Dog barking threatened... ?

el said :

shadow boxer said :

This is how dog owners operate.

Yeah, yeah, we get it – obvious troll is obvious.

Very smart troll though, being able to make sweeping generalisations about approximately 40% of Australian households!

shadow boxer said :

This is how dog owners operate.

Yeah, yeah, we get it – obvious troll is obvious.

mickey said :

shadow boxer said :

mickey said :

Disinformation said :

Right. After all this, I now wonder exactly why my side neighbor asked me about his dogs. I knew one existed, but there were others I didn’t know about.
I personally like having dogs around my house. Makes the crims think that little bit harder about rolling houses nearby them. The dog across the road has barked at me every time I’ve checked the mailbox and I’ve never thought twice about it other than saying “Woof” back to him.
I think some people just like to bitch and a dog gives them something to focus on.

Definitely. My dog barks when she hears or sees something, and I am sure she is better than any security system going around. There is a lot of construction going around my street, so she probably keeps herself entertained barking at them during the day. Unfortunately it has been troubling someone nearby. 🙁

I rest my case, as I said in my original post clearly the most selfish component of today’s community and the rest of us can suck it up or piss off.

I am not sure what case you are talking about? Are you that component of today’s community that condones threatening your neighbours, probably violence as well?
The post was about the threatening note, not once have I shirked away from the fact that MY dog has probably been barking. I have already put into place measures to ensure this will not be an issue in the future.

The jury is out.

No see you still don’t see what I am saying.

You think this alll started when your neighbour complained in a manner you didn’t like, I think it all started when you dumped 3 dogs out the back without a thought for what might happen.

This is how dog owners operate.

Mickey – as others have posted, and based on my own experience, if you can’t get your complainant to own up and provide some valuable info for you to use (by letterbox dropping an invite for complaints), if you can afford it I would suggest that you install a good CCTV + audio system. You will identify any problems caused by your dog and/or possibly any other future illegal activity on your property. Money potentially well spent! (I noticed a poster on another thread offered to help install a system for a six pack. I can’t remember which thread but I do remember from other threads he was a sparky.

shadow boxer said :

mickey said :

Disinformation said :

Right. After all this, I now wonder exactly why my side neighbor asked me about his dogs. I knew one existed, but there were others I didn’t know about.
I personally like having dogs around my house. Makes the crims think that little bit harder about rolling houses nearby them. The dog across the road has barked at me every time I’ve checked the mailbox and I’ve never thought twice about it other than saying “Woof” back to him.
I think some people just like to bitch and a dog gives them something to focus on.

Definitely. My dog barks when she hears or sees something, and I am sure she is better than any security system going around. There is a lot of construction going around my street, so she probably keeps herself entertained barking at them during the day. Unfortunately it has been troubling someone nearby. 🙁

I rest my case, as I said in my original post clearly the most selfish component of today’s community and the rest of us can suck it up or piss off.

I am not sure what case you are talking about? Are you that component of today’s community that condones threatening your neighbours, probably violence as well?
The post was about the threatening note, not once have I shirked away from the fact that MY dog has probably been barking. I have already put into place measures to ensure this will not be an issue in the future.

The jury is out.

mickey said :

Disinformation said :

Right. After all this, I now wonder exactly why my side neighbor asked me about his dogs. I knew one existed, but there were others I didn’t know about.
I personally like having dogs around my house. Makes the crims think that little bit harder about rolling houses nearby them. The dog across the road has barked at me every time I’ve checked the mailbox and I’ve never thought twice about it other than saying “Woof” back to him.
I think some people just like to bitch and a dog gives them something to focus on.

Definitely. My dog barks when she hears or sees something, and I am sure she is better than any security system going around. There is a lot of construction going around my street, so she probably keeps herself entertained barking at them during the day. Unfortunately it has been troubling someone nearby. 🙁

I rest my case, as I said in my original post clearly the most selfish component of today’s community and the rest of us can suck it up or piss off.

Disinformation said :

Right. After all this, I now wonder exactly why my side neighbor asked me about his dogs. I knew one existed, but there were others I didn’t know about.
I personally like having dogs around my house. Makes the crims think that little bit harder about rolling houses nearby them. The dog across the road has barked at me every time I’ve checked the mailbox and I’ve never thought twice about it other than saying “Woof” back to him.
I think some people just like to bitch and a dog gives them something to focus on.

Definitely. My dog barks when she hears or sees something, and I am sure she is better than any security system going around. There is a lot of construction going around my street, so she probably keeps herself entertained barking at them during the day. Unfortunately it has been troubling someone nearby. 🙁

Right. After all this, I now wonder exactly why my side neighbor asked me about his dogs. I knew one existed, but there were others I didn’t know about.
I personally like having dogs around my house. Makes the crims think that little bit harder about rolling houses nearby them. The dog across the road has barked at me every time I’ve checked the mailbox and I’ve never thought twice about it other than saying “Woof” back to him.
I think some people just like to bitch and a dog gives them something to focus on.

shadow boxer said :

Watson said :

Well lets apply our collective wisdom, how could a dog owner know if their three dogs are barking when they are not at home, hmmmm I know, how about we ask the neighbours.

Ok, so are you saying every dog owner should letterbox all their neighbours – how far from the house? – to ask to let them know if their dogs bark if they happen to be at home during the day? They presumably need to do this when they move in, when they get a second/third dog, when there is a change of circumstances that may cause the dog stress – new baby perhaps, when they return to work after some leave. And then just hope that the neighbours will bother to tell them before they threaten with ‘OR’.

You don’t let your neigbour’s know about a potential issue because ‘you don’t want to cause trouble’? Boohoohoo. Man up! It’s not that hard to talk to your neighbours! You will find that most of them are pretty keen to keep the peace too. And if not, there are ways to get help to resolve conflicts. Without having to resort to threats.

Watson said :

shadow boxer said :

Well if you want to own a dog (or three) you make it your business to know.

It is not totally unrealistic to think three dogs left at home to their own devices might bark. surely this would cross your mind as you dumped the third dog out the back.

You could take the f#ck it i’ll wait until it pisses someone off enough to complain approach, most dog owners do, but bad manners in my books.

You also did not respond to my suggestion that you expect dog owners to have good manners – to the point that they must be able to observe what their dogs do when they’re not at home, presumably by making themselves invisible, just in case they might possibly annoy one of the neighbours – yet you seem to think it’s perfectly fine for a neighbour to send someone an anonymous threatening letter because of a problem that they didn’t know existed. “Bad manners in my book.”

