Ah, neighbors. One in current place, a friend, has two dogs who bark. She complained to me about her next door neighbor who has two small dogs- they bark until her dogs bark back. She likes that her generic dogs bark as a warning whenever someone comes to the door. But- they also bark when outside and people pass by on the nearby main residential street seen from a distance from her fenced backyard. Unfortunately there is no way to tell her that HER barking dogs are more of an annoyance than her next door ones.
We had a delightful Shih Tzu in our old house who was not a barker (he would have licked any burglar to death). I heartily agree that dogs should be trained to not bark at everything- guarding the home is not to be a problem for neighbors. It was also funny to hear his play with me bark and back half gyrations with his frenzied tail wag when he wanted to play with the deer who stood a few feet out of reach of his backyard chain (abutted hilly woods- hence no fence and could have been lost if allowed to wander). I remember dogs from our old house. My dog would play with the Irish setter when she was in her yard when we walked past (and said dog came to our deck- seen from their back yard- one snowy day). Plus the Vizsla further down the street- one dark evening I heard an ominous low pitched bark when returning from our walk. It was that dog who had been let out to do his thing that wanted to play. None of those neighbor dogs barked just because someone they knew passed by.
I agree it is an owner, not dog issue. That friend is alone and treats her dogs like they were her children but forgot the positive aspects of discipline (she never had kids)- she did get some training but her follow through is lacking in my opinion.
Side comment. Another neighborhood small dog isn’t as fond of me as I would like. Somehow I think he knows I have called his owner when he has escaped (hey- running through my backyard on a mission was one occasion). An escape artist from across the street has come into our garage when we opened it- to escape the rain. He treats us as an extension of his family I believe- unlike the above barking dogs. I have rung their doorbell to let them know more than once. Too bad he can’t get back into his fenced back yard like he got out.
ML, your neighbor was under NO obligation to come and talk to you. Many posting here will back me up - homeowners who create a nuisance generally become defensive when neighbors try to talk to them (been there, done that). Asking someone like that to stop the nuisance typically does not help and can even escalate the problem.
^ I partially agree with you BunsenBurner. There is never a 100% good outcome that can come from talking because you are essentially holding your neighbor accountable, which usually is not well received.
My same neighbor with the barking dog who, by the way had a 2nd dog that died, was twice the problem when the other dog was living because they BOTH barked. The only difference when there was only one dog is the sound of the bark. It was a DISTRESSED sound because it was missing their owners when they were not home.
My same neighbor a few years back had workers digging post holes. They were erecting a freestanding overhang but it was only 5’ from our shared back fence. I immediately called them but it went to voicemail. Next I called the city and spoke to code enforcement who was out within 30 minutes. Code lady put a stoppage on their work. She also required them to get a permit. I got a call from my neighbor who then said “WHY DIDN’T YOU SPEAK TO ME IN PERSON”?
My neighbor has two dogs. They work each other up. I think they’d be happier if they ever went for walks. It was bad when there was one, but now they just bark twice as often.
I just don’t agree. We’d known these people for years. I would NEVER call the town before speaking to a neighbor in person. But this is New England, so I guess I should have expected that.
Or you could get the opposite, an apology and a friendly relationship.
I speak as the transgressor. We had a big outdoor party that ended up being a bit obnoxious. Just adults celebrating a great adult soccer season and dancing to music after a few too many margaritas, but admittedly too loud. One of the neighbors called and asked us to turn the music down. We did, and brought apology baskets of goodies to those neighbors and our other 2 closest neighbors the next day. They seemed happy and said we didn’t need to apologize. We felt better about doing something to make things right and about the fact that the neighbors had come straight to us.
Well… my question for those who think I should have waited until the posts were cemented in the ground, why didn’t my neighbor (the same neighbor who for years ignored my complaints about her barking dogs), come to ME FIRST with their project plans? I think they wanted to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.
I now have 2 dogs living here. The big Berner doesn’t bark that much. She barks more when she’s inside and thinks something is happening. The corgi barks more outside but there is a house being built right next door so she will bark at the workers.
