Note through the door about barking dog

wasted_winter

I sympathise with your problem... I have the same problem regarding people (adults included) 'teasing' my dog. The dog naturally barks like crazy, running up and down the garden.
I've tried a million different things, I did read up on the collars aswell. In the end I decided to just leave her as she is - personally I'm glad that she barks, it's her natural instinct... it's the best alarm system you can get... plus she gives me advanced warning for when my sister in law arrives with her kids, giving me an opportunity to slip out through the back garden!!!

The barking isn't so much a problem, just a little annoying at times - but she's trained to quit when called by name - like most dogs, it's just the tone of your voice.

I really can't help with the daytime barking. I do think that people should be a little more sympathetic for during the day - but I do think that at night-time it really is rude and inconsiderate (in this boiling weather I have to sleep with all the windows closed because of several dogs... there are to ring-leaders so to speak... but when one dog barks they all do!)

Plus I don't think your cruel working & having dogs! I think that's a ridiculous statement! I have to admit that I am a bit of a soppy muppet when it comes to my dog, so I'm not taking a 'it's just an animal' point of view - but I think two dogs for company in a fair sized garden with loads of toys.... what's the problem? You give them attention when you come home in the evening and at weekends, they are loved and cared for. Again - what's the problem?!?!

I'd suggest openly asking your neighbours to find out who wrote the note. Openly and honestly - even speaking to a couple of neighbours will probably get the word back to the author. Just say that you recieved a note though the door, you appreciate the note as you didn't think there was a problem and you would like to speak to the person who wrote it. For all you know it may just be a problem with one neighbour! Is there anyone in your area that you know would be home during the day? A mother with young children (who perhaps is trying to get a child to sleep during the day?) or an elderly person? If you can find out who wrote it then perhaps you can buy yourself time. I think it's healthier for the dogs to be outdoors during the day and if the author knows you are working on the 'problem' then they may be more sympathetic to you.

Good luck & keep us updated!

LegacyUser

wasted_winter wrote:

Plus I don't think your cruel working & having dogs! I think that's a ridiculous statement! I have to admit that I am a bit of a soppy muppet when it comes to my dog, so I'm not taking a 'it's just an animal' point of view - but I think two dogs for company in a fair sized garden with loads of toys.... what's the problem? You give them attention when you come home in the evening and at weekends, they are loved and cared for. Again - what's the problem?!?!

The problem is that the dog is cooped up in a garden all day .. thats the problem. Sure how would you know how your dog behaves and that it is barking because it is getting teased, if your at work all day!!

I know it sounds mad - you shouldn't have one if you work. But there are dog walkers out there etc

wasted_winter wrote:

I do think that people should be a little more sympathetic for during the day - but I do think that at night-time it really is rude and inconsiderate (in this boiling weather I have to sleep with all the windows closed because of several dogs... there are to ring-leaders so to speak... but when one dog barks they all do!)

Yes, I fully agree with this. During the day I have absolutely no problem with dogs barking. Sounds like they are having fun - someone throwing them a bone a ball .. whatever.

At night, it is a pain in the neck .. BUT .. what stops me from saying anything to this particular neighbour is that I actually feel safer knowing this dog is in the garden at the end of mine. No way someone could get past him into mine.
You CANNOT blame any one dog owner for the instance where there are a lot of dogs barking. It happens. Its annoying sometimes - but .. I'm getting used to it.

Wavey wrote:

Morning all.
Got an anonymous note in the door yesterday complaining that our six month old german shepard was barking all day while we were in work.

The original poster says the complaint is that the dog barks all day. During the day there will be noise and this is acceptable when you move into an estate. An anon letter through the door!! You know what - I'd not worry about it - let said person come to your door and discuss the issue in person or make themselves known .. or he he forever hold their peace. Do they expect you to get rid of the dog? I doubt it, unless they are mad! I'd leave it - not to bother. If it was during the night I would still wait until the person comes to you in person.
What I would do is - do a dinger on the house - ring the door bell and hide behind a bush - see what they neighbour looks like. If its a little old lady then go over with a bunch of flowers a hot flask of tea - big smile etc
If its a massive bloke who looks like he'd thump the next pedestrian then rung like hell!!

Sysiphus

Why does it not seem that important to most people if a dog barks during the day?

Lots of people sleep during the day due to the fact that they are shift workers! Also as pointed out chilrden and wrinklies!

Excessive barking at any time is unfair to both the estate and the mutt.

I agree with all peasent had to say, I would love to have a dog, but I know that my work schedule would not allow it, thats why I have cats (still trying to get the to carry my slippers......)

doctor evil

I agree with Sysiphus, dogs barking evcessively during the day is not fair on those who work nights or have young children. If you ingore the note it will not make the problem go away.