+1
I swear I wouldn’t bite if someone knocked on my door to talk to me.
My immediate next door neighbour comes across to have a chat every now and then, she had never complained about the dogs, presumably because she works during the day as well. So I had never asked her either.
I guess its the folks in the house behind ours, though I still dont understand why they would want to tolerate a barking dog for 2 whole months, before leaving a threatening note.
Might as well have told me in the first week, problem would have been taken care of by now!
You dont need to be a nobel laureate to work this out.
1. Have a chat.
2. Complain.
3. Escalate
4. Threaten?

🙂

Oh people of Canberra! Have you ever considered talking to your neighbours & discussing any problems regarding noise problems? Instead letting your anxiety regarding the situation rise & rise until you have to post a threatening & psychotic note on your neighbours door? Jesus, I have lived in Canberra for five years now & have barely ever had a chat to any of my neighbours, they all seem so frightened by the idea of saying a brief “hello”.

shadow boxer said :

Until you have been subjected to it it is difficult to explain what a soul destroying thing it is to live near.

I think that anyone who lives near you would have a pretty good idea.

Watson said :

shadow boxer said :

Well if you want to own a dog (or three) you make it your business to know.

It is not totally unrealistic to think three dogs left at home to their own devices might bark. surely this would cross your mind as you dumped the third dog out the back.

You could take the f#ck it i’ll wait until it pisses someone off enough to complain approach, most dog owners do, but bad manners in my books.

You also did not respond to my suggestion that you expect dog owners to have good manners – to the point that they must be able to observe what their dogs do when they’re not at home, presumably by making themselves invisible, just in case they might possibly annoy one of the neighbours – yet you seem to think it’s perfectly fine for a neighbour to send someone an anonymous threatening letter because of a problem that they didn’t know existed. “Bad manners in my book.”

Well lets apply our collective wisdom, how could a dog owner know if their three dogs are barking when they are not at home, hmmmm I know, how about we ask the neighbours.

this is how these things escalate, the neighbour would have been at home put up with a bit of barking, didn’t want to cause trouble so put up with a bit more. and on it goes Until you have been subjected to it it is difficult to explain what a soul destroying thing it is to live near.

Keep blaming the neighbour though, couldn’t possibly be your fault, you should get on the internet and have a long complaint about how hard dome by you have been.

You still haven’t answered my querstion on why the neighbour is doing this if your dogs don’t bark.

shadow boxer said :

Well if you want to own a dog (or three) you make it your business to know.

It is not totally unrealistic to think three dogs left at home to their own devices might bark. surely this would cross your mind as you dumped the third dog out the back.

You could take the f#ck it i’ll wait until it pisses someone off enough to complain approach, most dog owners do, but bad manners in my books.

You also did not respond to my suggestion that you expect dog owners to have good manners – to the point that they must be able to observe what their dogs do when they’re not at home, presumably by making themselves invisible, just in case they might possibly annoy one of the neighbours – yet you seem to think it’s perfectly fine for a neighbour to send someone an anonymous threatening letter because of a problem that they didn’t know existed. “Bad manners in my book.”

shadow boxer said :

Well if you want to own a dog (or three) you make it your business to know.

It is not totally unrealistic to think three dogs left at home to their own devices might bark. surely this would cross your mind as you dumped the third dog out the back.

You could take the f#ck it i’ll wait until it pisses someone off enough to complain approach, most dog owners do, but bad manners in my books.

OK I wasn’t going to bother but I’ll try one more time. Our small dogs had over 300 square meters of outdoor space, free access to inside the house, they were always disciplined even if they barked even once and we never heard them bark regularly or constantly. Apart from one neighbour, there was no evidence that our dogs were a problem. You haven’t actually suggested anything constructive that should be done by dog owners to guess/detect that there is a problem before a neighbour complains?

In any event, once told, we bent over backwards trying to identify and rectify any issue. All we got were unconstructive non detailed complaints and threats of going to DAS long after an event had bothered them. We pleaded for more information and even pointed out, as an example of our months of efforts to separate and identify the problem dog(s), that the neighbour didn’t seem to have had a problem when we had only had one dog for years beforehand. Their final response was that that dog had always been a problem too, that they had tolerated it up till now and that they would not communicate with us any further but would go straight to DAS. Unfortunately by the time that they replied, we had already put the two older dogs down and we spent a long time waiting for a complaint about our remaining dog – which never eventuated.

Please feel free also to suggest some constructive action after the complaint was made which we hadn’t tried. However, if you are going to be passive aggressive, not read what we actually did try and just expect the world to revolve around you then I’m not really interested. You might also benefit from realising that others have a right to live in this world too. May be you do things that annoy them also – but that they suck it up (although not to breaking point as I suspect you did). Perhaps a blower vac running several hours a day, loud cars or bikes or power tools, outdoor music that is too loud or not to their taste or (heaven forbid) noisy kids in your garden?

shadow boxer said :

Well if you want to own a dog (or three) you make it your business to know.

It is not totally unrealistic to think three dogs left at home to their own devices might bark. surely this would cross your mind as you dumped the third dog out the back.

You could take the f#ck it i’ll wait until it pisses someone off enough to complain approach, most dog owners do, but bad manners in my books.

Actually, I would have thought an addition of another dog would encourage less barking as barking is usually caused by boredom.

If no one has previously approached them, and the dogs dont bark when they’re at home, what do you want them to do? Stick surveillance in the yard on the chance your dogs might bark when you’re not at home?

shadow boxer said :

Well if you want to own a dog (or three) you make it your business to know.

It is not totally unrealistic to think three dogs left at home to their own devices might bark. surely this would cross your mind as you dumped the third dog out the back.

You could take the f#ck it i’ll wait until it pisses someone off enough to complain approach, most dog owners do, but bad manners in my books.

I’m asking you again, are you suggesting to make installing CCTV mandatory for dog owners?

shadow boxer said :

Well if you want to own a dog (or three) you make it your business to know.

It is not totally unrealistic to think three dogs left at home to their own devices might bark. surely this would cross your mind as you dumped the third dog out the back.

You could take the f#ck it i’ll wait until it pisses someone off enough to complain approach, most dog owners do, but bad manners in my books.

So it’s perfectly reasonable to threaten someone from the get go about their dog, when a perfectly reasonable, “Hi how are you, do you know your dog barks when your not home?” approach.

Yes it’s their dog, they should believe that it might bark, howl etc. but if no one tells them it is happening, while they aren’t there, then why should they suspect that it is upsetting anyone?

I bet your the type that would rather ring the Police then go and knock on someone’s door to ask if they can turn down the music, aren’t ya SB?

Well if you want to own a dog (or three) you make it your business to know.

