okay,I am the bad person with the barking dog

[ldaziens]

[QUOTE=marianne;6629577]
I have a nice big backyard, that comes with a home that I have owned for the last 25 years. This is the first time we have had ANY complaint about our dogs and we have had them since the mid-90’s. On these forums we read about people who do not have good living conditions for their animals. I have very good facilities for my two dogs. I have all the required licenses etc. As this is a college town, a lot of the neighborhood has changed to renters and those who are not here for the long term. There is one household who kept their dog on a chain in front yard during the heat of summer. There is another dog owner who lets their dog out in the early hours of the morning. He wanders the neighborhood to use everyone’s yard. But because it is before the office hours of animal control-they don’t see it.

So how do the citronella collars work?[/QUOTE]

Marianne - for all kinds of reasons you should not leave your animals outside when you are not home.

#1 Barking - which is bothering somebody.

#2 Protecting your Dog- even if your dog wasn’t bothering anybody; it really puts your dog at risk to leave it outside when you aren’t at home. Assuming nobody was agitated at you &/or your dog; a dog left in a yard is at risk from somebody opening the gate and letting the dog out whether out of malice or some delivery person thinking it is safer to put a package in your back yard - had FedEx, UPS, and USPS do this to me when I lived in Alexandria, VA – they didn’t close the gate back after delivering package, so when I let my dogs out in my back yard out the gate they went. A loose dog a huge liability as it might innocently scare an adult of child who is afraid of dogs and cause them to fall and injure themselves – not to mention the risk for getting run over.

Dog nabbing – either snatching the dog to try to get a reward from you or dogs snatched to be used in dog fighting for training (bait). Both of these things were MAJOR problems when I lived in the city.

Now add that the barking is irritating somebody; you have been fortunate that they called AC and didn’t poison your dog; let the dog out of the yard; snatch the dog and haul it to a shelter in another town.

People are NUTS; and when you leave your dog home alone outside in your yard; that dog is at risk from any of those assorted nuts. Your dog is a lot more at risk left outside when you aren’t home in a suburban / urban environment than out on a farm in the country due to the numbers of people in close proximity to your house.

The citronella & shocking bark collars may work or may not; but use those while you are at home – while you are gone; secure the dog inside w/ windows closed and TV / Radio left on.

[Canaqua]

[QUOTE=cowboymom;6630847]
Strikes me that I wonder if people with the yapping dogs always know how their dogs act when they aren’t home?

I know I’ve had neighbors whose dogs never barked until they were left home alone…

Maybe some of those ignorant neighbors are kind souls that would silence their dogs if they were informed… hopefully…? :lol:

I know I’ve left my old dog sleeping on the porch for the afternoon and now I’m even starting to doubt her, maybe she’s one of Those…[/QUOTE]

Maybe in some cases…mine KNOWS, she’s been spoken to by me several times, two other neighbors and AC has been to see her a couple of times. I guess she thinks we’re all making it up, her little sweetie puffballs would NEVER run the fence and bark when she wasn’t home? Or, she doesn’t care.

I’ve got to say that my husband was completely ignorant on this one when I met him. He had the ACD/JRT mix and she was young. She is the poster child for an anxiety barker. He’d tie her in the yard and go to work, don’t ask me why he thought that was the thing to do, he told me he though that’s what you did with dogs??? Argh. ALL the neighors hated him. He thought it was because he was the only single man in a family neighborhood and people didn’t trust him. Nah…as soon as I found out what was going on, while we were still just dating (a neighbor told me while I was in his yard and I ran into AC officer while walking the dog and HE told me) I convinced him to bring the dog in and keep her in. Now, all the neighbors like him, he thinks it’s because he’s a family man now with a wife and kids and more socially acceptable. I reminded him just the other day, when HE was complaining about the neighbor’s yappers, that he used to be that guy and THAT is why the neighbors hated him ;).

Oh, and my husband’s reasoning for not keeping the dog in when he was at work, even after having AC called on him a couple of times, was that he thought that the neighbor making the calls was a crank or chronic complainer. Ugh. Other neighbors were probably afraid to call, because they didn’t want to get into it with a neighbor. ANYONE would be irritated by this dog’s barking, it comes from her JRT half and it is high pitched and ear splitting, I can’t even stand it and I’ve been living with her for 10 years now and love her to death.

