How to handle a neighbor's barking dog?

Is it football sized? If so, I have a suggestion…

but really, it doesn’t sound like there’s anything you can do, really, without a confrontation with the neighbors at least. Best to just suck it up and talk to them, or learn to deal with it. Sorry.

What are the noise ordinances in your town? If the cut off is, say 10 pm, a call to the police if the dog is still barking at 11 or 12 (especially if you are next to an open window so the cops can hear the barking) might let the neighbor know.

OTOH, I would tend to go make friends with the neighbor and then ask them if they could get their dog to be quiet after a certain time.

If it’s causing problems, you can calmly talk to your neighbor about it. If they are completely unreasonable, you may have to escalate the issue to an authoritative agency such as a homeowners association or a landlord.

If the neighbors were taking care of their dog correctly, it would not bark. I would bring it up to them definitely. You should not have to sacrifice your peace for a neighbor who cannot be responsible for their pet. The dog is barking because it is neglected most likely. Is it left outside all day with no playmate? I bet they don’t give it very much attention at all. I feel bad for the dog as well as you.

@BBSDTfamily Yes the dog is almost always outside. Which is why I can hear it barking clear as day even when my windows are closed. I have two dogs of my own and I would never leave them
outside all night if they had a barking problem. I can’t understand how a person can be so oblivious. Or worse, maybe the owner knows how rude it is and doesn’t care enough to stop it. Either way, something’s got to give. I can’t endure many more sleepless nights.

This happens in our neighborhood too. I can’t imagine that people hear their dogs bark and don’t correct them. But a dog that lives in the back yard is obviously not very valued.

Try talking to the owner but I bet you won’t get very far. Then you will have to decide if it is worth it to involve the police or better to just buy ear plugs. We close the doors and windows and turn on the air conditioning.

How to handle a neighbor’s barking dog?

with a gun, and lots of bullets.

@ItalianPrincess1217 If the neighbors do nothing after you talk to them and you have a noise ordinance (if you live within a city, you most likely do), then definitely involve the police. For both of your sakes!

There are devices you can get that emit a noise that is supposed to startle them out of it. If you put it by your window, that should get him trained to stop barking pretty quick.

Steak+fishing pole+sleeping pills=silence

I’ve actually done that before, had a girl over this one time and my neighbor left his dog outside at night, which he doesn’t usually do, so I threw a chunk of ground beef with three sleeping pills in to his lawn, dog was out within 30 minutes and stayed like that the rest of the night. lol.

You could also ask the other nearby neighbors about what efforts have previously been made. It could be entirely possible that others have been as hesitant as you are to approach the neighbor in question.

If it were me, I would definitely want to know what’s been going on prior to my arrival. You may find a better solution united as a group.

Regardless, a call to town hall or the police to enquire about noise ordinances would be next on the list for me. You need to know where you stand legally. If the law contains prohibitions for this, I wouldn’t hesitate to alert authorities as many times as it takes to get results. If I had to call every single night I wouldn’t hesitate a bit.

This has been an issue for me as well, and nothing is more mentally disruptive than a barking dog when you are trying to fall asleep—or really do anything at home for that matter. Check your county’s animal control department policy on barking complaints. Your city/county may have specific ordinances regarding dog barking, e.g., the dog cannot bark after 10:00 p.m. for more than 20 minutes straight without a 1 minute break, meaning if the dog barks straight for 19 minutes and breaks for one minute, it would reset the barking clock, granting the creature an additional 19 minutes of legally compliant barking. Your city’s noise ordinance may not apply to dog barking, but only loud music, construction work, etc. Before filing a formal complaint, I would first suggest talking with the barking dog owner during the day, explaining to them that the noise is bothersome. Usually the dog owner will be unaware the barking was bothersome, but you will also get extremely recalcitrant, sociopathic dog owners who simply do not care they are hurting other people. In these instance, persistence is key. If the barking doesn’t stop, keep knocking on their door and complaining, politely, and in the middle of the night even, until the barking stops. You might also offer to buy a citrus collar for the dog, a painless but unpleasant device which releases citrus scent upon the release of barkage, which dogs loathe.