It is not totally unrealistic to think three dogs left at home to their own devices might bark. surely this would cross your mind as you dumped the third dog out the back.

You could take the f#ck it i’ll wait until it pisses someone off enough to complain approach, most dog owners do, but bad manners in my books.

shadow boxer said :

mickey said :

shadow boxer said :

00davist said :

mickey said :

shadow boxer said :

AAAh, dog owners, clearly the most selfish and ignorant part of todays communities.

Yes the dog owner is responsible for their pets behaviour, and it seems you have come across an ignorant one or two? but One swallow does not a summer make.
That statement is akin to calling all aussies racist, just because there are a couple of idiots in this beautiful country. I can not disagree about there being ignorant dog owners, just like you can not disagree with there being idiots.

Touche. well said.

@innovation the point I am trying to make is it is your dog, you should not wait for everyone else in the community to get sick of it before you take action. You have driven this poor neighbour to despair in your blissful ignorance. It’s how dog owners tend to work.

They then seem genuinely susrprised that someone else may not like little fluffy as much as they do.

FFS, how often does this person (and others) have to explain that they cannot know if their dog barks when they are not home? Do you want to make it a mandatory requirement for all dog owners to install CCTV to monitor their dogs 24/7 just in case they might be annoying someone? Isn’t it just more logical for the neighbour who is affected by the barking to knock on their door to say: “Hey, did you know your dog barks non-stop when you’re out?”.

The OP has said from the start that they will fix the issue now they know it’s happening. If the anti-social neighbour would have let them know about the barking in the first week after they moved there, he wouldn’t have had to put up with this barking for 2 more months.

But apparently it is totally ok for humans to act like complete and utter d!ckheads towards their neighbours. As long as the dog doesn’t make a sound.

mickey said :

shadow boxer said :

00davist said :

mickey said :

shadow boxer said :

AAAh, dog owners, clearly the most selfish and ignorant part of todays communities.

Yes the dog owner is responsible for their pets behaviour, and it seems you have come across an ignorant one or two? but One swallow does not a summer make.
That statement is akin to calling all aussies racist, just because there are a couple of idiots in this beautiful country. I can not disagree about there being ignorant dog owners, just like you can not disagree with there being idiots.

Touche. well said.

@innovation the point I am trying to make is it is your dog, you should not wait for everyone else in the community to get sick of it before you take action. You have driven this poor neighbour to despair in your blissful ignorance. It’s how dog owners tend to work.

They then seem genuinely susrprised that someone else may not like little fluffy as much as they do.

shadow boxer said :

00davist said :

mickey said :

shadow boxer said :

AAAh, dog owners, clearly the most selfish and ignorant part of todays communities.

Yes the dog owner is responsible for their pets behaviour, and it seems you have come across an ignorant one or two? but One swallow does not a summer make.
That statement is akin to calling all aussies racist, just because there are a couple of idiots in this beautiful country. I can not disagree about there being ignorant dog owners, just like you can not disagree with there being idiots.

#49 shadow boxer – Unfortunately I am not omnipotent so the only way I am going to know whether my dog barks when I’m not there (even though they don’t bark when I am at home) is to rely on evidence such as CCTV and neighbours’ records.

As for your last para, I have read it several times and I’m not even sure what you are getting at. I do think though that you are attributing your personal experiences to all dog owners. Your opinions obviously aren’t going to change and I’m obviously not going to be able to help educate you in this forum.

Innovation said “But I think that it is a long bow to assume that that means that all dog owners are inconsiderate and should know better about what is happening when they are not at home.”

Quite the contrary, it your obligation to know what your dogs are doing. It’s your dog.

Innovation said “The only evidence I had suggested that the neighbours deliberately tried to provoke the dogs (possibly to motivate complaints from others) either because they didn’t like dogs or us or both”

I think now we are getting closer to the truth, can’t see why someone would provoke 3 non-barking dogs for no reason. I can’t even see why someone would not like 3 non-barking dogs for no reason, you wouldn’t even notice them. That said I see selfish, non-caring dog owners every day.

I forgot to mention that even a $1k cctv system (which is viable these days) would be better value than our expense time and effort trying to deal with an unsubstantiated issue. I agree also that dogs barking near your bedrooms would drive you crazy. Our dogs were nearly if not always over 20 metres away from their fence and our house was in between.

#46 shadow boxer – Now it looks like you are just trying to save face. I didn’t say the neighbour randomly banged on the fence and I didn’t suggest that they banged on any fence other than our neighbouring fence. (I cited one example during the day when they wouldn’t have known that I was at home and another when a friend was there). No other neighbours ever had or have a problem with our dogs including the neighbours closer to where the dog(s) normally were/are.

There are a lot of posters here that think dog owners are inconsiderate for letting their dog bark. I admit I have been stunned to be at some dog owners houses and they have let their dog bark constntly (or even just a couple of quick barks) without disciplining them. But I think that it is a long bow to assume that that means that all dog owners are inconsiderate and should know better about what is happening when they are not at home.

As for other remedies, at the time, from memory, debarking was legal in the ACT (or at least legal in NSW and then you could bring the dog back), shock collars were not legal and citronella collars and sonic devices were legal. The problem with the latter is that the dog gets punished even if another dog on your block or a nearby block is barking.

As I said, I didn’t have a problem with our neighbour complaining but they should have given us something to work with. We tied ourselves up in knots for months trying to please them and they wouldn’t even tell us if they were ultimately happy when we only had one dog. No other neighbours had a problem and barkbusters didn’t think that it was an issue. The only evidence I had suggested that the neighbours deliberately tried to provoke the dogs (possibly to motivate complaints from others) either because they didn’t like dogs or us or both. Because they wouldn’t work with us we couldn’t even isolate which dog or dogs were annoying them and why.

Innovation said :

#39 shadow boxer

– The neighbour was repeatedly banging on the fence when the dogs were on the other side of the block and silent. (They also apparently did this when a friend of mind visited the house while I wasn’t home). The other time that I am aware of they were seen standing in our front garden against the fence and wondering why our dogs were going beserk.

I have no problem with the neighbour complaining. My gripe was that they weren’t prepared to provide us with details of when the barking occurred so I could isolate the cause (even when each of the dogs were in three separate areas or even elsewhere in Canberra)! Very late in the complaint, we discovered that DAS requires the neighbour to keep a diary but we had already taken irreversible action by then.

So you have a neighbour that randomly wanders the neighbourhood banging on fences and telling dogs to be quiet when they are not barking. Difficult to believe but I agree he should have kept a diary.

