and hook one up in their yard (make sure it points into the window)

 

[Craig H.]

Energy:

On our lake there was a guy who kept 10 - 15 'coon dogs in his very nice kennel. Coon dogs are bred for their loud bark, so they can be heard in the swamp. They were so bad that many of us avoided fishing on that end of the lake because of the incessant loud barking that resulted.

Fortunately, we have a covenent against creating a nuisance. Unfortunately, as President, it fell to me to first write a letter to the landowner, then go see a lawyer.

As luck would have it, the lawyer I saw goes to church with said jerk, and was able to convince him that we (the landowners) were serious about a lawsuit, and were about to cost him some serious $ to boot. The guy bought some land and moved the dogs.

So, you are afraid of making angry neighbors? They obviously don't care that YOU and their other neighbors are mad at them.

You pretty much have 2 options (other than the illegal and immoral ones you mentioned), IMHO. Get serious with the legal stuff, or put up with the barking. If they get mad at you, maybe they'll leave.

Craig

 

[Wes Bucey]

This definitely sounds like a Quality issue to me.
Calls for Corrective Action combined with Root Cause/Common Cause investigation.

Energy reports some interesting clues to begin investigation:
"What type of pet owner would let their dog out to bark continuously for hours? I mean, nothing to bark at all. "

Seems like a good opportunity to open dialog with neighbor (similar to going to machine operator for his views on non-conforming product)

Perform a FMEA on proposed solutions - Do they create more problems than they solve? Are they within the capability and capacity of the capital equipment and personnel involved?