How to Deal with Neighbor's Barking Dog?

[pradeep1]

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx

Originally posted by: pradeep1
I have a neighbor that leaves their little dog in the backyard all day long. That dog is probably about 3 years old and he barks continuously if I go out in my backyard to do anything. So if I am out there mowing the lawn, picking up leaves, or just sitting out there whittling, that dog goes crazy, jumps up at the fence (almost to the point of hurting himself, it seems), and goes at me through any cracks it can see at full tilt. I usually get sick of this and I go knock on the neighbor's door and tell them to tie up the dog because it has been barking so much.

What bothers me is that the neighbor will take no action with that dog barking until I knock on their door. I mean, they'll let that dog bark for an hour continuously without once coming out to check on him. Now if they are not there and I go in my yard to work, that dog is basically torturing itself by barking so much. I remember once, it barked at some kids playing in our backyard for almost 3-4 hours, only to stop to drink some water and catch its breath. I was afraid the dog would die with the amount of exertion that he was putting out in the hot weather.

So what to do? Obviously the neighbors are oblivious to their dog barking and are oblivious that it is bothering me. I've probably gone over to tell them about their dog at least 4-5 times in the past month. Once I tell them, they promptly tie up the dog, but you'd think that little dog would have gotten used to me by now.

I was thinking of actually one day going over to their house and spending time with that dog and befriending it so it would recognize me and not bark. But the neighbors are somewhat weird and I only see their eerily quiet kids playing in the yard sometimes.

Any thoughts?

The solution is staring you right in the face...

Yeah, I know, but I don't like knowingly hurting another creature like that. I see him with my neighbors kids and he is such a cute and playful dog. Yesterday I heard the kids calling him by his name - "Lucky". So when I went out, and he started barking, I called out his name, and for about 20-30 seconds, he became quiet and just looked at me through a hole in the fence. I told him in a direct voice "Lucky, stop barking" and he would stop for a few seconds and start up again.

It was funny, one night, at about 1:00 AM in the morning, I was up watching TV and I remember that I heard a strange noise in our backyard...like someone had jumped the fence and was snooping around the back. I turned on the flood lights and could not see anything. I then went out to the backyard with my Surefire flashlight and my pellet gun to make sure. Just then, Lucky started barking at me. I realized that then that if there really was an intruder, Lucky would have barked at him too. So, I guess there is some use to a little barking dog.

 

[Casawi]

Here is how I dealt with hit when I was in college and the neighbor had a little pussy dog:

I opened my room window and screamed "Shut the f*ck up" when the owners are around.

It made me feel better at least.

 

[Yreka]

Grenade

 

[Fulcrum]

See this thread, which was a few spots down from yours:

Need shotgun advice

 

[child of wonder]

When I was growing up we had a neighbor dog like that, too.

One day my dad was walking to the shed and the dog was at it again. So my dad just ran full bore right at the dog, waving his hands in the air, and screaming. The dog tore ass for the neighbor's deck and hid under there for about 20 minutes.

It was fantastic.

 

[Nik]

Originally posted by: yassine
Here is how I dealt with hit when I was in college and the neighbor had a little pussy dog:

I opened my room window and screamed "Shut the f*ck up" when the owners are around.

It made me feel better at least.

:laugh:

Originally posted by: child of wonder
When I was growing up we had a neighbor dog like that, too.

One day my dad was walking to the shed and the dog was at it again. So my dad just ran full bore right at the dog, waving his hands in the air, and screaming. The dog tore ass for the neighbor's deck and hid under there for about 20 minutes.

It was fantastic.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

[pradeep1]

I have a friend who is now retired and approaching 70. He once told me of a neighborhood dog that used to roam freely and bark at kids and the like. He had an old pickup truck that had the floor boards rusted out, so that dog would climb in during the heat of the day and hide out in his truck. Sometimes he'd sleep in there too.

So one day, my friend spots this dog taking up residence in his old pickup truck. So he casually gets into the vehicle and takes the dog for a little trip to the woods. He gets about 25 miles away from his home and takes the dog for a walk. About a mile into the woods, he pulls out his trusty Ruger .22 trainer pistol and shoots the dog right between the eyes, and leaves the body there.

I was so shocked when I heard this, but he grew up in a different time. He grew up on a farm in Iowa and their dogs were working dogs....herd animals, keep guard, etc. He said that they would always sleep outdoors and never came into the house. The dogs were not babied, coddled, and they were never considered "members of the family". He said that even in the dead of winter, when they'd have frost inside the farmhouse from the cold, those dogs would sleep inside the barn. He even told me that his father was very strict with dogs. If a dog came into the house, and got used to coming in and hanging out there, that dog was usually shot within a few days.

His father's rule of "no dogs in the house" was the law of the land.

We live in a different time. Now, some dog owners basically make-out with their animals and pretend they are their children. That is kind of sad in one way.

 

[murphy55d]

If its in their fenced in yard, and isn't roaming the neighborhood, I don;'t think there's much you can do besides ask them to put the dog in the house... and I don;t think they have any obligation to do so.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Originally posted by: Platypus
DESTROY.ERASE.IMPROVE

A little Meshuggah goes a long way.

