We live in a fairly quiet neighborhood with lots of kids and dogs, and even have two BIG dogs of our own. Recently, the house next door sold, and a VERY nice lady and two medium-sized lab mixes moved in. When her dogs are outside (most of the afternoon/night), they bark loudly the entire time at adjoining neighbors working in their own yards, adjoining neighbors' dogs, kids playing in the street, etc. It's gotten to the point where I overheard the neighbors behind her complaining to each other about it while I was working in the yard and they were getting barked at working in their yard; and, we don't let our dogs in back as much as we used to b/c even though our dogs ignore hers, they get hers wound up by running around and playing (we don't want to be blamed for causing chaos). Has anyone had any success with those anti-barking devices for dogs or any type of training that we could do to HELP? Or any suggestions on how to approach her in a non-confrontational way (she IS home while they're barking)? It breaks my heart that she has "bad blood" with the neighbors behind her so soon after moving in; we're understanding b/c we have two large-breed, protective dogs.
EDIT: Our new neighbors moved in almost 3 months ago; the dogs should have adjusted by now, which was the initial reason behind my question. While the noise is annoying, it doesn't drive us crazy b/c we understand that dogs do bark. I was asking b/c it bothered me to hear the other neighbor family discussing their frustrations and whether they should call animal control last night during the barking. I would be HUMILIATED if animal control were called on my furbabies as my first interaction with new neighbors, so I can't begin to imagine how she would feel if that family does so. As for the suggestion offering treats or food items, I DO NOT want to feed the neighbor's dogs b/c it would upset me if someone was feeding my dogs lord-knows-what through the fence, since we regulate their diets fairly strictly.
The dogs are NOT the problem. The owners are the problem. Dogs should not be left out most of the time. The barking dogs are doing their job by barking in the situations you've described and they are bored, bored, bored and ignored. The solution is for the owners to be responsible and provide their dogs with a stimulating environment, exercise, and most of all attention. Speak with the owners.
Good luck,
L. Rossman
Neighbors need to go meet the dogs and learn their names. She should have a "meet my dogs" party. After the dogs know the other people and other dogs, it shouldn't be so bad. Plus if the neighbors know the dogs' names, they can say hi to them or "Spike, no bark!!!" Also, it CAN take longer for 3 mo for a dog to adjust to that many new things. They see it as their job to bark at what they don't know, especially things close to their home. Plus if they get to know the neighbors, then you can count on them to bark at a real stranger!!!!
Why not just talk to her. It is entirely possible she has NO idea what is going on. Or she does, but she doesn't think it bothers anyone. Bringing it to her attention may solve the problem and it is a cheap and easy fix. Then, and only if she ignores your chat, would I look at other options. I would not recommend trying to train her dogs or buying any gadgets for her dogs. They are her dogs. If she is unwilling to find a solution then I would call animal control. They will give her a warning and if she is reported again, a large fine. But again, I would for sure try talking to her first. Or if you are really uncomfortable with approaching her, drop her a note.
I know how frustrating this issue can be. I am a SAHM so I'm home 99% of the time my dogs are out and always quiet their barking if it gets out of control. I remember being at the animal shelter once and there was a lady in there being lectured by the pound from neighbors coplaints on her dogs out of control barking all day. They were very firm with her and told her she had to ge it under control whatever wahy she could.
She was very upset but it must have been frustrating for her neighbors as well with her getting so many complaints. So if it comes down to it in your situation, call the city pound to make a complaint or even the non emergency police line to report daily noise disturbance. They can do the dirty work for you w/out her knowing anything about you being the one complaing.
Do you know if she is home "during" the barking episodes? If she's home that would really frustrate me and is rude and disrepectful of her letting them get away with that. If she's not home,she may have no idea there's a problem and that's when a friendly note from you or knock on the door to let her know would come in very helpful.
Back when me and my husband got our first apartment together, we weren't aware of the barking our small dog was doing "while we were gone". She was soooo quiet when we were home so we didn't realize she was barking and howling while we were gone! : ) So one day we came home and found a very nice note from a neighbor who told us she lived directly downstairs and the entire time we would be gone, the dog would bark uncontrollably.
We felt terrible and were so embarrassed and immediately apologized. We found a different area of the apartment to house her in while we were away and it solved the problem. Neighbors happy as well as us, we never intended to let her bark like that or disturb anyone which is why it's important to find out when the dogs are behaving this way and I don't think a note to her so she's aware will cause any feuds.
IF you don't feel ready to bring it to her attentiion, I again recommend you calling your local police dept (non emergency) or city shelter and seeing what they can do or recommend.
Good luck to you, I'm sure everything will work out fine!