If none of that works, your county’s animal control should have a policy wherein you can initiate a a formal complaint and a formal petition against the dog owner, provided other neighbors in your area are also affected. You may be required to keep a journal/log regarding the specific times the barking commences. Getting your neighbors to sign the petition can be a bit tricky, as perhaps they are simply deeper sleepers than yourself, or are insane and “like” the barking (a rarity); however, you should be given opportunities to explain why you are the only one disturbed (e.g., your neighbors are of reduced age and arrive home in the anticipatory twilight of 3am). Once you get a petition filed, animal control should come out and talk with the dog owner, which can escalate to increasing fines, and animal control riding the owner’s back to ensure they are taking concrete steps to reducing the barking.

If none of the ideas above work, consider ear plugs.

When you have no other options, then buy some beef slices, and roll one of them up around half a Benedryl pill, and toss the treat over the fence. The dog should get drowsy in about 20 minutes.

For dosage information, check out: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_Benadryl_can_you_give_a_dog

Make sure the pill is diphenhydramine, as the only active ingredient.

@ABoyNamedBoobs03 @Kraigmo At the very least, these are short term solutions which are potentially dangerous to the dog.

Do not follow any advice that advises you give the dog any substance what-so-ever. This is not a legal solution.

@YARNLADY (re: above post) Seconded. Although I will say (re: earlier post), a dog’s bark can usually permeate your standard earplug.

I’m with @Darwin, there must be a noise ordinance where you reside, @ItalianPrincess1217 Contact your local police dept by phone or email & let them know what’s going on. Maybe you’ll get a friendly officer that will go over and politely ask the neighbor to keep the dog hushed.

Develop a love of dogs barking, and treat it as music.

Sound Proof your house.

I really tend to agree with @YARNLADY . I am always worried that if I make trouble for people who obviously don’t give a damn, they might eek out revenge by chucking something over the fence to my dogs.

What a world we live in!

Ear plugs? Are you guys kidding? I can’t imagine letting a dog dictate my lifestyle inside my own house. F that.

@FutureMemory Welcome to the real world, it doesn’t accomodate itself to fit your needs.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic it was more or less a story for humor. I only did it once because I knew the dog would be fine, I’d hope no one actually takes me seriously a majority of the time.

@FutureMemory I agree… no sense in changing your lifestyle because you have an irresponsible neighbor. There needs to be an intervention b/c the situation is bad for their neighbors and for their dog.

@YARNLADY

I guess I tend to not let people walk all over me. There’s a difference between that and expecting the world to accommodate my needs. A huge difference.

I had a problem with a barking dog two years ago. It barked and howled at all odd times. It was four houses away, at the home of a Police Officer. I knocked on the door to discuss it and discovered that the dog’s owner had died and the Police Officer had taken it home to prevent it being destroyed, the deceased had no family. When he was on duty and the dog alone it barked. I had him drop it at our house when he left – it made friends with our dog and all of us were happy. After a few weeks he didn’t need to do that – the dog has adapted to his new lifestyle. I still occasionally pick him up when I am walking my dog – take him for an outing so to speak. I don’t do it all the time as he is an old dog and can’t keep up with a fast pace.

Future memory – you are an orifice. Suggesting shooting a dog is about as thoughtless and irresponsible as it is possible to get. Most dogs are better than most people – if it is barking then it is communicating in the only way it knows. Something is wrong.

Best Bumper sticker I ever saw:

Try to be as good a person as your dog thinks you are.”

Darkscribe I was joking about the gun thing. Get a clue.

@FutureMemory Darkscribe I was joking about the gun thing. Get a clue.

I have lots of clues. Would you like to borrow some?

Not if you were the last clue-giver-outer on earth.

Ignoring the braggadocio of some of our more infantile posters – dogs as a rule are eager to please, when they bark they have a problem. Sometimes it is because of poor upbringing, but often because the dog is feeling some form of distress. Nobody wants their peace disturbed by a barking dog, but when it happens try to not to feel anger for the dog – try to discover what the dog feels is the problem. Then discuss possible solutions with its owner. If it is an immediate neighbor’s dog that barks when you are going about your business on your own property – introduce yourself to it. Take it for a walk, talk to it. It will then extend it “custodianship” to include you and your property and not regard you as a threat to be barked at.

@DarkScribe Good for you for helping out that poor dog!

I’d love to see that trick, Darkscribe. How does one ignore himself?

