My Neighbors Have Me Hating Dogs

[1sttruck]

Labs are high on the 'sociability index', which is why they're so popular. The downside is that few people are around their very social dogs all the time, most work or go to school, so the dogs get separation anxiety and bark a lot, or like has happened to three people that we know they chew huge holes in walls.

We chose a dog that was low on the index to minimize the problem, a Borzoi, and it's worked out very well. He's pretty much indifferent to people, warms up to some slowly and then bonds well to a few. It's good that he eventually does bond as he's like a mule, he'll only do things asked of him if he likes you :^)

 

[Pitbull]

As a dog owner I have (3) I am very aware of the barking dog bothering people. I bought a house that negates this, (3 acres) Fenced with privacy fencing and dog runs and an acre on each side of the fencing to create a buffer zone. Dogs are all in the house at 9PM every night. My dogs are never outside my house or a fence without being on a lead. With dog ownership comes responsiblity so I plan ahead to eliminate being any problem to anyone. When I lived in a neighborhood in Atlanta and had 1 dog in a privacy fenced yard, a new neighbor moved in next door that worked nights and slept during the day. So his sleep would not be disturbed I would let my Golden out in the morning to go to the bathroom and then keep him in until I returned home that night for another bathroom outing. The guy went to work around 7PM and I would then let my Golden run in the back yard for a couple of hours before I brought him in for the night around 9PM. Its all about being a good neighbor and communicating with your neigbor. If he has had communications with his neighbor and no positive outcome then the next step would be to use the legal system. Most people if you talk to them and explain the problem will try to work with you. Some are jerks and then the law is the way to go. The problem with going to the law is you better be on the straight and narrow with everything you are doing or they will use the law against you. It's not the dogs fault, don't pick on the dogs.

 

[ekpolk]

Don't ask how we ended up with our dog -- a female black-and-tan Chihuahua. These are definitely one family, even one person, us-and-them dogs. For whatever reason, she decided early on that I'm the Alpha Wolf in the house, and everyone else is OK if she feels like it. She's smart and will do pretty much anything I tell her to do, including going to others or attacking on command. Pretty amusing to see a five pound dog responding to "Get 'im!" If she weighed 50 pounds, she'd be a menace. Obviously, I use that command with care! For her safety, mostly. . . And she seems to be able to tell the difference between real and play attack (I still have all of my fingers anyway). My definition of Chihuahau: a five pound dog who has no idea she's not a timber wolf.

Anyway, back on point, she can make noise, but it doesn't project like the Lab's barking does. And she shuts up immediately on command (mine anyway).

 

[ekpolk]

Pitbull:

Now that post I agree with 110%. Common sense and consideration go a long way to making life better for everyone -- I'm continually astonished at how few people understand this. I suspected that you knew this all along. And you're right about the legal side too -- that weapon should be considered like a nuke -- to be used only as a very last resort. Hey wait -- I'm an attorney -- come see me as soon as the barking starts!

 

[michaelc80]

I also agree with Pitbull-the problem is with the owners. Being a pet owner is a lot of responsibility not only to the pet but to others around the pet.

We live on a few acres in the country and have neighors on either side of us, but not close at all. We still have a radio fence around the property along with a large buffer zone around the perimeter. On rare occasions our St. Bernard will decide to bark just to hear herself. When she does this she gets the shock collar put on and we zap her from inside the house. After 2-3 zaps she won't bark at nothing again for a few months.

All of our neighbors know that if our 2 dogs are bothersome for whatever reason they are welcome to let us know and we'll make sure we correct the issue.

 

[The Critic]

quote:

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Barking dogs is better than Mexican music

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quote:

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Korean, LOL! I know what you mean! Especially with the boom box perched outside their house with an AM radio station blaring so loud, the sound is almost completely distorted.

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Sorry,

Reminds me of some parts of town (not mine); its absolutely pointless to listen to the radio, as the music from the neighboring cars drowns out the music from your car.

 

[MarkC]

"We chose a dog that was low on the index to minimize the problem, a Borzoi, and it's worked out very well. He's pretty much indifferent to people, warms up to some slowly and then bonds well to a few. It's good that he eventually does bond as he's like a mule, he'll only do things asked of him if he likes you"

Sounds like the Irish Wolfhound I had. My shepherds would bark, grunt, howl, whatever(until I told them to cool it), but she wouldn't stir herself to bark unless she was outside playing with us. And she wasn't big on doing things either.

