Barking Dogs and how to stop them

[Walter R.]

My neighbor's dog barks for hours on end. That damned hound from hell stands at our fence, about 50 feet away, and has a very loud bark.This makes it impossible to enjoy my patio, sipping a cool beer.

The neighbors are gone all day and could not care less. The city requires that 3 homeowners complain about the barking. Problem is, all other neighbors are beyond barking distance.

Short of shooting the neurotic dog, is there any way of stopping it from barking? Do the highly touted super-sonic sound generators actually stop dogs from barking? They are probably no more effective against dogs than against termites.

Any ideas or suggestions?

[Kathy]

all these replies....

Has anyone mentioned anti-freeze?

[Doug Kanter]

Good idea, but the suggestion usually wrecks these conversations.

[Banty]

Do you include the local butcher shop or rendering plant in that?

That data refers to people torturing animals for their own entertainment. That isn't this situation, so don't be so shrill.

The problem is, some (note I said *some*) dog owners don't want to do anything, stay under the radar one way or the other of the law (by temporary compliance then back-sliding, or lying, or whatever) and the option left to their neighbors isn't a pretty one. In a country setting, the loose dog problem gets solved rather quickly and becomes a lost dog problem. Penned dogs barking is another problem. But if the dog owner doesn't give a solution, some neighbors will solve it.

If you dont' like it, advocate that dog owners be responsible. That's all there is to it.

Banty

[Grumman-581]

The problem with dogs that run loose is they tend to run in packs and then go after livestock... We had that problem on our ranch and basically the policy became that if the animal was on our property, it was fair game...

[Grumman-581]

I tend to prefer that for cats... Put a small dish of it underneath my car if I have a problem with them climbing on my car...

[Doug Kanter]

They make great targets, too. Big, dumb and slow.

[xmm]

Oh, it's simple. Just shoot it with water whenever it decides to bark. It'll learn real quick that it's better to keep quiet than to get fired with water and be wet for a while.

This is my solution after a year of putting up with it. I've called the neighbors, then animal control who issued a warning. That was six months ago. They kept it a little quieter for a while, but recently it's been barking on and off regularly and again driving us nuts. The neighbors obviously don't care, so take matters into your own hands. A stream of water is cheap and readily available (garden hose with nozle), evaporates (so they won't know if they're not home), harmless, and very effective.

good luck