I agree with Amanda C. Why not talk to her? It would seem to be the adult thing to do besides her dogs are getting used to a new neighborhood and trying to keep their territory protected.
I recently moved into an apartment and I have a medium sized dog that loves to run around the apartment first thing in the morning. This disturbs the lady downstairs who is not ready to get up yet to the sounds of my pounding muscular dog. She simply called me and let me know she could hear him and it was disturbing her. While I hate that my "puppy" can't run in the mornings I was understanding. Now we make him lay down but allow him to run freely in the evenings for hours while we are home.
I know not everyone will respond like I did but I did appreciate her letting me know. It would have been very unfortunate if she just been steaming with anger and never addressed it until she just blew up and this small thing turned into something else.
Just talk with her. Christy J. had a great way of phrasing it so it is not intimidating and may get the best resonse. Keep us posted and I hope this helps.
Dear H.,
I don’t want my dog disturbing my neighbors and I correct him immediately when he starts up. Dogs bark, it’s their job to protect their people and homes. However, barking can be controlled.
About not wanting to create “bad blood” between neighbors, if someone sprayed my dog with a hose rather than having the maturity and sensibility to knock on my door or put a note in my mailbox that my animal was disturbing them, that would generate some “bad feelings” with me….especially being the “new neighbor.”
It might be a good idea to form a “Desperate Housewife’s” welcoming committee and bring your new neighbor a basket of muffins and dog biscuits. This could be an ice-breaker and a chance to talk about the barking. If your dogs all get along, maybe they could play together.
Who knows this woman could be your “new best friend”.
Blessings…..
okay, not that I am condoning this, but my brother and I (when we were kids) fed our neighbor's dog marshmallows to stop him from barking...lol It worked like a charm, his mouth was so sticky he couldn't bark! :) We didn't have a dog so this dog barking at us every time we were in our yard drove us nuts!
If she just moved in, maybe the dogs, too, are getting used to the neighborhood. New smells, new people. When we brought a new little swimming pool home our Lab barked at it for about 30 min and then got over it! LOL
I would mention it to her and pose it as is there anything the neighbors can do to help the dogs transition to their new environment?
A little passive, but could be a way to broach the subject in a way without being confrontational and in a spirit of neighborly concern.
You sound sincere in wanting to welcome them to your neighboorhood but I agree that the dog issue can create some bad blood. Approach carefully and in the caring manner you come across here and I believe they would understand.
The dogs are probably adjusting to their new home.
We have 3 dogs, and yes they will bark, especially if someone comes to my door or if the see a bobcat or wild animal outside. We are careful about letting them out too early in the am or too late at night.
We did have a neighbor 2 doors down who was a very nice person but they would put the dog on a tie out if they were going to be gone a long time, at night. We got to hear the barking from the time they left until they got home, sometimes HOURS. A few of us did speak with them in a nice way and found out they didn't want the dog inside too long because he would pee. We suggested a pet sitter, most of us use pet sitters, and that solved the issue.
As for doing something to the dogs, as in spraying them with water, feeding marshmallows, etc... I'd say that is a huge no no, especially if the dogs are on their property. If I witnessed something like that to one of my dogs or a neighbor's dog, I would take action immediately because I would not know if you were feeding them poison or spraying with a chemical. Before you do something like that, check the laws in your city. Someone like me would press charges to the fullest extent.
Talk to your neighbor- the only way to avoid bad blood. She might not be aware of it. WE just moved into an apartment and the people downstairs have a bloodhound=howling endless!!
We talked to him after we had been living there for 2 weeks, because the dog would howl for 3 hours straight while my son was supposed to nap. He was unaware of his dog howling for such long periods of time. We have a dog too, so we know that you can't keep them from being noisy on occasion.
Fastforward to 8 months later- the neighbor ended up getting the bark collar and it works, as long as the dog wears it. Though the real problem is that the dog is left alone all day inside the house in a crate....=> makes for a very unhappy dog...
We are in the same situation... my husband just sprays the dogs with water when they bark at him... we haven't confronted our neighbor because we are like you and don't want bad blood. :)
I recently had a situation like this but it was reversed. The new neighbor moved in. They had a dog that I let out during the day while they were at work. We got a puppy who barked a lot. He barked a lot at them because they were outside doing yardwork and because he wanted to interact with their dog (we have a cyclone fence on our property so our dog could see their dog but their dog had an electronic fence so the dogs could not sniff each other). The neighbor came over and complained to me for 45 min while I was standing there with my 9 mo old daughter who I was about to put to bed. She told me that she "wanted to be part of the solution" but offered no solutions (not that I expect her to, it's my dog, but don't say that and have no solutions!). Actually, she did have a solution and basically it was just to get a barking device for the dog. This was offensive to us because we feel it is cruel and also we want the dog to bark at strangers (not neighbors) since my husband travels during the week and we consider him a guard dog- which we had explained several times. Most of the problem that we had with the conversation though was that she went on for so long and indicated that our dog was ruining the quality of life in their own home. I talked to 5 other neighbors in and around us and NONE of them had an issue. One neighbor even told me she didn't realize we had gotten another dog! Despite that, we took some measures so that our dog couldn't see them or their dog from our deck and yard. She then proceeded to complain that our solutions were devaluing both of our properties. Needless to say, I no longer let her dog out nor do we even acknowledge each others' existence which is very upsetting.