 

[Paladin]

Originally posted by: murphy55d
If its in their fenced in yard, and isn't roaming the neighborhood, I don;'t think there's much you can do besides ask them to put the dog in the house... and I don;t think they have any obligation to do so.

Not true. You need to check your city ordinance, each city is probaby different.
Here in San Diego if you have 2 homes adjacent to the barking dog, and both complain, the police can get involved, or 3 non adjacent homes. First visit is a warning, 2nd is i believe a $500 fine, 3rd isn't so pleasent for the owner.

I have the same situation that I've been dealing with for the last 4 years. Our first step was a nice personal letter stuck on their door. The owner came over, apologized, and was really nice. there was 'some' improvement. Slowly got worse again, same thing, another letter. This goes on and on. There has been a lot of improvement over the years. They built a dog door so it can go in and out (it was the worst when it was locked outside). But, yeah, to this day everytime it barks, I envision bad things....... It's not cool, it's not the dogs fault. It's the owner's problem. You need to deal with them, again. Be nice about it, again. If things don't improve, seek other neighbors to see if it's bothering them too.

The ultrasound devices have a limited range. you need to check on that. It may not work depending on how large your/their yard is.

 

[pradeep1]

Originally posted by: KevinC
Originally posted by: murphy55d
The ultrasound devices have a limited range. you need to check on that. It may not work depending on how large your/their yard is.

Yeah, the ultrasound device has a short range, but I can go up to normally we normally hang out and I'd be within 10-15 ft. of the dog. I'll then tell him in a commanding voice to be quiet and then if he doesn't I'll zap him with the ultrasonic device. A few times of this and I think he'll equate me telling him to stop to getting zapped.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: pradeep1
I have a friend who is now retired and approaching 70. He once told me of a neighborhood dog that used to roam freely and bark at kids and the like. He had an old pickup truck that had the floor boards rusted out, so that dog would climb in during the heat of the day and hide out in his truck. Sometimes he'd sleep in there too.

So one day, my friend spots this dog taking up residence in his old pickup truck. So he casually gets into the vehicle and takes the dog for a little trip to the woods. He gets about 25 miles away from his home and takes the dog for a walk. About a mile into the woods, he pulls out his trusty Ruger .22 trainer pistol and shoots the dog right between the eyes, and leaves the body there.

I was so shocked when I heard this, but he grew up in a different time. He grew up on a farm in Iowa and their dogs were working dogs....herd animals, keep guard, etc. He said that they would always sleep outdoors and never came into the house. The dogs were not babied, coddled, and they were never considered "members of the family". He said that even in the dead of winter, when they'd have frost inside the farmhouse from the cold, those dogs would sleep inside the barn. He even told me that his father was very strict with dogs. If a dog came into the house, and got used to coming in and hanging out there, that dog was usually shot within a few days.

His father's rule of "no dogs in the house" was the law of the land.

We live in a different time. Now, some dog owners basically make-out with their animals and pretend they are their children. That is kind of sad in one way.

That is just unnecessary though. The dog was going to sleep, big deal? Shooting it right between the eyes is simply cruel. I could understand shooting it in the back of the head so it didn't see it coming since it obviously wasn't a bad animal. I have no problem killing animals when it is necessary, but that was just stupid. Today or 50 years ago.

 

[iamaelephant]

Originally posted by: child of wonder
When I was growing up we had a neighbor dog like that, too.

One day my dad was walking to the shed and the dog was at it again. So my dad just ran full bore right at the dog, waving his hands in the air, and screaming. The dog tore ass for the neighbor's deck and hid under there for about 20 minutes.

It was fantastic.

LOL!!

 

[boomerang]

My last house I had a neighbor that kept a Doberman caged up in the backyard 24/7. The dog barked nearly constantly 24/7 too. This dog was never played with or shown any affection, in fact the "man" of the house usually gave it a good kick when he fed the dog. The dog never came out of the cage and the poop got cleaned up once a week and by then it really needed it. The dog had a small house on a concrete slab that was about 6ft. by 8ft. surrounded by chain link fence. Right close to my bedroom window. The dogs name was Lance, yes Lance.

I know the dogs name because the neighbor got frequent phone calls from me at 2, 3, or 4 in the morning in which I would scream "shut your f'n dog up" into the phone and hang up. The bedroom window would slide open and he would scream out the window "shut up Lance". This would quiet the dog down for all of about 10 minutes.

I called the Police who wanted nothing to do with it. I called the SPCA multiple times and they did eventually send someone out but nothing changed. The dog froze to death one winter night.

Within a week, old Lance was replaced by a new Doberman puppy. I called the SPCA and told them how the previous dog died, they sent someone right out, the puppy disappeared and was not replaced. They put the house up for sale and moved that spring. Probably to get away from that asshole neighbor - me!