The problem with the diary sytem is the barking can be quite specific, in my case it was loud enough to prevent my kids from sleeping as they are only 2-3 metres from the dogs kennel but barely a muffled noise at the other end of the house where we sleep.

I lept the diary and everything but none of the other neighbours backed me up for whatever reason but they are quite a bit further away because of the battleaxe block.

Funny thing was shortly after the complaint one dog disappeared (no I didn’t do it) and the other started sleeping inside.

Watson said :

mickey said :

SmirnOff said :

Hi Mickey, I don’t know if it’s possible in your situation but I realised getting a second dog keeps the first dog company, they play, run, eat, drink, do everything together and they both love eachothers company. They still love when I come home but I know when I leave for work, they will amuse eachother throughout the day.

It’s nice to hear of people who really want to make an effort in these situations for their dog’s sake as well as their neighbours.

The reason why I let my dog have access to the house while I’m out is because she is inside with me all the time when I’m home too. And so I figured that it might seem like some sort of punishment to her if I then lock her outside when I leave. Adding insult to injury, really. My dog barks very, very rarely, but I was worried about her trying to escape in that situation.

Its not that hard. I love my dogs, I love my neighbourhood and I too love my peace. I can understand people getting upset and annoyed at annoying barking, I would too. If I was aware of the situation, I could have redressed it prior to the complaint being made, I can be called ignorant, but that does not justify threatening me, or the dog? A friendly chat would have sufficed, if I still wouldn’t have made an effort, then yes complain to DAS or maybe then get rude. But give me a fair chance, is’nt that the Australian way?

My neighbour’s dog used to bark nonstop all day when he was at work. Maximum interval between barks for hours on end was about six seconds. I can entirely understand someone cracking after a few days, let alone weeks. That particular dog’s pitch sets my teeth on edge.
Luckily, my neighbour hadn’t been aware of the barking – and locked the dog inside for a while after I complained (in person). I made friends with the dog, which also helped. These days, if it happens to be outside and barks, I call out to it and it usually shuts up.

#39 shadow boxer – The neighbour was repeatedly banging on the fence when the dogs were on the other side of the block and silent. (They also apparently did this when a friend of mind visited the house while I wasn’t home). The other time that I am aware of they were seen standing in our front garden against the fence and wondering why our dogs were going beserk.

I have no problem with the neighbour complaining. My gripe was that they weren’t prepared to provide us with details of when the barking occurred so I could isolate the cause (even when each of the dogs were in three separate areas or even elsewhere in Canberra)! Very late in the complaint, we discovered that DAS requires the neighbour to keep a diary but we had already taken irreversible action by then.

mickey said :

SmirnOff said :

Hi Mickey, I don’t know if it’s possible in your situation but I realised getting a second dog keeps the first dog company, they play, run, eat, drink, do everything together and they both love eachothers company. They still love when I come home but I know when I leave for work, they will amuse eachother throughout the day.

Thanks Smirnoff, already have another dog, and I had been falsely assuming that the 2 were keeping each other company and amusing each other. Looks like that was not happening.
I will attack the problem multilaterally – access to the house, access to the garage, limited access to the yard, longer walks, more toys/kongs, citronella collars.
Stage 2 will be barkbusters/training.
See what happens in the next month – missus starts her mat leave in 4 weeks time, then the dogs will never be left alone. So will give us some more time for root cause analysis.
🙂

It’s nice to hear of people who really want to make an effort in these situations for their dog’s sake as well as their neighbours.

The reason why I let my dog have access to the house while I’m out is because she is inside with me all the time when I’m home too. And so I figured that it might seem like some sort of punishment to her if I then lock her outside when I leave. Adding insult to injury, really. My dog barks very, very rarely, but I was worried about her trying to escape in that situation.

We used to have a couple of rabbits, and one day we received a TAMS notice saying there’d been a complaint about our dog roaming, with the word “dog” crossed out and “rabbit” handwritten over the top. Some idiot neighbour was having his flowers chewed by a bunch of wild rabbits who lived in local bushland, and they assumed we were letting our rabbits out to savagely roam the streets and chew up their gardenias. Rather than knocking on the door, they went for the anonymous complaint route. I I had to ring TAMS and explain about the wild rabbits, our rabbits being secured, and the fact that rabbits aren’t the sort of creature you let loose at night, hoping they’ll return when you call them.

These things are situation dependent. I don’t think I’d knock on the door of the local Hells Angel chapter to complain about their pack of Rottweilers barking. But I think I’d be game enough to have a chat to someone about his kids pet rabbits, on the basis that rabbit owners aren’t likely to be violent monsters.

I can understand an anonymous initial letter – but no need for a threat. Neighbour disputes can get absurdly out of hand. So I can understand a complainant not wanting to be identifiable. I called a neighbour once to complain about his dog barking (he was a prawn trawlerman so out all night). He denied it would be happening even when I walked outside his house with the bloody phone so he could hear it – “of course it’s barking when you’re standing outside the house – that’s what it’s supposed to do.”

Then another neighbour poisoned the dog a couple of days later and where do you think the police came knocking?? To make it worse, the cops couldn’t take their eyes off the packet of Ratsak I had sitting on the kitchen windowsill because I was trying to get rid of a rat in the ceiling… :-/

Innovation said :

We had a complaint a few years ago about our three dogs. Until then we hadn’t been aware that there was a problem. The dogs were smaller than most house cats and hardly ever barked when we were at home except when someone was at the door. We took several measures such as:
–

covering the fences so the dogs couldn’t see through them;
–

letter box dropped all eight neighbours to let them know that we had a complaint and invited them to let us know if the dogs bothered them at all including while we tried to fix the problem;
–

separated the dogs in and around the house to try and isolate which dog was barking and whether it was a particular location on our block where the barking was occurring;
–

kept a diary of all of our efforts and any time when a dog barked and for how long;
–

called DAS to get their advice;
–

called out Barkbusters (or a similar company); and
–

snuck home at random times during the day to try and catch out the dogs barking.

The only things that we discovered were that:
–

the neighbour refused to let us know exactly when our dogs barked but would complain ad hoc with imprecise details (eg “your dog barked last Tuesday”);
–

two of our neighbours contacted us in surprise because they didn’t even know we had dogs;
–

another neighbour offered to house our dogs in their yard during the day;
–

another neighbour further away indicated that they suspected our dogs were being deliberately antagonised (which was later backed up when I snuck home and heard the annoyed neighbour banging repeatedly on the fence one day);
–

we rented a citronella collar but because the neighbour wouldn’t give us a specific feedback, but just threatened to lodge a complaint, we never knew whether it helped; and
–

Barkbusters came out at random and couldn’t detect a problem.