So, being on the receiving end of this recently my advice would be...first and foremost, ensure other neighbors have issues (which it sounds like they do). Next, approach her in a friendly way and tell her that you'd hate to have anything put tension into your new neighbor relationship, but you feel that you need to tell her that the dog's barking has been bothersome and that although you have not been gossiping about her, you know other neighbors have the same issue. If you are willing, tell her that you will help in any way possible (socializing the dog, walking to meet the neighbors?). I just wouldn't offer advice on HOW to go about getting her dogs to stop barking...recognize that some people do not feel that barking devices are humane. Let her know about the problem and leave them to find their own solutions (unless they ask for your advice, of course!). Be succinct...going on and on about the issue will only make them feel worse. And, unless the solution breaks a city ordinance or something else, if the barking stops, don't complain about what they've done to fix it!
Good luck. I know this has to be an incredibly difficult conversation to have!
H.,
Yes, my husband and I have had success with the bark collars. But, the owners need to follow the training program for the collar to work. We have a neighbor that tried using a bark collar on her lab/mix, but didn't follow the program and now the dog barks constantly and is afraid of the collar.
Another great solution are the collars that spray a lemon scent in front of the dogs nose. But again, the owner needs to follow the training program or the collar won't work.
I would definitely recommend speaking with your neighbor about the problem. On your own at first and then as a group (you and your neighbors together) if the problem persists. Finally calling the police or animal control if she is not working to solve the problem. Your dogs should not have to suffer because she is not controlling hers. We used to live in a neighborhood where all of the dogs in the area were allowed to bark at all hours and it didn't bother anyone. But, after moving to a different house we started training our dogs to limit their barking and they responded beautifully. It took time (about a year), but eventually we were able to remove the bark collars and just use voice commands to tell them when they were getting out of hand. We've been here 7 years and haven't had a complaint from the neighbors in all that time.
Good luck.
C..
H., I am going the same thing. Our neighborhood has always been quite which is why we moved here. Almost everyneighbor has dogs indoor/outdoor, and then the neighbor behind be moved in and has a very small yard with 6 dogs of differrent sizes. They bark ALL day and ALL night, I have had neighbors talk to him but all he says is that they are dogs its what they do, and the weird part is its really only one dog for the most part. I had bought my son a new swingset and outdoor toys to play with and now he is scared to even be in the back yard (he is 3). I talked to my boss and her husband one day because i was so frustrated (he's a detective) and they suggested calling the police and make a noise complaint, and then I found out that he's a state trooper well there went that idea. Nothing works not talking, yelling and yes I sprayed the dog once I was SO frustrated..I hope you figured out your situation because I have no idea what to do with mine.
Is it possible to say something about how you noticed her dogs barking at your dogs (amongst other things but start with that) and ask if they all wanted to play. Have a doggie playdate so they can get to know each other. That may help somewhat. ??
I would try talking to her about and see if you can work something out. Training together would really help, have her out in her yard with the dogs while you are out in yours. Have her praise the dogs for quiet behavior and if they bark to try and distract them by throwing a toy for them, etc and then rewarding the quiet. That way they are getting positive reinforcement. You can also give treats for quiet from your side when she is not out there, but you need to make sure they have no allergies and treats are okay.
They are probably adjusting, but barking can mean many things- I want to see that/go over there, alert when they notice something, nervous, warning, playful, etc. If all the dogs are friendly with each other playdates may help, since it will also get rid of excess energy, which goes a long way to peace and quiet.
Since you have two large dogs, you are the perfect neighbor to approach the newbie. How do you keep your dogs from being an irritant? You could approach the neighbor by discussing the topic of pets in a close community setting. Perhaps the new neighbor has come from a setting where her dog(s) were not a bother to neighbors. Offer suggestions for quieting the dogs from you own experience. The owner is probably very aware of the problem, but doesn't know what to do. The new neighbor may not be aware that s/he could actually lose their pet as a neighborhood nuisance.
approach the rude neighbors and give them a peace of your mind. LOL...Bad blood between neighbors is not a good thing.