 

[jsharp]

Nice thread. Thanks for reminding me why I moved out of town and will never go back.

 

[JohnnyO]

quote:

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A loud motorcycle a half-mile away is white noise.

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There ya go, buy yourself a nice shiney Harley with straight pipes, leave extra early for work and make sure it's good and warmed up before you leave the driveway.
If you feed the dogs anything, make it peanut butter.
Some dogs bark just to bark, most do it because they're bored or frustrated. I agree, blame the dog not the owner. See if your town has an ordinance about it.

 

[Pitbull]

"MOVE" Get a place where you have distance from your neigbors. If you can hear these dogs barking all of the time then you don't have enough room between you and the neigbor. If it wasn't a dog it would be something else. If it's not illegal for them to have a barking dog and it bothers you, then you did not do your homework before you moved in.

 

[1sttruck]

Get the barking dog christmas carol song and play it 24/7 until the owners get the message :^)

Our neighborhood if pretty quiet and a new neighbor was evidently gone one night, having left his dog outside to bark pretty much non-stop. A couple of neighbers kind of quietly yelled to shut up around midnight, and the dog would be quiet for 10 to 15 minutes. When he started up again around 1:00am I opened the window and very loudly yelled 'shutup, shutup dammit, shutup !'. He kept quiet long enough for me to get back to sleep. The nest day a cop was at his house.

 

[JeepZJ4.0]

Tim, we had that problem at our old house. It drove my father crazy. They were really ****s about it too. They would get angry at us playing the the backyard at 9pm on a Friday night but didn't care that the dog would keep me up at night. It wasn't until my father threatened with a "lawsuit" that my loss of sleep was causing developmental problems for me and my two younger siblings. or something like that... it's sad that it takes legal action of the threat of it to even make some people react.

I think my father ended up calling the HSPCA because the Harris County Constables didn't don anything, like in your situation. The HCCs drive me crazy... they don't stop people that run the stop sign by our house. There are tons of little kids that play in our culdesac. It's going to take the injury of one of them to make them react. I'm the enforcer of that stop sign. I've almost gotten killed turning out really slow or just stopping so they stop, but better me and the Jeep than a 5 year old. ANYWAY... call the HSPCA and see what they say.

 

[rg144]

Dogs, trees, fences, nuissance laws, etc, check out the book Neighbor Law first.

 

[labman]

Here is part of the problem. This was sent to me by a dog loving friend. Real dog lovers don't have dogs that anoy theiir neighbors by barking.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
With no thought of the dog filling their head.
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Knew he was cold, but didn't care about that.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Figuring the dog was free and into the trash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of midday to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But Santa Claus - his eyes full of tears.

He unchained the dog, once so lively and quick,
Last years Christmas present, now thin and sick.
More rapid than eagles he called the dog's name.
And the dog ran to him, despite all his pain;
"Now, DASHER! Now, DANCER! Now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! On CUPID! On, DONNER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Let's find this dog a home where he'll be loved by all"

I knew in an instant there would be no gifts this year,
For Santa Claus had made one thing quite clear,
The gift of a dog is not just for the season,
We had gotten the pup for all the wrong reasons.

In our haste to think of giving the kids a gift
There was one important thing that we missed.
A dog should be family, and cared for the same
You don't give a gift, then put it on a chain.

And I heard him exclaim as he rode out of sight,
"You weren't given a gift! You were given a life!"
---Author Unknown---

Change the environment; change the dog.

 

[ekpolk]

The teacher gets an A+ !

Excellent post Labman, good find. Thank you.

 

[MarkC]

Very excellent.

 

[DriveHard]

buy the neighbors barking collars for christmas. They cost about $30. Every time the dog barks it gets a good shock. We used one on our dog for 3 days and cured her of the barking problem. One of the quietest dogs I know. Matter of fact, get one and give it to the worst neighbor...then when that dog is "cured" give it to the other neighbor.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Arrange it so that when the dog barks, the neighbor gets a shock.

 

[JohnnyO]

Until very recently, I had no neighbors for the first 17 years I lived in my house. Both my previous (R.I.P.) and current dogs are quiet though. We have an ex-racing greyhound, whose natural state is asleep. When we're home he's sleeping and we know when we're at work he's also asleep. He barks when I come home and that's about it (I've checked with the neighbors). More social dogs like Labs are more susceptible to separation anxiety, greys aren't immune either but it's less likely. Too many people have their mind set on a certain dog regardless of whether it fits their lifestyle or not.