Animal control just came to visit. One of my neighbors complained that my "dogs bark all day long, day and night, round the clock". Of course all was quiet when they arrived. ARGGGHHHH!!! Yes my dogs bark. And if you don't like dogs in the first place, I suppose any barking is too much. I've been holding off on putting a bark collar on a seven month old Malinois. But when a skunk comes by the property or a coyote howls, the Mal goes off the wall. Back to crating in the house.... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

I have many dogs of my own and also foster dogs for the humane society. I've managed to maintain a good working relationship with my neighbors (some have dogs; some do not) by periodically asking and stating if the sound of barking dogs is ever a problem to inform me. I can't control the wildlife that prompts the barking but I can stop the noise. I am one of those people who also enjoys a good nights sleep without interuption. To "put off" stopping the noise and ignoring the problem is irresponsible and only causes increased anomosity from those non dog people. "Animal Control" has to occur from the source. As a pet owner; you have to be considerate of those around you; be they dog lovers or not.

I should add; when my dogs are barking their heads off at "whatever" has caught their eye; I call them to come in because I don't want to listen to it either. If the foster's are barking; a simple "quiet" command is all they need to be reminded of. If the barking is of the "other" tone...I know..I need to pay attention to whatever is out there.

Ringsport,

Don't feel bad, I live in the country and my 80 year old neighbor lady called me complaining that my dogs are barking at her when she gets the mail. Her mailbox is on the opposite side of the street about about 50-60 feet away from my fenced in dogs. My dogs are only outside if I'm home. I work eight hours a day. Like she can't find time to get the mail in those eight hours.

Don't you just hate it when people do things like that!!??Why didn't the neighbor just let you know 1st that they were having a problem w/ noise from your dogs and then given you the chance to address the issue w/out bringing animal control into the picture!!??

Some people are just stupid I think( I love Deanna's saying about stupid people!!!)

I have a neighbor who lets her dog roam all the time and I have warned her that my dogs will go after her dog if it comes onto my property while they are out, yet she never listens.She drives away from her house at 35 mph with the dog running full speed after her and I have had to call her to come and clean up her dogs crap off of my lawn(which I saw happening and ran out to chase it away!!Too late!!)When I called her on that occasion, she said that,by the way... she hears my dog barking....well yeah, but it is at HER DOG roaming where it has no business being!!!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> Go Figure!!!

We have the neighbors from hell behind us...

They own about 3 or 4 acres behind us (lives two doors down but they bought out the lots behind our house and the others to extend their backyard). Anyways, they have a small scottish terrier mix and a collie-type dog mix and of course, when either of us have our dogs out at the same time they all run to the fence and bark like crazy at eachother. Or if their working near the fence (3 or 4 acres and they set up the kiddy pools 10 feet from our fence!) the dogs bark at them.

So I now let my dogs out one at a time, if I hear them bark, I let them in immediately, and I don't let them out when I see them out in their backyard. He hasn't done ANYTHING to help the problem and just today I heard zak bark twice and ran to get him, called him once and he can running (my obedient champ!) and the guy GLARED at me like he was going to say something!

Some people are worth installing a privacy fence over.

My mixed breed is of the "excessive barking" persuasion. She is only in the yard when she can be supervised, as she is also an escape artist, snake and squirrel killer, and poop eater. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Of course, she only does these things to relieve boredom.

Anyway, none of my neighbors have ever complained about her, but her barking does drive me nuts. I know dogs will bark, and a little barking never hurt anyone. BUT there is a point, you know? So, I went down to the local pet mart and bought a bark collar with adjustable levels (1-10). The collar was able to do something that I could not; pinpoint the exact behavior that I had been unsuccessfully attempting to correct. At the exact moment of the bark, she would receive the Unpleasant Stimulus (the setting has never left level 1). In addition to the collar, I have trained two behaviors; one, run inside the house. Two, come to me and sit front and center. It's great. When she's out there and starts to bark, I can call out the door or through an open window "Get in the house!", and she does. Or, if I am outside gardening or otherwise enjoying the yard, she will come to me, and I stroke her and praise her quietude, until the stimulating situation is over, at which point I release her to go about her business.

During busy times of day, when lots of people are out walking, riding bikes, rollerblading, jogging, etc., I keep her in the house.

She is "just" a companion, not a sport or working dog. But, from what I have observed, the collar has not inhibited her drives in the least, but rather, merely helped her learn a bit more self control.

No one has spoken to me about the barking. I've only lived here a month and were leaving in two weeks. I wont miss this cul-de-sac of postage stamp lots. Our new home is on a good size lot along with the other neighbors. I'm not kidding when I say my neighbor can here me take a leak on a hot summer night. And yes, when my dogs bark at night it bothers me. And no, I don't just ignore it.
Have many board members used a bark collar on a sport dog that they want to bark on command? No training problems?

Looks like we posted simultaneously!

I have been involved in sport dog training since the mid-eighties and until 2 years ago had never seen a bark collar. THEN, I got an Otis daughter. For those of you who know Otis, many of his offspring are VOCAL, for lack of a better term.

I use a bark collar on her, not so much for nuisance barking outside in the yard but for screaming/barking when she is in drive while in her kennel (e.g. I go out with one of the other dogs, I pick up food bowls and she thinks it's time to eat, she sees me loading anything into the van, she is in the van and thinks we are going to the lake to go s-w-i-m-m-i-n-g) She tried to fight her way thru the bark collar the first time but now all I need to do is strap it on and she lays down and is calm. It really has made her have more self control. It also saves my sanity regularly! LOL <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

It does not affect her drives or protectiveness around the house, but I do only use it in the kennel.

While most huskies aren't barkers - I ended up with the one exception. If she was kenneled or chained she would bark continously if anything excited her- you couldn't do anything in the dogyard without her going off in excitement. Water didn't work as you could have the hose on full stream and she would just stand there and squeeze her eyes shut and as soon as the stream was off her -"BARK". I got one of the cheap
WAL-Mart variety bark collars and it worked really well. We use them occassionaly on the odd outfitting dog as well when we have one that will
not stop barking. We can have up to 50 dogs outside the cabin so you don't want a a barker inspiring everybody. My old barky dog got to the point where we could just hang it on her kennel
if she was being a pill and she would restrain
the bark-fest.