neighbor's dog barking

[ronocnikral]

there seems to be many animal people here, and i thought some could give me some advice. let me start by saying, my dad grew up on a farm so we never had any pets or animals living on our property. of course, there was the time i brought the class hamster home for the weekend in 1st grade and he escaped down the uncovered furnace vents in feb (we lived in minnesota, guess what was due to come on). it ended in my father shutting the furnace off and collecting him few minutes later and me crying and exclaiming, "i can smell peanut burning!"

fast forward to 2010. the nice guy and his partner have sold their house to upgrade to a pseudo mansion in the woodlands. they were such wonderful neighbors, as they were only in the home about 25% of the time. naturally, as DINKS, they had a second home somewhere they would much rather spend their time than houston. they sold to a nice girl, whom we have had limited contact with. we say hello, i go over and sweep up the cuttings for when i do the grass and we are pretty much cordial. except for moses, her uncontrollably barking dog. since we don't have dump trucks of money and chose to live near downtown, our lots span 25' across. nelson mandela might even think it was a little tight.

when the neighbor moved in, we were pained to see the big dog living in a small house with limited yard - and truth betold, the close proximity to us. at first we noticed the dog barking as we walk into our small back yard, usually passing to the garage. the new neighbor was pretty adamant about coming out and using the knowledge left over from her high school psychology class, where she most likely didn't understand why she failed the multiple choice test with every answer being c, screaming, "moses! shut up!" after listening to her scream for a few seconds and the dog continue to bark, it eventually ended by her grabbing his collar and wrestling him into the house. this is fair enough, while i would argue the dog is winning the battle of control, she at least wins out when it comes to having a cognitive knowledge of right and wrong.

well, that was a couple of months ago. the dog still wears the pants and has coaxed her into relaxing her standards. moses has his way and we see very little effort from the neighbor. the dog has free rein on whatever he wants. when our other neighbors had a party (remember, 25' wide lots, so they're only 25' from our property line) dog owner lady was gone and moses went at it for hours on end. this is the situation now, and i hear him bark for a few minutes, 10 minutes of silence and he's back at it again.

at least the neighbor collected all the poop, as the fumes were starting to be a drag. while i am sure he would rather be taken on walks rather than held hostage in his 25'x25' area, moses is afforded the luxury of a "security" doggy door, which only opens and closes with some thing in his collar. while i find the neighbor's early behavior of acknowledging there is an issue with her dog barking to be acceptable, i find her waning respect for those around her not to be. which unfortunately coincides with the beautiful weather we have been having - the drone of the AC is no longer in the air and windows are open allowing my allergies to be in full force. enjoying our own backyard seems impossible since enjoying being in the house and laying in bed is made uncomfortable by this canine.

nonetheless, while it is illegal at any hour to make noise over 65 db, i feel immediate legal action is not the appropriate path. here is what i am planning to do:

1) keep a log of the time the dog barks and for how long.
2) next time i see the neighbor i'll ask, "is your dog sick, i have noticed he has been barking a lot more lately." i hope this implies, your dog is annoying us, fix it. worse case scenario, she calls me out on skirting the issue, which we can then have an honest and cordial conversation about the issue at hand. i guess worse case is she does nothing.
3) i try something like this....Amazon.com: Viatek BC16G Super Bark Stop: Patio, Lawn & Garden something of the sorts, and the one i buy will have an excellent return policy if it doesn't work. anyone have any experiences with these things?
4) i write a letter to neighbor clearing stating the issue and the city codes
5) cops
6) get pellet gun, give it three pumps and shoot the neighbor each time the dog barks (She's the one who should understand right and wrong). repeat until she is conditioned.

so...animal, canine and pet lovers...is there anything i am missing? i'm open to any and all solutions and/or manipulations of the neighbor's or dog's psyche to solve this issue. i lied, i'm not open to all solutions. such things as walking the dog for the neighbor, playing with and feeding the dog are options i am not willing to entertain.

ps, #6 is a joke. i know if you have to declare it a joke, it isn't really funny. but i have learned sarcasm is very poorly conveyed via the internet.

[KJ Smith]

Let the proper authority handle it.

That's why you pay taxes.

Call animal control, keep a log.

[Rson]

Great post....it is hard to deal with barking dogs.....Code compliance would be busier than a one fingered cotton picker.

have you confronted the owner nicely?

[SCone]

The bark control does not work..... Don't bother with even talking to the neighbor, go straight to the authorities. Enough is enough........ you have the right to enjoy your property wthout the constant barking of a dog.

[danchez]

I know exactly what you are going thru. I have neighbors on each side of me and they both have barking dogs. I even know the name of one of them because the only thing the owner does is yell: "Wrangler, SHUT UP!!" I absolutely love this time of year. Nice warm days, sun goes down and you can feel the cool crispness in the air. I try and go outside to enjoy it but every time I open the back door all I hear is Wrangler or the other neighbor dog barking. It's very frustrating. I have talked to both neighbors about it and the problem goes away for a few days, but then it's back to the same ol thing. I've had animal control over and all they say is, well, dogs are supposed to bark when they hear things. Freakin drives me crazy!!! I often think of buying some Dog Whisperer videos and giving them to the neighbors as gifts. Try and find one about barking dogs. ha ha ha. Anyway, good luck and let me know how it works out.

[groovyone]

That's why I have a Malamute. He pretty much never barks.

[danchez]

I have 3 cats, a 9mm and a Benelli Shotgun.

[Crashoran]

Used to have a little yapper outside my window on the other side of the fence every morning from 3am-6am nonstop. Fed up, one morning I got up and yelled "SHUT UP!!!!!" as loud as I could outside of the window. It eventually stopped. I think the neighbors were watching it for somebody else and were just as PO'd at it as I was.