I watched videos from doggy dan about getting them to stop barking and it seems to work.
Our dog barks occasionally but rarely for a prolonged period. There have been times at night when I would hear him barking and then notice that various neighbor dogs are barking as well, so I’m not sure which one starting barking first. It normally doesn’t go on for very long though. The biggest problem I ever have with his barking is when other dogs or cats come close to him and hang around. He is on a pretty long chain so that he has a good run and some of the neighbors don’t abide by the leash law so their dogs will come just outside the reach of his chain and sit there or sometimes there will be 2 of them playing and it drives him crazy because he can’t get to them. We also have neighbors next door that drive mustangs with loud pipes and when they go by revving their engine it sets him off, he doesn’t bark at all cars just those that make that terribly loud noise.
We had a dog next door that was well trained. She never barked unless someone unknown came into our cul de sac or there was an issue (neighbor left, garage door didn’t close) or an earthquake. She was smart…knew when it was a different USPS or UPS deliverer or cleaning service, but never barked if they returned. And when she did bark, it was one, quick, sharp bark (dalmatian). If I heard it, I checked out promptly.
And she was great when another neighbor got a very barky dog…she never replied, even though the other dog was constantly at her fence. The barky dog’s owner claimed that it was cruel to keep dogs from “talking”. After the City visited a few times, barking got much less…
I agree about the tactic of involving the government, we have a neighbor who calls the county on everything on everyone to report infractions, he was so mad when one guy came to his door. I told him I would prefer he talk to me before tattle-taling to the government. So, why do I call animal control on these people? Well, because I left a note last year and had no change and had never met them, they are not on my street, they back up to us. I did not have the time to wait so escalated, but was specific that I asked for intervention, but not fine & citation. I will now try the note again and include my mobile# and see if I hear back. If not, I’ll be calling the powers that be.
But I wish people were just smarter about being good neighbors, with acoustics and layout we are the people who would hear it the most and the only ones who are both home all the time and outdoors, the only other complaining neighbor moved, and was quite relieved to get away from that darned dog.
To be fair, “how you handle it” really depends on the specific neighbor. Shortly after we moved in, my same neighbor’s mid to late twenty something kid had a party (he lived at home but parents not home) that had attendees inside and out but it didn’t matter because the windows were all open. Called (number was listed) and left a detailed message at 12:30 AM (Sunday morning). I always start a complaint off by saying “I need your help”… Maybe they couldn’t hear the phone ring. An hour later, I called the local police who knocked on their door. Got quieter for maybe 30 minutes max. At 3:30 AM it was still going. Called and left another message, On Monday I was out front when momma drove by, stopped, and gave me what I thought was a sincere apology. To her son’s credit, he didn’t erase my message! That was Memorial Day weekend. By Labor Day weekend, a similar repeat performance occurred, only this time it ended around 1:30 AM. I didn’t call the police but I did leave another detailed message.
Some neighbors are just inconsiderate, self-centered knuckleheads that I am not going to try to maintain good relations with. In their world, a barking dog left outside for 6 hours is no big deal.
We would generally try to resolve issues in person, but there have been occasions when the people were absolutely unreasonable. And there is one more thing… If I know that there is high likelihood someone has a gun in their house, no way I would go talk to them because who knows what side of the bed they got up from - I would leave that talking to the appropriate authorities.
That said, we have not called the city or the cops with the exception of 2 cases. Once, when neighbors refused to tune down their booze-filled sweet sixteen party, Mr. called the police, which worked - while he was on the phone, the drunk as a sailor mom ran out and begged him to tell the cops that everything was OK. Which he did - and the noise stopped. The other time was when the neighbor needed to reroute our water main to build a home on his property… well, let’s say his contractors did a shoddy job, and Mr. being a chemical engineer, was wondering how the contraption they used could be allowed to be buried in the ground. He went to the city to ask them about that… oops that was something the inspector missed! The neighbor got re-inspected and the inspector probably got a kick in the pants from his boss.