[ldaziens]

I also want to add that coyotes are a huge problem in suburban / urban areas and aside from triggering dogs to bark at them; those coyotes are a real threat to dogs – and not just small dogs -
http://www.aplacetolovedogs.com/2011/11/st-bernard-foils-burglary-just-hours-after-being-adopted/1486624521/

These coyotes also tend to be active during daylight hours as well as at night. It’s just another reason that dogs should not be outside unattended. And, for anyone who doesn’t think that you have coyotes where you live; you’re wrong. Hopefully, you are blessed with a local pack that avoids contact w/ humans and domestic animals. Keep in mind that that can change very quickly. And, if you are East of the Mississippi, your coyotes may be a whole lot larger than the coyotes out West. Not to mention coydogs and feral dogs. There are a lot of threats to a domestic dog left outside unsupervised.

[bits619]

Canaqua, i snorted with laughter at your hosing down the nuisance barkers… not because I thought it was funny, but because good grief i’ve wanted to do the exact same thing to neighbors’ dogs in years past. OK, and lets be honest… the mental image is kind of funny… in retrospect.
Heck, I’ve wanted to do it to my own dog (younger aussie) if he’s not had enough exercise for the day and is let out for the final potty break before bed. It’s always when he hasn’t had exercise that he’s like a group of high school girls… SO LOUD AND TALKATIVE AND ZOMG SOOO POPULAR that everrrryone has to hear my conversation! Of course its an unbearable, ear piercing shriek bark. And help his ever loving soul if there’s an owl on the pasture fence. He gets the absolute minimum time out to empty his bladder, and inside he goes. I’m so embarrassed about it, i would never leave him out unattended.

And yes, it’s not as much a good owner thing, as it is a good neighbor thing. If the dogs were fine/quiet before doesn’t really matter now. Something has changed, and its surely affecting/impacting more than just one person in your neighborhood. It’s your job to be courteous and considerate.

[wendy]

dogs who bark incessantly aren’t happy dogs, so if you LIKE dogs you should be concerned to learn your dog is barking all the time- usually it means the dog’s living conditions are intolerable. If the dog barks non-stop when left out in the yard, it seems very unlikely the dog wants to be out there.
If you want your dog to bark at intruders only, I would hope you would want your dog to learn the difference between an intruder and someone just walking by, and perhaps you should spend some time actually training your dog as to what you want the dog to bark at and what you don’t want the dog to bark at- otherwise the dog will just bark at all sorts of things and will be useless as an alarm.
Bark collars are a wonderful invention, but if your dog is barking non-stop due to extreme unhappiness with his conditions, just strapping one on is inhumane; you should address the dog’s living conditions first, and only if those seem satisfactory proceed to the bark collar. I wouldn’t use one of those nasty, aversive ineffective citronella spray collars- use a high-quality shock collar like dogtra’s yapper stopper or tritronics bark limiter.

[witherbee]

I don’t think the OP would have a problem with coyotes - she said she has a 7 foot tall fence (I think).

OP, as someone said earlier, most dogs sleep all day when we are away (unless they are outside barking!). I work from home, and my dogs mostly sleep. I do get them up 4 or 5 times a day and let them out to do their business, but when I am not here they are fine.

My 4 are barkers too. I let them legitimately bark if someone is at our gate or going by on foot etc, but only for a few barks. Once they have alerted me, I tell them “good girls, that’s enough now” If they do not stop, I tell them in a stronger tone “that’s enough”, and if they do not stop, I call them in the house. I am lucky that we live on a farm in an area of farms, but we have had some nuisance barkers on the street too (there is currently one but he is further down the street so I can tune him out), so I try not to let my dogs annoy anyone.

[sketcher]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;6630620]

But the tone of some of these posts puts my back up too. Aren’t they a bit self-righteous/critical/nasty.[/QUOTE]

I guess it depends on how close you live to one of these dogs, how obnoxious the barking is and how long you have tolerated it. Do you really think it is unusual that the OP might get harsh responses from people who have lived next to someone with the same self centered attitude and now have a chance to express the frustration to someone who professes to behave the same way and have justification for it?

[Casey09]

[QUOTE=sketcher;6637231]
I guess it depends on how close you live to one of these dogs, how obnoxious the barking is and how long you have tolerated it. Do you really think it is unusual that the OP might get harsh responses from people who have lived next to someone with the same self centered attitude and now have a chance to express the frustration to someone who professes to behave the same way and have justification for it?[/QUOTE]

