Dealing with a neighbours noisy dog

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Networkn
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#1143319 29-Sep-2014 10:04

BTR:
networkn: The Crate system is fantastic, we had 3 crates, one at my office, one at home and one at the inlaws.

A crate for the inlaws, I am sure a few people would love to lock their mother in law in a crate haha.

These aren't sound proof so most of the benefits would be lost.

xpd

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#1143517 29-Sep-2014 13:05

freitasm: Crates are great. If she's tired she'll retire herself. If we want her in there we just say "Rosie, bed" and she goes happily - perhaps the only command she performs immediately, no questions asked. If she's frightened (when we have noisy kids around for a play date for example), instead of growling she just goes to the crate herself.

She knows it's a safe place, and we never tell her off if she's in the crate - actually if she's told off somewhere in the house she will just go to the crate herself.

Yup, Jackson knows the crate as his safety hole, and hes learnt that when I turn off the lounge room lights, that its time for bed and he'll put himself in the crate. And same with telling off... if he knows hes in real crap, he sprints for it.

We call him "dum dum" but he isn't stupid.

XPD / Gavin

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mattwnz

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#1143576 29-Sep-2014 14:48

It is quite normal for dogs to bark when no one is home. We used to have one ourselves which we inherited, but will never own a dog again becuase of the barking problem. Although some breeds are worse than others. It is one of the benefits of cats over dogs. I am guessing the dog is outside to cause it to be loud,. Get them to store the dog inside when no-one is home, preferably in a noise insulated room.. You will still hear it a bit but will be nowhere near as loud. I beleive most TA's have noise rules, to protect residents against noise, so you may want to check with your council. especially if the neighbour isn't helpful.

Elpie

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#1143629 29-Sep-2014 16:14

tehgerbil:
Geektastic: You need THIS to solve the problem!

Entirely harmless to the dog but works.

If I didn't have an inside dog I would! That's one of the frustrating things- we have a dog and if she barks we monitor and punish her immediately so she knows to not bark, or if she does we bring her back inside. So to live next to dog owners who really can't be stuffed to put the effort in on their animal..

Punishing a dog for barking is not a good idea. However, nor is taking her back inside. Barking is natural and you need to work out why she is barking. Understanding why will give you the clues on how to avoid it. Keep in mind that every time you react to her barking you are setting up a pattern. If she wants to come inside, she just has to bark - once she has worked that out it will be an ongoing problem.

Elpie

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#1143634 29-Sep-2014 16:16

mattwnz: It is quite normal for dogs to bark when no one is home.

Only if they are suffering separation anxiety, are cold, hungry, distressed, or being overprotective of territory. A dog that is comfortable, secure in being alone, confident that owners will return, and not being stressed by incursions onto its territory won't bark. They don't bark for the heck of it, they bark to alert people that something is up and they aren't comfortable with whatever it is.

tehgerbil

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#1143640 29-Sep-2014 16:30

Elpie:
tehgerbil:
Geektastic: You need THIS to solve the problem!

Entirely harmless to the dog but works.

If I didn't have an inside dog I would! That's one of the frustrating things- we have a dog and if she barks we monitor and punish her immediately so she knows to not bark, or if she does we bring her back inside. So to live next to dog owners who really can't be stuffed to put the effort in on their animal..

Punishing a dog for barking is not a good idea. However, nor is taking her back inside. Barking is natural and you need to work out why she is barking. Understanding why will give you the clues on how to avoid it. Keep in mind that every time you react to her barking you are setting up a pattern. If she wants to come inside, she just has to bark - once she has worked that out it will be an ongoing problem.

I know what you mean, and I know how I came across with what I said - I respond to my animal, depending on why's she's barking.
I'm just trying to say I understand dogs bark, it's very much dog behavior, but what the neighbor's doing is bordering on inhumane by not responding to the dog's barks, which is frustrating.

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MikeAqua

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#1143669 29-Sep-2014 17:18

The dog is very likely barking because it is lonely. If it's only young dog it won't respond well to being alone. Constant barking is unlikely to be territorial (unless there are constant infringements of what the dog considers its territory). The owners could try a number of things: -

- Exercise it to exhaustion in the morning before work.
- Feed it in the morning, hiding it's food in various spots in the back yard so it has to go and find its food. It's surprising how much this contributes to a dogs contentment.