We ended up getting rid of a couple of the dogs (but we still didn’t get any feedback from the neighbour). If we went through this again we would be much more suspicious of the complaint. I would definitely install video and sound recording equipment and, if the neighbour wasn’t prepared to provide details, let them lodge their complaint and have DAS deal with them.

What possible reason would your neighbor have for making this story up.

3 dogs, a neighbor banging the fence, fair chance your dogs were driving him insane.

johnboy said :

shadow boxer said :

We have a de-barked dog up the road from us. I don’t think it’s illegal.

If not illegal certainly vile. I’d rather listen to a proper bark than that horrible squealing noise.

+1

I always give it to people who have had that done to their dog (even through it isn’t my buisness!). How terribly cruel.

We had a complaint a few years ago about our three dogs. Until then we hadn’t been aware that there was a problem. The dogs were smaller than most house cats and hardly ever barked when we were at home except when someone was at the door. We took several measures such as:
– covering the fences so the dogs couldn’t see through them;
– letter box dropped all eight neighbours to let them know that we had a complaint and invited them to let us know if the dogs bothered them at all including while we tried to fix the problem;
– separated the dogs in and around the house to try and isolate which dog was barking and whether it was a particular location on our block where the barking was occurring;
– kept a diary of all of our efforts and any time when a dog barked and for how long;
– called DAS to get their advice;
– called out Barkbusters (or a similar company); and
– snuck home at random times during the day to try and catch out the dogs barking.

The only things that we discovered were that:
– the neighbour refused to let us know exactly when our dogs barked but would complain ad hoc with imprecise details (eg “your dog barked last Tuesday”);
– two of our neighbours contacted us in surprise because they didn’t even know we had dogs;
– another neighbour offered to house our dogs in their yard during the day;
– another neighbour further away indicated that they suspected our dogs were being deliberately antagonised (which was later backed up when I snuck home and heard the annoyed neighbour banging repeatedly on the fence one day);
– we rented a citronella collar but because the neighbour wouldn’t give us a specific feedback, but just threatened to lodge a complaint, we never knew whether it helped; and
– Barkbusters came out at random and couldn’t detect a problem.

We ended up getting rid of a couple of the dogs (but we still didn’t get any feedback from the neighbour). If we went through this again we would be much more suspicious of the complaint. I would definitely install video and sound recording equipment and, if the neighbour wasn’t prepared to provide details, let them lodge their complaint and have DAS deal with them.

cyla said :

That is just the type of letter I would love to write if I could discover where the dog in my neighbourhood lives which is barking for hours during the night. I live on a hill and the echo makes it difficult to work out where it is coming from.

The owners must be deaf and even with ear plugs I can still hear it. It is no wonder that I have dreams of stabbing it!

I am a dog owner and if my dog was continually barking, I would be screaming at it, or bring it inside. It is not that difficult!!

Yes the owners are probably ignorant or deaf. Maybe both.
My dogs are inside every minute that I am inside the house. One of them seems to bark when we are away, other ones a lab, who is happy as long as he gets his 2 meals a day, he couldn’t care less about what was going on in the world around him. The barker does not so much as whine when inside.

That is just the type of letter I would love to write if I could discover where the dog in my neighbourhood lives which is barking for hours during the night. I live on a hill and the echo makes it difficult to work out where it is coming from.

The owners must be deaf and even with ear plugs I can still hear it. It is no wonder that I have dreams of stabbing it!

I am a dog owner and if my dog was continually barking, I would be screaming at it, or bring it inside. It is not that difficult!!

SmirnOff said :

Hi Mickey, I don’t know if it’s possible in your situation but I realised getting a second dog keeps the first dog company, they play, run, eat, drink, do everything together and they both love eachothers company. They still love when I come home but I know when I leave for work, they will amuse eachother throughout the day.

Thanks Smirnoff, already have another dog, and I had been falsely assuming that the 2 were keeping each other company and amusing each other. Looks like that was not happening.
I will attack the problem multilaterally – access to the house, access to the garage, limited access to the yard, longer walks, more toys/kongs, citronella collars.
Stage 2 will be barkbusters/training.
See what happens in the next month – missus starts her mat leave in 4 weeks time, then the dogs will never be left alone. So will give us some more time for root cause analysis.
🙂

SmirnOff said :

Hi Mickey, I don’t know if it’s possible in your situation but I realised getting a second dog keeps the first dog company, they play, run, eat, drink, do everything together and they both love eachothers company. They still love when I come home but I know when I leave for work, they will amuse eachother throughout the day.

This is what we did, I dont know if our little one was a barker, but it took us 2 days to work out she really did not like being alone all day.

We would come home to find her shaking and upset, it has not happened once since we founds her a companion, and the neighbors have told us she has not been a problem what so ever!

Hi Mickey, I don’t know if it’s possible in your situation but I realised getting a second dog keeps the first dog company, they play, run, eat, drink, do everything together and they both love eachothers company. They still love when I come home but I know when I leave for work, they will amuse eachother throughout the day.

00davist said :

mickey said :

shadow boxer said :

AAAh, dog owners, clearly the most selfish and ignorant part of todays communities.

I love how they let them run up to our kids without a leash, scare the daylights out of us all and then wander over with that stupid grin and an “oh sorry, he really wouldn’t hurt anyone” or leave the droppings everywhere or keep small dogs in body corporate apartments because surely as little barking couldn’t annoy anyone or get fireworks banned because “my dog doen’t like them” or leave them at home all day with no company or anything to do and act surprised that they bark.

Keeping a barking dog is an inherently hostile thing to do and not knowing that your dog barks all day is just ignorant and selfish.

I would recommend that anyone that has a barking dog next door remain totally anonymous, by all means start with a polite anonymous letter but keep your options open. The Government will not really help and if other neighbours are friends with the barker they wont back up your claims or diary records.

At that point you are on your own.

By Barking dogs I assume you meant nuisance barking dogs. All dogs do bark, unless they are De-barked, which I assume again, is illegal to do in the ACT?
A dog will bark, just like a cat will purr.

Mate, I wouldn’t bother replying to him, He’s just trying to bait you.

Some peoples lives must be so boring!

Kinda sad really.

You’re no fun….

johnboy said :

shadow boxer said :

We have a de-barked dog up the road from us. I don’t think it’s illegal.

If not illegal certainly vile. I’d rather listen to a proper bark than that horrible squealing noise.

Yeh it’s an awful noise, like a cat trying to cough up a furball.

If none of the above works you could try and find someone who is at home during the day, perhaps with another dog, who would be willing to mind your dog, even for a small fee. Not a bad little business for someone.