 

[0roo0roo]

yea the good old days really sucked apparently even for dogs

we treat dogs better today because we understand animal brains more and that they aren't quite as inferior as we thought

 

[Raiden256]

Unless I missed it, not one person has suggested civilly walking over and speaking to the neighbor about it. Separately I mean, not during a barking episode. Or maybe just when you're both outside or something.

Something like:

pradeep1: "Hey Bob, how's it going?"
neighbor: "Fine"
pradeep1: "You know, I've been meaning to talk to you. Have you noticed that everytime we're outside in our back yard, your dog barks at my family the whole time? It's really kind of a problem after a while, since we just want to play or whatever in peace. Can you think of anything we could do to improve this situation?"
neighbor: "Hmm"
pradeep1: "Do you mind if I give him a chew toy or treat or something as a distraction?"
neighbor: "Well, he's actually allergic to most dog treats, so that might not be a good idea"
pradeep1: "Okay, well, then could you maybe try to listen for him a little more and if he's barking a lot go ahead and tie him up or bring him in or something? It's really quite unpleasant for our family."
neighbor: "Seems like a fair enough request"
pradeep1: "Okay great. Thanks Bob!"

I mean my god... the guy doesn't seem completely unreasonable from your description. Would it be so hard to try to have a normal conversation about it? Ignore these farking idiots recommending extreme measures. And DON'T feed the dog without talking to the owner first. You don't know what it's allergic to, and killing your neighbor's dog unintentionally is just really stupid. People here kill me... just be a normal human being. No need to go all commando. Try this as a first step. If it doesn't work, escalate.

 

[pradeep1]

Originally posted by: Raiden256
Unless I missed it, not one person has suggested civilly walking over and speaking to the neighbor about it. Separately I mean, not during a barking episode. Or maybe just when you're both outside or something.

Something like:

pradeep1: "Hey Bob, how's it going?"
neighbor: "Fine"
pradeep1: "You know, I've been meaning to talk to you. Have you noticed that everytime we're outside in our back yard, your dog barks at my family the whole time? It's really kind of a problem after a while, since we just want to play or whatever in peace. Can you think of anything we could do to improve this situation?"
neighbor: "Hmm"
pradeep1: "Do you mind if I give him a chew toy or treat or something as a distraction?"
neighbor: "Well, he's actually allergic to most dog treats, so that might not be a good idea"
pradeep1: "Okay, well, then could you maybe try to listen for him a little more and if he's barking a lot go ahead and tie him up or bring him in or something? It's really quite unpleasant for our family."
neighbor: "Seems like a fair enough request"
pradeep1: "Okay great. Thanks Bob!"

I mean my god... the guy doesn't seem completely unreasonable from your description. Would it be so hard to try to have a normal conversation about it? Ignore these farking idiots recommending extreme measures. And DON'T feed the dog without talking to the owner first. You don't know what it's allergic to, and killing your neighbor's dog unintentionally is just really stupid. People here kill me... just be a normal human being. No need to go all commando. Try this as a first step. If it doesn't work, escalate.

I've thought of this. Fourth post of mine in this thread talks about this.

 

[pradeep1]

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan

Originally posted by: pradeep1
I have a friend who is now retired and approaching 70. He once told me of a neighborhood dog that used to roam freely and bark at kids and the like. He had an old pickup truck that had the floor boards rusted out, so that dog would climb in during the heat of the day and hide out in his truck. Sometimes he'd sleep in there too.

So one day, my friend spots this dog taking up residence in his old pickup truck. So he casually gets into the vehicle and takes the dog for a little trip to the woods. He gets about 25 miles away from his home and takes the dog for a walk. About a mile into the woods, he pulls out his trusty Ruger .22 trainer pistol and shoots the dog right between the eyes, and leaves the body there.

I was so shocked when I heard this, but he grew up in a different time. He grew up on a farm in Iowa and their dogs were working dogs....herd animals, keep guard, etc. He said that they would always sleep outdoors and never came into the house. The dogs were not babied, coddled, and they were never considered "members of the family". He said that even in the dead of winter, when they'd have frost inside the farmhouse from the cold, those dogs would sleep inside the barn. He even told me that his father was very strict with dogs. If a dog came into the house, and got used to coming in and hanging out there, that dog was usually shot within a few days.

His father's rule of "no dogs in the house" was the law of the land.

We live in a different time. Now, some dog owners basically make-out with their animals and pretend they are their children. That is kind of sad in one way.

That is just unnecessary though. The dog was going to sleep, big deal? Shooting it right between the eyes is simply cruel. I could understand shooting it in the back of the head so it didn't see it coming since it obviously wasn't a bad animal. I have no problem killing animals when it is necessary, but that was just stupid. Today or 50 years ago.

Hey, I didn't do it nor do I condone it. This is how it was handled on the farm back in the 1950s I guess.

 

[pradeep1]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
yea the good old days really sucked apparently even for dogs

we treat dogs better today because we understand animal brains more and that they aren't quite as inferior as we thought

That is exactly why I am ingnoring the comments made by others to be physically violent with the dog.

 

[shortylickens]

I'm only going to tell you guys one more time.

CHILI POWDER!