A dg that has had physical exercise, mental stimulation and a full belly will sleep for good chunk of the day, and sleeping dogsdon't bark.

- Get it some outdoor toys.
- Go home at lunch time if practical.
- Pay someone to take the dog out during the day with other dogs a couple, of times per week.
- Get an anti-bark collar - there are humane versions that make an unpleasant noise or dispense citronella. However some dogs learn to bark in way that doesn't trigger them!

Mike

mattwnz

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#1143677 29-Sep-2014 17:34

Elpie:
mattwnz: It is quite normal for dogs to bark when no one is home.

Only if they are suffering separation anxiety, are cold, hungry, distressed, or being overprotective of territory. A dog that is comfortable, secure in being alone, confident that owners will return, and not being stressed by incursions onto its territory won't bark. They don't bark for the heck of it, they bark to alert people that something is up and they aren't comfortable with whatever it is.

I meant it was common for dogs to bark. Many people get them, but work most of the day, so you often hear dogs barking in homes during the day. I don't think it is fair to have a dog , unless you either have two so they can keep each other company, or they are happy to be left alone. Or unless someone is home most of the day to look after it.

kiwirock

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#1143678 29-Sep-2014 17:39

Most dogs out grow this. Both puppies and older dogs after quite a few weeks. If a puppy, get a nice warm bed and a stuffed dog around the puppies size. A fake parent makes a huge difference to the wining when they've been taken from the pack recently. Some toys that you can put peanut butter in that keeps them busy all day also helps.

My daughter had neighbours that just contact animal control straight away. Even though there's quite a few dogs in the neighbourhood, our was victum because they always get seen going for walks. We even had a complaint on the day she was home and the dogs were inside, go figure.

It turned out it was the nighbour who also has a dog and when she plays with it - the dogs barked because they want to go have fun too. Eventually one of the neighbours dogs was jumping the fence and getting ours to bark. But for her, since she can't hear her dogs bark when she's at home, are innocent dogs, but since my daughter didn't get home until an hour after work later, her dogs were the problem. We solved this problem real easy with the neighbour who doesn't like to talk - an electric fence. But it really annoyed my daughter they didn't have the decency to come and talk about it, because it didn't end up being my daughters dogs at fault. What would have really helped, if she actually told the dogs to shut up now and then and introduced herself. But she isn't a very socialble person. The other neighbours however are fine and we've introduced them all to the dogs so the dogs couldn't care less about them now. They're also not scared of telling the dogs to shut up if they bark at their lawn mowing etc...

So she had a good chat with animal control anyway (one of the dogs came from an extended death row sentence from them so they are a little bias). I asked them what is continous barking and their reply was a lot of people just don't like dogs and few minutes of barking every half an hour is "all day" to them. Animal control told us they have to be barking most of the time for hours on end throughout the day. This is usually only a few weeks from a dog getting used to not having their pack around. A dog barking at neighbours, strangers for a short peiod of time isn't classed as continous barking either or neighbours that make noise themselves then complain when dogs bark.

To be safe we left the dogs inside (one a 6 month old lab to keep the huntaway with a mate all day) then the pup got bored and started chewing up the flooring. They don't get told off for this because it's not natural for a dog to sit locked up especially like a huntaway so runs along the beach or down at the river before work became the norm rather than after work - problem solved. They usually stay outside now cause the pup is over a year old and can play fight off boredom with the huntaway (the whole point of having two dogs). I wouldn't recommend keeping your dog on a leash or in a crate as the vets see a lot of dogs that become to anxious and over protective when they are restricted. I know I'd go nuts in a crate all day and dogs have way more energy to burn. It can encourage them to bark and become over protective since they can't go snoop out what's going on at the property boundry. Not all dogs, but those with a dominant streak with submissive owners in them do.

They WON'T suggest a bark collar for a puppy or for normal dog behaviour, only if your dog does nothing but winge and bark continously all day every day. However I have seen this work and after a few days was really effective after being removed. You can lease them from animal control if needed later down the track.

I got both dogs out of the bark habbit by first teaching them to wait before meals then taught them to bark on demand... wait before meals works wonders for setting them up for anything else. Teaching them to bark on demand helps to easily teach them to be quite since they understand what barking is and isn't then. It doesn't stop short periods of barking when someone comes to the property or makes noise (and that's fine that's natural behaviour).