I think up these things, and never follow through…

shadow boxer said :

We have a de-barked dog up the road from us. I don’t think it’s illegal.

If not illegal certainly vile. I’d rather listen to a proper bark than that horrible squealing noise.

madamcholet said :

Don’t go down the citronella path – just deters the dog from barking at all which is not what you want. Don’t de-bark – just plain cruel and pointless, especially when good training such as Bark Busters can do the trick in one session.

You can however buy contraptions on the net that emit a high pitched sound that is inaudible to humans but can be heard by dogs. They don’t like it and learn to shut up. You can switch it on and off as needs be – so when you are around it can be witched off.

Do try Bark Busters though – it will give you an insight into why your dog (may) be barking rather than just treating the symptoms. Your dog is part of your family and you took them on for better or worse, so you need to consider them in your solution.

We have a de-barked dog up the road from us. I don’t think it’s illegal.

We bought a ‘bark busting’ collar that squirted out a tiny spray of citronella when our dog barked. Problem solved within minutes We only put in on when we went to work. If the dog barked when we were at home, we would wiggle the collar under his nose and the barking stopped immediately.
It’s not a nasty piece of equipment for your dog to wear although it is expensive, but no more complaints!

Don’t go down the citronella path – just deters the dog from barking at all which is not what you want. Don’t de-bark – just plain cruel and pointless, especially when good training such as Bark Busters can do the trick in one session.

You can however buy contraptions on the net that emit a high pitched sound that is inaudible to humans but can be heard by dogs. They don’t like it and learn to shut up. You can switch it on and off as needs be – so when you are around it can be witched off.

Do try Bark Busters though – it will give you an insight into why your dog (may) be barking rather than just treating the symptoms. Your dog is part of your family and you took them on for better or worse, so you need to consider them in your solution.

Mickey, I’ve had to deal with this before as a dog owner, so here’s my two cents worth.

I’d definitely suggest a note in neighbors letter-boxes letting them know you’ve had a complaint about your dog barking. Invite them to drop by or call to have a chat if the dog is causing them a problem and let them know that you are looking at options for resolving the problem. Don’t be apologetic – just to the point and it helps to include a photo copy of the original threat – just so your neighbors know what sort of douche-bag you’re dealing with.

Drop in on close by neighbors you know and have a chat. Ask them if they have heard the dog barking – ask questions – What time of day doe the dog bark? Is anything happening at that time etc.? It’s especially good if you have some neighbors who are around all or most of the day.

Secure your yard – with decent locks if you have to. Whilst DAS have a process for complaints about dogs they cant do much on the spot – unless your dog is ‘roaming’ out on the street in which case they can impound it – some of the douche-bags your dealing with know that and will ‘let’ the dog out so that DAS can impound it.

Get some professional help. Talk to your vet, talk to people like Barkbusters or similar providers of behavioral correction training. Accept that some of the training will be more for your benefit than the dogs.

Let your neighbors know that you’ve taken action, but change may not happen over night so the dog may continue to bark for a while.

Finally good luck!

You will find the “Barking Solutions Pack” on the Barkbusters website here:

http://www.barkbusters.com.au/forms/barksol08.pdf

Might help with the breakdown in communication between neighbours too.

mickey said :

shadow boxer said :

AAAh, dog owners, clearly the most selfish and ignorant part of todays communities.

I love how they let them run up to our kids without a leash, scare the daylights out of us all and then wander over with that stupid grin and an “oh sorry, he really wouldn’t hurt anyone” or leave the droppings everywhere or keep small dogs in body corporate apartments because surely as little barking couldn’t annoy anyone or get fireworks banned because “my dog doen’t like them” or leave them at home all day with no company or anything to do and act surprised that they bark.

Keeping a barking dog is an inherently hostile thing to do and not knowing that your dog barks all day is just ignorant and selfish.

I would recommend that anyone that has a barking dog next door remain totally anonymous, by all means start with a polite anonymous letter but keep your options open. The Government will not really help and if other neighbours are friends with the barker they wont back up your claims or diary records.

At that point you are on your own.

By Barking dogs I assume you meant nuisance barking dogs. All dogs do bark, unless they are De-barked, which I assume again, is illegal to do in the ACT?
A dog will bark, just like a cat will purr.

Mate, I wouldn’t bother replying to him, He’s just trying to bait you.

Some peoples lives must be so boring!

Kinda sad really.

shadow boxer said :

AAAh, dog owners, clearly the most selfish and ignorant part of todays communities.

I love how they let them run up to our kids without a leash, scare the daylights out of us all and then wander over with that stupid grin and an “oh sorry, he really wouldn’t hurt anyone” or leave the droppings everywhere or keep small dogs in body corporate apartments because surely as little barking couldn’t annoy anyone or get fireworks banned because “my dog doen’t like them” or leave them at home all day with no company or anything to do and act surprised that they bark.

Keeping a barking dog is an inherently hostile thing to do and not knowing that your dog barks all day is just ignorant and selfish.

I would recommend that anyone that has a barking dog next door remain totally anonymous, by all means start with a polite anonymous letter but keep your options open. The Government will not really help and if other neighbours are friends with the barker they wont back up your claims or diary records.

At that point you are on your own.

By Barking dogs I assume you meant nuisance barking dogs. All dogs do bark, unless they are De-barked, which I assume again, is illegal to do in the ACT?
A dog will bark, just like a cat will purr.

AAAh, dog owners, clearly the most selfish and ignorant part of todays communities.

I love how they let them run up to our kids without a leash, scare the daylights out of us all and then wander over with that stupid grin and an “oh sorry, he really wouldn’t hurt anyone” or leave the droppings everywhere or keep small dogs in body corporate apartments because surely as little barking couldn’t annoy anyone or get fireworks banned because “my dog doen’t like them” or leave them at home all day with no company or anything to do and act surprised that they bark.

Keeping a barking dog is an inherently hostile thing to do and not knowing that your dog barks all day is just ignorant and selfish.

I would recommend that anyone that has a barking dog next door remain totally anonymous, by all means start with a polite anonymous letter but keep your options open. The Government will not really help and if other neighbours are friends with the barker they wont back up your claims or diary records.

At that point you are on your own.

ABC129 said :

mickey said :

ABC129 said :

We had a complaint with our barking puppy in our apartment complex that came to us via the body corporate. I set up a recording on my computer attached through a headset microphone and recorded every day for 2 weeks and had a quick scan through the recording at the end of each day.
Yes, he did bark and it was clear as day to see it in the sound file but it was nothing even remotely close to being considered ‘nuisance barking’. Armed with the evidence we could reply to the body corporate and they were happy with the result.