It is tough. At one time I lived next door to some people that had a dog tied out all of the time, and he did constant boredom barking. I also had friends who lived next to a couple who left their 3 dogs out in a fenced yard all of the time, and they barked pretty much constantly, which you could hear from the house, porch, yard, etc. It was lucky for the neighbors that they were dog lovers and their biggest concern was that the dogs were unhappy.
On the other hand, I feel for people who do shift work because in most busy neighborhoods, there is noise all day long. Are my dogs perfectly silent all of the time? No. If my doorbell rings, it is a barking frenzy. If they are playing outside, they bark. I am always with them outside and so I can bring them in or separate them if their play gets too loud or too wild, but they do bark in play. When we go on walks, there are several houses with electric fences that we pass to get out of the neighborhood. All of those dogs bark as we go by. Occasionally, the dogs I am walking will bark a retort. I try to control this through training, but it doesn’t always succeed. Now, dogs are not the only noisy things. There are lawn mowers, leaf blowers, power tools, kids bouncing basketballs, kids screeching when they are playing, the neighbor kids arguing, etc. During the times I have been sick and tried to sleep during the day, it is hard just because of all of the daytime neighborhood noise. One dog was being neglected and barked all day long and has now been adopted by another neighbor and is doing fine. None of the other dogs are problem-barkers, IMO, but there is definitely barking during the day. I am lucky, as well, because I do not live in a densely populated area. When people are walking by all day long, that is a difficult situation. I honestly do feel for the OP because I have herding dogs and I know that a lot of times, they are vocal. However, I also feel that you can’t be too careful, and leaving a dog outside unattended is probaby not worth the risk. I would definitely put her in a quiet room indoors and see how that went. Dogs really are happiest when we are walking them or playing with them. I know that we like to envision them happily frolicking all day long, but for the most part they lay around. I don’t think there is anything unusual about the dog - just not an environment that is going to work for her outside.

[Calamber]

It is kind of sad/funny that OP disappeared and everyone else is so understanding and upset about this, that the thread has taken on a life of it’s own.

I have to add one perspective simiilar to others. I am under treatment for chronic metal toxicity of lead and mercury. As a result and even before this, I would have times when I would wake at 1 am and could not sleep, most times on 1 - 3 hours of sleep. Finally was diagnosed and treatment started (while I was still at toxic levels, I had to have mold toxicity treated) and before that we moved 6 times in two years, one of which was 3000 miles for 3 possible employment opportunities for my husband that did not occur.

Things are much better, I searched for a year while ill to find a house that did not sicken both of us, (mold is a big issue here). Needles to say, we finally found a house that we could afford that was clean and in a quiet location, husband found a good job. I could not work but we could at least survive and better, we had a clean house. Then the dog barking started with a 24/7 chained dog 2 houses away. Every night at 1 - 2 am, intermittent. I could not sleep. Unincorporated area of this county has an insane law that you find out all info about the dog/owner/phone number/address etc. and then record 15 minute intervals of barking 3 days in a row, and then you can submit.

This went on for a while, middle of the night one night I had a hyterical attack because I had not been sleeping. My husband finally got involved and had a manno e manno with this very ignorant man. It was more involved because I had found a good home for this dog, but he decided he just could not “git rid o ma dawg”. Long story a little more short, it is finally under control after six months of absolute nightmare, I thought we would have to sell the house.

End of story.

[Bacardi1]

The OP - “marianne” - obviously expected warm fuzzy agreement to her “predicament”. Which she didn’t get. In spades. Thus she went “poof”.

[saje]

Well, the OP hasn’t logged in since the 26th when she posted this, so perhaps she has bigger fish to fry.

[trubandloki]

My theory on dog ownership is that my neighbors did not choose to own my dog. For that reason they should not be bothered by my dog. If my dog for some reason defecates on their lawn, it should be picked up. My dog should not be allowed to make noise to the point of annoyance, etc.

It is sad that someone would put ‘I have a lovely yard’ above what is best for their dog and their neighbors.

[mroades]

Any advice for when the the barking dog belongs to your boss? And you live in his/her house???

[marianne]

Saje is right-I do have bigger fish to fry.

Just because I haven’t posted on this does not mean I have not been keeping up with this. I do have a life, I do have a job that requires me to dedicate a number of hours working that would interrupt my pursuit of happiness, I do have to travel sometimes for my work which takes me away from computers. And most of all I don’t rely or depend on social media for validation. I have been working on solutions for my dogs. So either I can sit at my computer and read all comments or take time and try to make my dogs better. Computer or Dogs… Computer or Dogs… Computers or Dogs. I’ll take my dogs any day over my computer. My dogs are not the only barkers in this neighborhood. Having spoken to AC, he has given us some suggestions and knows it is not just my dogs.