Only one of my neighbors has parties. Lovely Latin music, sometimes a band or else a tape. We sit outside and enjoy. There was one time when her son, and mine, were leaving HS. The street was littered with beer cans and garbage. Two of my other neighbors were up early and cleaning the street. One said to me she knew my son had friends over a lot, but this was the work of the other teen. None of us said anything, knowing it was a one time event.
I’m planning a party in May. I plan to,let my neighbors know, cuz of the parking. Mine is a brunch, so no noise disruptions.
We have had 2 rather large parties (40-45 people) in the just under 7 years that we have lived here. Both times I dropped flyers to all my neighbors letting them know what was going on and that we were “closing things down” by 10PM (the new midnight when you’re over 65). Which we did. No music outside, windows closed.
We got invitations to some such parties. A neighbor was getting married to his long time GF and was having a backyard reception. He sent invites to every neighbor, which were de facto “sorry we are going to be noisy, but you are welcome to come” notices. Of course no one came… but there is a world of difference between a one or two time loud party and constant or repeated nuisance.
We have two Briards who in theory bark only when necessary. Negotiations as to the definition of “necessary” are ongoing. Objectively speaking they’re vigilant but not obnoxious about when they sound the alarm – someone bumps something upstairs, and it could conceivably be an intruder on the porch, that kind of thing.
Friday night they woke me with their barking every two to three hours – they usually settle down at lights out. Husband and I suspect coyotes. There have been some ugly encounters with pets in the area. I couldn’t really fault mine for responding to the yips, howls, and screeches.
The dogs are never outside without an attendant human. We’ve asked our neighbors about the noise repeatedly, and they say they don’t hear anything. We’ve also test-walked the yard and can’t hear them beyond our boundaries when they’re barking in the house.
When I was a kid, several families in our area including us had Golden Retrievers. They were allowed to roam free throughout our neighborhood. A very large dog tried to attack our neighbors’ daughters–aged one year & three years–while they were playing in their yard. Our very quiet 120 pound female Golden Retriever charged the attacking dog, knocked him over & chased him out of the neighborhood. The horrified , but now relieved, parents cooked & fed our dog a nice steak every Friday for several years thereafter. Our Golden Retriever would stay with their children when in their yard. The kids could sit on her, pet her, pull her tail, talk to her, etc.
Occasionally she would venture off into another part of town. A few times other parents called the phone number on her collar to ask us if she could stay overnight. We always said yes & she was returned the next morning.
Other times, the local police would return her in their police car. They would call my parents at their work number & ask what to do with her. Our house was always unlocked so the police were given permission to put her inside. She always refused. The cops gave up & just let her run in our neighborhood. Happened many times.
Her father was not so lucky. He stole the neighbors’ Thanksgiving turkey off of their screened in porch. The cops took him in, paw printed him, placed him in a cell & made the owners pick him up at the police headquarters.
Our town had about 6.000 residents in a metropolitan area of approximately 350,000 people. For the most part, the dogs behaved better than the townspeople.
To get back on topic, the only time I heard dog barking in our neighborhood was when we hooked up our dog on a run line & children were playing outside. The solution that everyone seemed to agree on was to just let the dogs run free. It worked. But I think that the success was due in large part to this particular breed (Golden Retriever). Should also work for Border Collies who need to run more than any other breed with which I am familiar.
P.S. I am glad that no posters thought this was a thread dealing with painful feet.
My aunt bred Pekineses. She sold a puppy to a youngish couple but she was reticent about the man. She made sure they knew that if they didn’t get on with the dog they were to bring her back and she would refund.
The wife was continually on the phone asking how she could stop the dog barking. Her husband was not a fan and kept threatening that the dog must go if it didn’t stop.
My aunt gave all the advice she could but felt that she would be taking the dog back.
The dog was about 8 months when she gets another call. ‘You’ll be pleased to hear we are keeping the dog.’
My aunt was thrilled. ‘What had changed?’
It was in the middle of the night and the dog once again started to bark waking them both. The husband got out of bed with the threat that he was going to kill the dog. (I’m sure there will have been swearing.) The sleeping accommodation was on the other side of the house to the living accommodation and as he walked into the living area he realised the house was on fire.