Elpie

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#1143732 29-Sep-2014 18:37

kiwirock: I wouldn't recommend keeping your dog on a leash or in a crate as the vets see a lot of dogs that become to anxious and over protective when they are restricted. I know I'd go nuts in a crate all day and dogs have way more energy to burn. It can encourage them to bark and become over protective since they can't go snoop out what's going on at the property boundry. Not all dogs, but those with a dominant streak with submissive owners in them do.

They WON'T suggest a bark collar for a puppy or for normal dog behaviour, only if your dog does nothing but winge and bark continously all day every day. However I have seen this work and after a few days was really effective after being removed. You can lease them from animal control if needed later down the track.

Crate training is brilliant but needs to be handled properly. A dog should never be kept cooped up in a crate for more than 3-4 hours tops, unless its overnight. Two hours maximum for a pup. Unfortunately, loads of people don't realise how social dogs are. They are pack animals and not designed to be alone for hours at a time. Getting a dog, especially a solitary dog, and working every day is not a good mix. Dogs need company.

I loathe bark collars. They punish a dog for doing what comes naturally, for good reasons, and can make dogs fearful of barking. Some dogs work out that the collar is to blame and get panicked at the sight of collars. Others, like my Dad's dog, don't bark when the collar is on and go nuts with noise as soon as it's off. Teaching a pup that quiet is good and unnecessary barking is frowned upon is all that's needed. If a dog keeps barking then its up to the humans to work out why.

Dogs should never be discouraged from appropriate barking. A normally quiet German Shepherd two doors down set up a real ruckus one evening. The tone of the bark and it being unusual alerted us to something being wrong and we called the police. It turned out there was a very serious domestic violence incident with a woman critically injured. That dog probably saved her life.

On the other hand, years ago, we took on a dog that had previously been trained to never bark or growl. As a result, she never gave any warnings that she was fed up, insecure, or had had enough of whatever was going on. She was a beautiful girl with a lovely nature but we had to be constantly watching body language to keep her safe. It's a horrible thing to never be able to trust your dog but without barking or growling there was no way she could communicate to us (or other dogs) when she needed to be taken out of a situation. She did serious injury to our other dog on two occasions, that we could have avoided if she hadn't been trained not to give signals.

People shouldn't try to change a dog's nature. It's not the dog at fault, it's their people.

sir1963

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#1143776 29-Sep-2014 20:02

freitasm: I have removed (and warned the user) a post suggesting give something toxic to the dog. This is not acceptable behaviour.

Go talk to the owner. They probably just need to contact someone who can help them train the dog. Perhaps a crate with a cover, which usually makes puppies feel safer. Or just a noisy clock or dehumidifier in the area with a white noise to get the puppy to sleep.

Lots of options. But don't kill the dog as suggested.

I'd be informing the police who this person is, they have some serious issues.

There is a well established link between animal cruelty and other forms of violence. I'd prefer the barking dog than this person as my neighbour .

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#1143795 29-Sep-2014 20:28

A friendly chat with them is the best way and if they're responsible dog owners they'll thank you for it. They probably don't think the dog barks when they're out (as it is better when they're home), people can also be surprised how loud it can be next door. The puppy is newly away from its pack, it is scared, lonely and bored and it's the only way it can communicate this. You may even find once your wife has had the baby that she'd like to take the dog for a walk during the day - just an idea. We used to meet an elderly man on the beach with six dogs (we had two), when we asked him about them he said none of them were his he just felt sorry for them as he'd heard them barking during the day so knocked on the doors of the people and offered to take them for a walk. He enjoyed the company and exercise with out the necessary bills. And remember, you're about to have a baby, you'll be surprised how far a crying baby carries at night too and we won't even talk about when they get their first car :-) ...

tehgerbil

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#1143945 30-Sep-2014 08:23

I was going to PM the OP, but this honestly needs to be said out loud:

Just in regards to your barking dog problem, I discussed it with my wife and we ultimately made a complaint with the council (yesterday) after realising the dog barking was causing our 9 week old to wake up and just not sleep very soundly.

Bear in mind they may have already been approached by dog control due to complaints from other people. As my wife made me realise, if you going over there, and then someone makes another complaint they're going to think it was you (or could think it was you) which will just make matters worse.