I would get to know the neighbors, and ask them if they know who owns the dog that barks all night.

See the question regarding BB guns.

A big thanks to everyone for your ideas. Although I can’t say I’ll be trying any illegal tactics by trying to give the dog human medicine. And as far as earplugs go, they don’t work for me. I refuse to let a dog change my lifestyle that drastically. So I’m going to call my town hall first and take it from there. I’m almost positive we have some noise ordinance regulations that can be enforced. Thanks a bunch for all your help :)

I have been in this situation. It went on for more than three years. On days when I worked at home, it drove me almost past endurance. What held me back from speaking to the dog owner directly was this train of thought:
(1) the owner must already know the dog barks because it goes on night and day;
(2) the dog must be unhappy to bark like that nonstop for hours on end;
(3) therefore the owner does not care about the comfort of the neighbors or the comfort of the dog;
(4) if I complain to the owner, I am identifying myself as the source of a complaint;
(5) if I then call the police, the owner will assume I am responsible for the police visit; and so—
(6) will I feel safe in the neighborhood with a dog owner who does not care about his pet or his neighbors and has been antagonized by a visit from the police?

In a previous situation, we had a next-door neighbor who played loud music constantly. In a friendly and polite way, I asked him for relief from the volume and the steadiness, especially on weekend mornings, and he rudely blew me off. I never called the police, not once, but someone else did, and he assumed it was me. He started shouting out the window at me and calling me crude names, tipped over our full garbage cans, and vandalized our house when we were away for the weekend by sticking the garden hose into the mailbox and turning on the water, destroying the hardwood and the carpets in three rooms. (I have no proof that he did it, but I am morally certain.)

So—basically I chickened out of doing anything about the neighbor with the barking dog. Eventually either he or the dog went away, thankfully before this year’s season of open windows began. Every day I am positively grateful for the absence of noise.

We also had a directly adjacent neighbor who knew how to train his dogs and taught them to be quiet. I know it can be done. They spent most of their time in their back yard, close to our bedroom windows, and simply never disturbed us.

@Jeruba That’s awful! I give you props for being the bigger person and not seeking revenge on your neighbor. But I do see your point. I most certainly want my complaint to be anonymous now!

@Jeruba Can’t you file anonymous complaints with the police?

@Jeruba – that is precisely what I think of. Then I close the windows!

Perhaps you can try an anonymous tip to animal control. I believe it’s not actually allowed to have a dog outside barking 24/7. It’s obviously not being taken care of particularly well (is it chained in the backyard or in a kennel?), so I really do think an anonymous complaint that “these people are leaving their dog outside all day and all night, and it barks nonstop” would warrant a visit by animal control.

Dogs are pack animals, they aren’t bred to stay outside completely alone all day and all night. :( How very sad! No wonder it’s barking, it wants attention! No way you should have to stay up all night because these people are such terrible owners.

I didn’t read all of the responses, but if this is a repeat..sorry!

You could try this dog silencer. I am thinking about getting one to use for not only my own dogs, but the neighborhood dogs as well. If you look around you could probably find one for cheaper.

@mramsey What an interesting idea. I never heard of it before. I wonder if it really works.

@YARNLADY The breeder I got my maltese from used it when I was there because all of the dogs were barking like crazy. It worked instantly.

@mramsey You could try this dog silencer.

An interesting device, but as it only can detect a bark from seventy-five feet or less, it would only be effective for an immediately adjacent neighbour – not one a couple of doors away. Maybe you could buy one and offer to lend it to the offending dog’s owner.

Or simply lend it to whoever lived directly next door to the barking dog. In fact, the neighborhood could get together and buy one that could travel from yard to yard as needed. Since it costs $99 US and can be hung on a surface, I could see folks hanging it on the fence until the dog next door stays quiet, then passing it on to the next perturbed neighbor.

@Darwin I could see folks hanging it on the fence until the dog next door stays quiet, then passing it on to the next perturbed neighbor.

Good idea. Possibly a business opportunity for an entrepreneur, hiring them out.

maybe instead of putting a sedative inside a beef slice and throwing it over the fence, maybe put a prozac in an envelope, tape it to a special dog silencer, and toss that over the fence
the prozac being for the disgruntled, antisocial dog owner