With that being said, barking dogs are at the top of my list. I feel your pain.

[JohnT]

I dealt with this a few years ago and found that letting the authorities handle it was the best course of action. Lots of neighbors around here so the owner had no idea who reported it. I had another neighbor with whom I was able to reason with somewhat, but the guy behind her called the cops about her dog. She thought I was the one that did it until we were able to talk and get it straight. This sort of stuff can be avoided if folks will just control their animals.

[LEO III]

I don't know if dog training places such as Man's Best Friend can really train dogs not to bark outside. Their advertising implies they can. It might be worth your giving them a call and asking if they can and how much it costs. You can then relay the information to her.

Found this little tidbit on the internet:

Dog Barking,Puppy Barking,Dog Training,Puppy Training

Looks like the bottom line is that the dog can be trained not to bark, but it takes time, patience and the complete buy-in of the owner. Unfortunately, it appears you neighbor has neither the desire nor the will nor the ability to train the dog properly.

As with all animal behavior problems, they have to be continually reinforced, to prevent regression. If she's not home during the day, and the dog has access to the yard when she is not there to reinforce the training, the process will be much more lengthy and difficult.

Good luck!

[cwend]

I guess I dont understand why people are scared to talk to their neighbors. I would just tell her, you dont mind the dog, but the barking has become a problem and ask her if she could control it.

As far as means, they make bark collars that work very well as long as the dog wears them. The dog will eventually learn when its on or not, but when its on, they work well

[slallen]

Shock style bark collars are wrong. They can cause damage to the animal, both physically and psychologically. They are not meant to be constantly worn and yet owners leave them on all the time.

I would go to the authorities. If the dog is reachable you can also implement some of the training methods discussed in the link posted earlier. After all the dog is probably just seeking attention.

[ronocnikral]

Originally Posted by danchez

I have 3 cats, a 9mm and a Banelli Shotgun.

i'm jealous of the banelli. is it the standard marine issue? i have some hunting rifle (i know nothing about it, came with the marriage), a double barrel 16 ga, a couple of 45's and kalashinkov. luckily, i have a great deal of patience and i have never thought about reaching for any of my options, despite being able to watch the porker gambol about his small area from our master bedroom window.

Originally Posted by LEO III

I don't know if dog training places such as Man's Best Friend can really train dogs not to bark outside. Their advertising implies they can. It might be worth your giving them a call and asking if they can and how much it costs. You can then relay the information to her.

Found this little tidbit on the internet:

Dog Barking,Puppy Barking,Dog Training,Puppy Training

Looks like the bottom line is that the dog can be trained not to bark, but it takes time, patience and the complete buy-in of the owner. Unfortunately, it appears you neighbor has neither the desire nor the will nor the ability to train the dog properly.

As with all animal behavior problems, they have to be continually reinforced, to prevent regression. If she's not home during the day, and the dog has access to the yard when she is not there to reinforce the training, the process will be much more lengthy and difficult.

Good luck!

thanks for the link. i'll pass it on to my neighbor if she is interested when i do talk to her. and my main issue is with her, not with the dog. i understand it is natural for dog's to bark. but i think it is completely unfair to us, other neighbors and the dog to let the fat guy live in a confined space with relatively little attention. i'm not expecting complete and utter silence, just that she address the longer barking rants, especially those at night and when we are trying to enjoy our own yard and house.

Originally Posted by cwend

I guess I dont understand why people are scared to talk to their neighbors. I would just tell her, you dont mind the dog, but the barking has become a problem and ask her if she could control it.

this is an excellent point. i guess for me, it stems from thinking we may be doing something wrong as well. but with that said, if i was, i would rather a neighbor come to address the issue with me first and allow me the opportunity to fix the issue, rather than go straight to the authorities. or, there's the story about the guy a couple houses down who is blocking the alley (illeagal to block a mandated right away). when another neighbor approached him about it (not even asking to clear way, just some other small issue) he came out with a shotgun and chased the guy off his front porch.

Originally Posted by slallen

Shock style bark collars are wrong. They can cause damage to the animal, both physically and psychologically. They are not meant to be constantly worn and yet owners leave them on all the time.

I would go to the authorities. If the dog is reachable you can also implement some of the training methods discussed in the link posted earlier. After all the dog is probably just seeking attention.

i think you are missing my point. it's not my responsibility to train and entertain her dog. and it's not my place to tell her if she should use a shock collar, go to training school etc. i could care less how she addresses the issue with her pet, aside from abusing it.

[bcody]

I am a dog person. I have three dogs, none of them small. I train my dogs, spend a lot of time with them. It will take a lot of time to train this dog to behave, it does not seem like she would be doing that I can not stand listening to dogs bark, and it is not fair. I would talk to her, but do not expect help. It is the good neighbor thing to do though. After that, go to the authorities. Keep a log. Be persistant. If she cares, she will put the work into it.

I love dogs, but you deserve your peace.

[mmuhlenkamp]

Ugh, barking dogs. My parents have neighbors that always have to buy some high-strung-pure-bred-something-or-other (dalmations, jack russells, etc) and never take them out for walks, so just incessant barking all the time because there's nothing else to do in their tiny backyard. We're a non-confrontational family so nothing has ever been done.

Right now I have dog owners that won't pick up their dog's sh!t in the common area in front of my apartment. If I figure out who it is they are going to have a bag of dog poo in front of their door.

If the dog got excersize he would probably be a lot better, you might suggest she hire a dog walker or something. Good luck with all that.

Edit: I am very much an animal person, but I can't stand owners that just don't give a crap. No one forced you to take care of that animal, please be responsible. I love my cockatiel, but he's indoors, I would not inflict his squawking on anyone if I can help it.