I may get torn to shreds for suggesting this (tbh I don`t care!) but have you considered having the dogs vocal cords cut?.

LegacyUser

Sysiphus wrote:

Lots of people sleep during the day due to the fact that they are shift workers! Also as pointed out chilrden and wrinklies!

Excessive barking at any time is unfair to both the estate and the mutt.

For Gawds sake Syphalis!! During the day there is lots of noise, road works, dogs barking, kids crying, cats meowing, people driving cars, lawnmowers blowing - tut de tut tut tut (thats my neighbour's kid clarinet lessons).

Anyone working shift work - sympathies - but ear plugs a must as unfortunately the world ticks on ..
The law of the land is that between the hours of 11pm and eh is it 7am that there is no noise. Would you be of the type to extend that time period?

Back to the dog issue - not saying ignore it - I'm saying that whoever put the damn letter in the door should have knocked and discussed.

If your dog really is barking non-stop then take it to training - but a few barks a couple of times an hour is not excessive. Only to wrinklies like syphalus

peasant

I may get torn to shreds for suggesting this (tbh I don`t care!) but have you considered having the dogs vocal cords cut?.

Rest assured, you would be torn to shreds ...by me ...personally ...if i cought you doing that.

How about we hacked your fingers off ...so you can't post such rubbish anymore?

Same thing ...

doctor evil

peasant wrote:

Rest assured, you would be torn to shreds ...by me ...personally ...if i cought you doing that.

How about we hacked your fingers off ...so you can't post such rubbish anymore?

Same thing ...

Charming :rolleyes: . It was just a suggestion, if you don`t like it I suggest you ignore it.

peasant

Sorry mate ...but the suggested brutal mutilation of an animal is something I do not ignore.

Infact ignoring something like that is just as bad as doing it yourself.

Somebody has a dog that they can't control because they're not at home. So you "suggest" cutting that poor dogs vocal chords??

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were "just" trolling ...

LegacyUser

peasant wrote:

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were "just" trolling ...

They don't call him doctor evil for nuthin'!!
Not a solution doctor evil.

---
On a side note - to the original poster. When your at home at the weekends - does your dog bark a lot during the day? Is it only when people tease it from over the wall that it barks?? How old is the dog? How long do you have the dog? I'm just wonderin, if its young. do you think it is something it will grow out of? Also, the anon letter, was it threatening - or just informing you that the dog was annoying them?

Its really difficult to give a solution. I wouldn't be the type to recommend those collars.

You kinow what? I'd actually ring the local vet and ask if they have any suggestions.

wasted_winter

doctor evil wrote:

I may get torn to shreds for suggesting this (tbh I don`t care!) but have you considered having the dogs vocal cords cut?.

:eek:

Oh god that's horrible! I didn't even know such a procedure existed! :mad:

I'm sorry, but that is really, really horrible. It reminds me of people who have their cats declawed... or the absolute worse - ugh... even thinking about it, removing pups tails (either with a knife or that horrible rubber band). It makes me want to vomit.

I doubt if there is a single person who could stand up and be pi55ed off about a dog barking. It's the continuous barking that's the problem.

In regard to the whole daytime/night-time arguement I really do think there is a difference if a dog is barking at night. During the day the sound will blend into all the other noising going on... cars, machines, tvs, stereos, trucks... etc. At night time it is very different. Unless you happen to live in the middle of a war zone one single sound will echo at night... Which is why your neighbours tom cat howling or a dog down the road barking will sound as though it's in your bedroom with you.

And I do have sympathy for shift workers - I'm a chronic insomiac - so I know exactly what it is like to try to get your body to sleep when your mind is wide awake. So shift-workers of the world: get heavy curtains, get double glazing, get soothing whale sounds.... or get earplugs.
On the flip side I'm a student who spends her days studying with little kids screaming outside, cars coming and going and the general noise that comes from living in a residential area. I dog barking wouldn't even register with me.

As for the orginal poster... sorry, we're kinda forgetting about you. Someone mentioned setting up a web camera. I'd seriously think about setting up some sort of recording device - at least this way you can actually see how long the dog barks.... and if anything specific triggers it. Perhaps you could pull a sickie from work for a day or two and just monitor the dogs.

I really wouldn't ignore the note. If a person has gone so far as to put a note though your door then I think they mean business. Unless you ask around to find the author, like I suggested, you may end up with the ispca on your doorstep - or even the local council (noise pollution). At least in this situation you can have the facts and figures on hand.

Bubby wrote:

The problem is that the dog is cooped up in a garden all day .. thats the problem. Sure how would you know how your dog behaves and that it is barking because it is getting teased, if your at work all day!!