This was made easier in my position due to the fact I knew they'd already been approach by dog control without success, so by talking to them (and they even made a comment to my MIL "Sorry about the dog barking, I know you have a wee one" which just incenses me, as the sheer arrogance is overwhelming.) I knew they weren't going to do anything, and we'd have to complain later anyway.

As a proud new dad, I can tell you thought this is best nipped in the bud, especially as when you're home (if you take leave) and it annoys you now when you're not home you will go utterly crazy when you are home with a new one, sleep deprived, and all you hear is the dog barking.

I know it's easy for people not in that situation to just say go over and talk to them, but ultimately dog owners can be very defensive about their animals, and they don't have to live next to a pissed off neighbour for the rest of their lives.

jonathan18

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#1144831 1-Oct-2014 14:16

We've had a similar problem with two different neighbours:

The first, a few years back, was with a Great Dane and an old Lab who were located at the house immediately opposite our driveway - the sound bounced straight off the garage door which amplified the barking (which went on for most of the time the owner was out, which was much of the time!) something chronic. The Lab also frequently escaped their property and wandered around, including sh!tting on our lawn. Initial discussions with the neighbour didn't get acted on so we did involve animal control. This didn't really work, partly because other neighbours didn't have the same issues (ie, the sound bouncing off the garage didn't affect them). I also think I was too quick to get the council involved, which put the owner's back up.

So when the neighbours on one side of us moved in with two dogs, one of which barked pretty much all day while they were out, I was far more careful about going over to discuss it with them. However, their promises about controlling the barking came to nothing, so after three attempts to talk to them I contacted the landlord, who said we should put all our complaints through him, and he would pass them onto the property manager. Critically, this ended up in them being issued with a 14-day notice for breaching the peace. Given this could have led to them being kicked out, it seemed to provide the ncessary incentive to sort it out

The twisted thing we found in both cases was that the dog owners just didn't seem to acknowledge that having a dog barking/whining all day is a HUGE irritant for neighbours, and in our case even more so given we have two young children , so my wife and they tend to to be home during the day (plus the kids were often stopped from going to sleep or woken up by barking). The reality is this problem really only exists when the owners are out, so the owners have no real understanding). Dog owners do often seem really precious about defending the right to have a dog that behaves in terrbly antisocial ways, whereas I see it as being the same logic as why many councils ban roosters within urban areas: one should not have the attitude it's acceptable to disturb the peace of your neighbours. If you want a rooster/barking dog - move to the country...

My advice, based on experience of trying it different ways, is do try your best to discuss it and reason with your neighbours (and be prepared to do this a few times); should you not get the appropriate response (and with a corresponding reduction in the problem) over a few weeks then it's only appropriate to contact animal control and/or the landlord. Document your dicussions as well (date/time/gist of conversation), as this may be helpful later on.

sir1963

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#1145067 1-Oct-2014 19:29

tehgerbil: I was going to PM the OP, but this honestly needs to be said out loud:

Just in regards to your barking dog problem, I discussed it with my wife and we ultimately made a complaint with the council (yesterday) after realising the dog barking was causing our 9 week old to wake up and just not sleep very soundly.

Bear in mind they may have already been approached by dog control due to complaints from other people. As my wife made me realise, if you going over there, and then someone makes another complaint they're going to think it was you (or could think it was you) which will just make matters worse.

This was made easier in my position due to the fact I knew they'd already been approach by dog control without success, so by talking to them (and they even made a comment to my MIL "Sorry about the dog barking, I know you have a wee one" which just incenses me, as the sheer arrogance is overwhelming.) I knew they weren't going to do anything, and we'd have to complain later anyway.

As a proud new dad, I can tell you thought this is best nipped in the bud, especially as when you're home (if you take leave) and it annoys you now when you're not home you will go utterly crazy when you are home with a new one, sleep deprived, and all you hear is the dog barking.

I know it's easy for people not in that situation to just say go over and talk to them, but ultimately dog owners can be very defensive about their animals, and they don't have to live next to a pissed off neighbour for the rest of their lives.

Wow, I hope your baby does not cry, probably get complaints from the neighbours about the noise. Oh and the lawn mower, car doors....
See where this is going ?

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