Unfortunately you don’t have anyone to respond to but it would be useful to know how much of a nuisance your dog might be causing.

Thanks, I have scoured ebay for some cheap video surveillance systems, I am guessing any sparky would be able to install them. Might be a few weeks before they get delivered from China though.

No need to go to that extent in the first instance. If you have a laptop (or can move your computer) just set it up somewhere near a slightly ajar window to the backyard, get a pair of headphones with a mic (can’t be more than about $10 for cheapies), download something like http://download.cnet.com/WavePad-Sound-Editor/3000-2170_4-10276212.html and record away.

Thanks mate. Will try that, maybe even setup the webcam to record away.
Though for the time being I’d rather leave the dogs inside. I do not doubt the veracity of the complaint, I have no qualms about that, just would have been less stressful if the complaint was made in a decent way.

mickey said :

ABC129 said :

We had a complaint with our barking puppy in our apartment complex that came to us via the body corporate. I set up a recording on my computer attached through a headset microphone and recorded every day for 2 weeks and had a quick scan through the recording at the end of each day.
Yes, he did bark and it was clear as day to see it in the sound file but it was nothing even remotely close to being considered ‘nuisance barking’. Armed with the evidence we could reply to the body corporate and they were happy with the result.

Unfortunately you don’t have anyone to respond to but it would be useful to know how much of a nuisance your dog might be causing.

Thanks, I have scoured ebay for some cheap video surveillance systems, I am guessing any sparky would be able to install them. Might be a few weeks before they get delivered from China though.

No need to go to that extent in the first instance. If you have a laptop (or can move your computer) just set it up somewhere near a slightly ajar window to the backyard, get a pair of headphones with a mic (can’t be more than about $10 for cheapies), download something like http://download.cnet.com/WavePad-Sound-Editor/3000-2170_4-10276212.html and record away.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I will take it all on board. I would really appreciate if my neighbours who have complained would provide feedback to me in the next couple of weeks as well, so I knew if things have improved, or not. It will be difficult if the person decides to be anonymous. I will ask around and hope to find this person, have a chat and a beer.
If you are reading this, please come over for a chat and a beer! 🙂

I’ve had a situation where a neighbour has flat out denied the dog barks and told to us get f**ked. The local ranger dropped by many times (and found the dog barking) and they still wouldn’t accept the dog was making noise. We continued to receive a barrage of letters from the dog owner ranging from abusive letters to being told the dog had been killed “because of us” (guilt trip?) when in reality it had been de-barked.

I’m not trying to justify the persons letter, but i’ve seen many dog owners completely deny any responsibility for their animal or think its some type of angel. Just look at that other thread about dogs attacking people and the owner running off.

Imo deal with the issue, do a quick letter box drop with the surrounding neighbours explaining that “more precautions have been put in place, please contact us personally with any issues, we would like to resolve problems peacefully etc etc”

[Ignoring the usual judgemental moron looking for an opportunity to push their opinons on unsuspecting posters… (deep breath)]

If you can bear it, letting the dog have access to the house when you’re out might make a huge difference too. Barking could be a sign of separation anxiety, though it’s hard to tell without an experienced dog person observing the dog’s behaviour. But it’s how I avoided anxiety issues with my new dog. I just leave the back door open. The first few weeks I came home to carnage (she is still fairly young and likes to rip up all sorts of stuff) but now she seems happy to entertain herself with her kong, treat ball, chewies and fresh bones (which she has left outside so far!). I also religisously walk my dog every morning before I leave for work. A 30 min off-leash walk. (I also walk her in the afternoons most days, but morning walks are more important,) If the barking is caused by separation anxiety, there are a few other things you can do. Just google it and you’ll find some good tips out there. I believe the National RSCPA website has a couple of resources on this too.

You do first need to get some idea of the extent of the issue and only your neighbours can tell you. If home remedies fail, a behavioural trainer would be the go. But find one that comes recommended to you (as in a specific trainer, not just a company).

I hope you can get some useful feedback from your neighbours and that this doesn’t escalate. Good luck!

I used to have a barker, even as a dog owner I can’t stand barking. I used a citronella collar with great success and I know heaps of other people who have used them as well.

I would look at this before you buy a surveillance system. If your neighbour thinks your dog barks too much it won’t matter if it is reasonable barking. The neighbour is clearly already a nutbag so i wouldn’t risk antagonising them further. Thats how poisonings happen.

Try to fix the problem first. Use the collar and leave lots of things for the dog to do when you go to work. Eg, instead of feeding dry food in a bowl, sprinkle it around the garden and make the dog search for it. Take your dog on a big walk before work. Freeze some chicken frames (or wings depending on size of dog) for the dog to chew on during the day. Plastic bottles or kongs filled with yummy things and frozen give the dog things to do. Yeah, and don’t make a big thing of leaving or returning from work.

Good luck.

I had a similar situation in my old place. Death threats in the letter box (which I reported to police) and the DAS letter. Neighbours had never told me personally that the dog was a nuisance – just decided to take the passive aggressive approach. Rang DAS and they wouldn’t tell me who had made the complaint either. Neighbours that I was friendly with (and who were home all day) said they never heard the dog. We finally tracked down who it was and had a chat. Turns out the wife had just had a baby and was rather sleep deprived. We apologised and had a doggy door installed so the dog spent most of the day inside.

Funny enough 2 yrs later I saw a birth notice in the paper for the same neighbours. Within a week yet another passive aggressive note appeared in the letter box. Same issue – wife with no sleep etc.
They moved about 6mths later and I had no more complaints and haven’t had any since I’ve been in my new place.

ABC129 said :

We had a complaint with our barking puppy in our apartment complex that came to us via the body corporate. I set up a recording on my computer attached through a headset microphone and recorded every day for 2 weeks and had a quick scan through the recording at the end of each day.
Yes, he did bark and it was clear as day to see it in the sound file but it was nothing even remotely close to being considered ‘nuisance barking’. Armed with the evidence we could reply to the body corporate and they were happy with the result.

Unfortunately you don’t have anyone to respond to but it would be useful to know how much of a nuisance your dog might be causing.

Thanks, I have scoured ebay for some cheap video surveillance systems, I am guessing any sparky would be able to install them. Might be a few weeks before they get delivered from China though.

Jim Jones said :

zorro29 said :

as a non-dog owenr i think you need to understand how INCREDIBLY annoying it is when a dog barks constantly for no reason…you can not do anything in peace and even a TV won’t block out the sound…if you’re trying to work or sleep the matter worsens. dog owners need to be more responsible and make sure they keep their dogs inside, or, if that’s not possible, then make sure they are amused enough during the day that they won’t sit and bark (they need to be entertained just like we would for endless hours in a yard!)…not to mention, a dog barking endlessly is often a sign of neglect…so get your act together and fix the issue so everyone else can enjoy the peace of their own homes

It is very annoying (I have a similar problem with a neighbour).