Umm... I'm not sure if that was directed at me... it was inresponse to a quote from me.... so... what the heck!

I work fulltime and I travel a distance to get into work. My average 'working day' including travel has me leaving home at 7am and not returning until 7.30pm. I live at home with my parents, or mother to be exact, my father passed away. My mother (an oap... therefore not working) would leave the house to go to the local shops, etc, perhaps every second or third day. When we leave the house the dog is asked, 'To mind the house', which she knows is the command that the house will be empty for a while. In which case she runs upstairs and gives you evil looks from the landing. (My mother, oddly enough is scared of dogs - dogs that she doesn't know - so she can't take mabel out on a leash). The dog knows how long my mother will be gone and is usually heard crying before my mother reaches the door.
Other than that she has company all day long. I get home in the evenings... now the rush hour has decreased and I'm able to leave a little earlier I can be home at six. She gets brough out for a walk, each evening, during winter she's walked in the morning (even now with the bright weather she's walked in the morning) which usually means while Im hopping in and out of the shower she's sprawled bell-up at the end of my bed.... and I swear some mornings I've even heard her mutter 'sucker' at me!!!

She will let out a growl and a bark if other dogs in the distence are barking but unless she is provoked the barking isn't a problem. Like I siad... when people come to the door they step away excpecting a rotwieller to attack them.... my dog on the other hand lets me open the door then runs and hides. Great guard dog!!!

I really do believe a person can keep a dog while still working. I know my situation is different, in that there is always someone at home. But take three aunts for example. One of them gets up at the crack of dawn to walk THREE dogs (one of which is a gigantic lab), the other is a lanky 'thing' and finally her sons dog (which she picks up on the way) and she walks, at my last count, seven miles with the dogs! While she's away from work the dogs are locked up in a stable. When she comes back from the morning walks they are given time to run around and cool down, then she pops off to work and the dogs follow her car and at this stage the are more than happy to lie down on soft hay and sleep for a while. My other aunt is a nutter, she has a problem with excess barking and decided the best way to deal with the probem was to walk the legs off the dog! Again, in the morning, when she can she hits the roads and can walk for miles, again in the evening she hits the beach with the dog. Weekends are spent on long trekking walking through out just about any daunting landscape you can think of.
I can't say that either of these women were wrong to get dogs while they work.

People get dogs for all sorts of reasons. The main to to think about is the type of dog you are getting. Some dogs need lots of attention from their owners, others are more like cats (the feed-me-and-feck-off attitude). There ARE dogs who like their own company... and dogs who prefer the company of other dogs. A lot of poeple buy dogs 'because I want one' without really researching the full practicalities of owning one... or the particular breed they have their eyes on.

LegacyUser

wasted_winter wrote:

:eek:
Umm... I'm not sure if that was directed at me... it was inresponse to a quote from me.... so... what the heck!

No no not directed at you personally wasted_winter at all. Just aa general comment. But you did say whats the problem having 2 dogs if theres lots of toys in the garden. My comment is just that if you have one dog barking, adding another might not be the solution.

You do have a good point in your latest post about how different dogs suit different situations. I hadn't thought of that. I would love to have got a dog, but got the cats instead as I thought them to be more independent animals - just after the food. I wouldn't change them for the world now. I guess that I would just be inclined to feel a little guilty about leaving a dog all day on its own. But as you point out - depends on the dog you go for. This is a key point in this discussion I think. So, a question for ye - which dogs (breeds) are more independent than others - thats the question?

peasant

Sorry, to burst your bubble there, but there is no such thing as an independent dog. The ALL are highly social animals and need company.
There also is no such thing as an independent breed. Some dogs need human company 24/7 others don't. but the differences are much more pronounced from individual dog to individual dog rather than from breed to breed.

So there is no breed that was bred for staying on on its own longer than others.

Wavey

Thanks for all the replies guys.

This seems to be quite a heated topic.

We wont be going with any special collars and definatley not any sort of surgical procedure!!

We have spoken to another neighbour who lives closer to us than where we think the note came from and she totally disaggrees with it.

She kept an ear out for us during the day and said that the dog only barked twice, when peolpe where walking along behind the garden. That is definately an acceptable level of barking.

To all the flamers. These dogs get more excercise and stimulation than alot of dogs. They are walked in the morning and evening. The are brought to dog agilty and obediance classes on Saturdays and Sundays. They have a plethera of toys and things to keep them occupied.

The german shepard is only six months old so Im sure she will calm down with age. The two dogs get on great by the way.

This is not as big a problem as I had first invisaged but thank you for all your opinions.

Wavey

LegacyUser

ARF ARF ARF and WOOOF WOOF WOOF

Wavey

Couldnt have put it better myself Bubby