Again, thank you to all who had positive suggestions about curbing barking and working with a barker. For those of you who had less constructive criticism and/or snotty remarks, shame on you, karma is truly a bitch

[wendy]

Dogs really are happiest when we are walking them or playing with them. I know that we like to envision them happily frolicking all day long, but for the most part they lay around.

this is certainly the truth, but I’m kind of surprised so many people think it’s actually DESIRABLE to lock dogs up inside for what, ten hours a day? when there’s a lovely safely fenced yard the dog could be enjoying, or at least sleeping in. Don’t underestimate the benefit of your dog being able to walk around a bit and potty as needed. Being cooped up isn’t good for the joints or muscles, and being required to hold your bladder for 8-10 hours a day can’t be the heathiest situation ever.
Barking can be corrected so that the dogs can still be out in the yard.
The biggest reason why dogs out in yards bark is because the owners think being put out in the yard is actually a way of “exercising” the dog, but it’s not, dogs don’t really self-exercise. Most dogs who bark incessantly are simply extremely bored- so just because you have a yard, treat the dogs as if you don’t have a yard and make sure they get plenty of walks off-property, and plenty of running exercise, and lots of mental stimulation, and they won’t be bored, they’ll be tired and happy to potter around quietly in their yard. If the dog is just barking at passerbys, a bit of training might be needed, or perhaps an adjustment of the fencing to keep the dog away from the passerbys. Add in the no-bark collar as a backup, and there’s no reason why the dog can’t enjoy the yard without irritating the neighbors.
Definitely put a padlock on your gate- no one should be able to go into your yard, or be able to let your dog out.
If you’re not sure if your dog barks, you could ASK the neighbors. Or set up recording equipment.

[Houndhill]

Agree Wendy, mine certainly enjoy being outdoors even when I am not home, sniffing, playing, walking around. Of course they sleep a lot whether indoors or out, but they have the choice as to when and where, they have a dog door so can choose. My husband says when I am not at home inside, they very often choose to be outdoors. Patricia McConnell says that she believes “autonomy” is important to dogs’ happiness, they prefer to make at least some choices and decisions on their own. “Merle’s Door” is a good book that deals with some of this.

Of course it is not always possible to have a dog door, and mine leads to a large fenced enclosure and I know it is not always possible. Mine rarely bark so I do not have that to factor in.

Even if dogs must stay indoors during the day, it is still possible to allow them to make some choices and decisions.

[saje]

Well, there are yards and then there are pens. I see a lot of folk who’s dogs are ‘put out to play’ in a 10’ x10’ pen with a doghouse in it. Not a whole lotta room to do anything but bark

[Houndhill]

Saje, good point, that is so depressing! Many people keep wolfhounds in facilities similar to horses, large paddocks, grass, wooded areas, lots of “behavioral enrichment” in the physical as well as social environment. As adults, they are really too large to crate conveniently so we do without, may use X-pens if for some reason they need to be that confined. Fortunately mine have always been well behaved as adults and are great house dogs so they can have the freedom to choose whether to be in or out. Sometimes I have wished they had more of an alarm bark, as I’ve been expecting someone and they came and went without anybody making a peep!

Sorry to hijack…but so true that people keep dogs, and horses, differently (my horses are usually free to come and go from stalls to pasture, and are only shut in when the weather is truly awful or there is some other reason, and even then, it’s a stall with small attached outside area under roof).

But different people more closely confine both dogs and horses, and can also have healthy, happy animals. Our animals are more adaptive than we sometimes give them credit for.

[StGermain]

My dogs have a dog door and the younger ones seem to spend most of their time outdoors when I’m not at home. The older dogs like the dog beds indoors. I have about 3/4 acre fenced in for my yard, with another 1/2 acre paddock that I closed off to the horses and let the dogs use in the evening when I’m home to monitor them. I live in the country, and my dogs will bark if there are deer or other wildlife across the road in the woods. They bark when someone walks past (once a day a woman walks her dog past, then back when they turn around), or when herds of spandex-clad bicyclists go past (they must park at a local church then ride in the country where there are hills and curves and less traffic). Mostly they just hang out. And my neighbors have said they’re actually glad my dogs are alert. They life about 1/3 mile from my yard, but they are always worried about crime. They’re cops and suspicious of everyone. Besides, they have two Great Pyrenees who back all the time.

Anyway, I think they need more than to be shut up all the time. I think they need enrichment, like zoo animals. I sometimes ask co-workers who complain because their dogs are destructive , “What do you think they’re doing all day, writing the great American novel? They’re bored! Bored dogs start looking for something to do.”

StG

[BuddyRoo]

I agree that it’s nice for the dogs to be able to go outside during the day. I too have a doggy door and love it. Most of the time, when I return home, at least one of the dogs is lying in the front yard watching the neighborhood activity. But they’re not barking incessantly. A bark here or there when something looks fishy? Yes. But if I were getting AC called on me I would want to investigate options. I’ve been home a lot during the day the last few weeks because I’ve been ill. The dogs do go batty over a passing dog, at the twins who come home after school and walk by our house barking at the dogs (the dogs don’t bark at the other kids, just these two boys),and they bark when construction guys pull in at the neighbors. But they’re not just sitting outside barking non stop.