But that in no way justifies an anonymous threatening note. Whoever left the note is obviously a complete d***head.

If you have a problem with a neighbour (or, in fact, anyone), the reasonable thing to do is to discuss it (in a friendly manner) like adults. Leaping straight to anonymous threats is the action of a complete and utter f^&ckwit.

Yes that is what I would have expected. I have only moved into the neighbourhood a few months ago, had no idea what was going on while we were away during the day. I will be proactive and fix the problem, the issue was that i was unaware that there was a problem in the 1st place.

zorro29 said :

as a non-dog owenr i think you need to understand how INCREDIBLY annoying it is when a dog barks constantly for no reason…you can not do anything in peace and even a TV won’t block out the sound…

Totally agree with you mate. But like previously mentioned, it is possible for the dog owner to not know the extent of the issue unless advised by their neighbours?
The issue of neglect comes up when the dog and owner are both at home and the dog is left outside to bark incessantly without the owner intervening. Once the owner has been advised of the issue, he should definitely do something to mitigate the problem. If he doesnt, then yes, escalate. But as you might imagine, not sure if such an issue can be fixed overnight?

We had a complaint with our barking puppy in our apartment complex that came to us via the body corporate. I set up a recording on my computer attached through a headset microphone and recorded every day for 2 weeks and had a quick scan through the recording at the end of each day.
Yes, he did bark and it was clear as day to see it in the sound file but it was nothing even remotely close to being considered ‘nuisance barking’. Armed with the evidence we could reply to the body corporate and they were happy with the result.

Unfortunately you don’t have anyone to respond to but it would be useful to know how much of a nuisance your dog might be causing.

zorro29 said :

as a non-dog owenr i think you need to understand how INCREDIBLY annoying it is when a dog barks constantly for no reason…you can not do anything in peace and even a TV won’t block out the sound…if you’re trying to work or sleep the matter worsens. dog owners need to be more responsible and make sure they keep their dogs inside, or, if that’s not possible, then make sure they are amused enough during the day that they won’t sit and bark (they need to be entertained just like we would for endless hours in a yard!)…not to mention, a dog barking endlessly is often a sign of neglect…so get your act together and fix the issue so everyone else can enjoy the peace of their own homes

It is very annoying (I have a similar problem with a neighbour).

But that in no way justifies an anonymous threatening note. Whoever left the note is obviously a complete d***head.

If you have a problem with a neighbour (or, in fact, anyone), the reasonable thing to do is to discuss it (in a friendly manner) like adults. Leaping straight to anonymous threats is the action of a complete and utter f^&ckwit.

as a non-dog owenr i think you need to understand how INCREDIBLY annoying it is when a dog barks constantly for no reason…you can not do anything in peace and even a TV won’t block out the sound…if you’re trying to work or sleep the matter worsens. dog owners need to be more responsible and make sure they keep their dogs inside, or, if that’s not possible, then make sure they are amused enough during the day that they won’t sit and bark (they need to be entertained just like we would for endless hours in a yard!)…not to mention, a dog barking endlessly is often a sign of neglect…so get your act together and fix the issue so everyone else can enjoy the peace of their own homes

luther_bendross said :

We had a similar letter arrive a number of years back (not in Canberra). Not knowing who sent it we wrote our own non-anonymous apologetic letter and dropped it at every house within a dogs-bark distance. The next day the previously-anonymous people came over, we had a chat and all was civilised from then on. Yes it’s freaking difficult to know if your dog is barking while you’re out, but the onus is always on the owner, so you’ve gotta be proactive.

Thanks, I have thought about doing the same. I have even printed out my letter, now only to do a letter box drop sometime this evening.
I will definitely look up bark busters.

buzz819 said :

Has anyone ever told you that your dog barks before now?

Unfortunately not. I too would have expected a “G’day, do you know your dog is a pain in the arse?” before going straight to the “I’m gonna de-bone your dog!”” comment.
The main problem is that the said dog is the quietest dog when there is someone at home. She does bark, when she hears someone at the door etc but we had no idea to the extent of the barking. Now that we know, we will definitely look at ways to quieten her while we are away. Dog collars, training, whatever it takes. Till then, yes she will be locked in the garage, atleast she will be safe and alive there.
Sorry Gerry-Built i do not live in Charnwood 🙂

We had a similar letter arrive a number of years back (not in Canberra). Not knowing who sent it we wrote our own non-anonymous apologetic letter and dropped it at every house within a dogs-bark distance. The next day the previously-anonymous people came over, we had a chat and all was civilised from then on. Yes it’s freaking difficult to know if your dog is barking while you’re out, but the onus is always on the owner, so you’ve gotta be proactive.

I’ve heard good things about Bark Busters, around $400 IIRC which includes lifetime support. They also gave me the advice to hide around the corner and wait until it barks, then return, growl/yell/scold it (obviously don’t hit it etc) then disappear again. Repeat ad nauseum and kiss your weekends goodbye for a while.

We contacted Domestic Animal Services about a barking dog. At the time, DAS were going through a torrid time and did basically nothing for a long period of time. What should have happened is this – the owner is contacted and told of the complaint. They must rectifiy the issue in two weeks. If they don’t the complainant must then keep a 10 day dog diary to note when the barking takes place and what if anything is done about it. After that, DAS are meant to investigate it themselves by going to the property and listening for the dog and also canvassing neighbours. If no other neighbours support the claim it will then probably die in the arse. Our neighbour eventually got rid of his dog after a bit of pressure from a very contrite DAS.

Word of advice – a dog locked in a garage may sound louder than one able to run around a yard. Our neighbour did that too thinking it would work.

The problem is, is that your dog barks to get attention. When you come home and pat it and make a fuss, it thinks the barking worked. We got bark busters in for our dog (who does not bark, but had other behavioural issues). Worked a treat. Give them a try – it’s not cheap, but they will come back for free whenever you want as long as you are following the rules.

BTW the RSPCA can’t do anything about barking dogs – apart from find them a new home (to bark in!).

U don’t happen to live in Charnwood?

Has anyone ever told you that your dog barks before now?

This type of thing is on the increase and of concern for me, being a dog owner, I have no idea whether my dog barks when I am home or not, but would like to think that if it does someone would drop by and say “G’day, do you know your dog is a pain in the arse?” before going straight to the “I’m gonna de-bone your dog!”