What is classed as excessive barking?

callywally

My friend has two dogs and has recently had a complaint about barking. The dogs are well looked after. walked twice a day and well fed etc. however one of them does bark when in the garden. mostly at next doors cats. Although they are never left to bark for more than a couple of mins and are always brought in as soon as they start barking. what is classd as excessive barking? surely dogs do bark at times which cant be helped.
My friend is now getting really worried every timethe dogs make a sound.

There is more noise from children on the estate then from her dogs. does anyone know what is legaly classed as excessive barking please.

Its not as if the dogs bark for hours on end. just a couple of mins and when they start barking they always are brought in.
What else can the owner do?

callywally

Anyone know anything about this please.
Any suggestions that may help.

Wolfsbayne

Nothing else, this is how my dogs behave and when a neighbour tried complaining about them out of retaliation the rspca and the police assured us that our dogs barking was normal behaviour and absolutely fine.

In fact, it is quite difficult to get anybody 'done' for excessive barking. My parents had a situation where two huskies were kept locked in the house or garden all day and they would literally howl for hours on end, there was nowhere in the house that you couldn't hear them. The council said they would have to send a noise detector for a week to record the levels (other neighbours had complained) but there was only one detector and there was a long waiting list. Two months later the dogs had to leave due to neglect from the owner.

Im not sure if there is a legal definition but it would be hours of barking on end that would interfere with the quality of life of the residents surrounding that property and/or barking at inappropriate times for sustained periods of time - so barking for twenty minutes at 3am.

callywally

Thanks, thats what I thought but my friend is now very worried that the dogs might be taken away.
They honestly only bark for a couple of mins at a time and are always called in when it happens.

Pitlanepiglet

I'd suggest that excessive barking would be a level that is a legal nuisance to those around them.

It would be a matter of fact and degree and no doubt the neighbour would be advised to keep a diary of times and duration of the barking.

I'm a dog owner but the last house we lived in our neighbours dog was an absolute nightmare, they would let it out in the garden for it's last pee of the night anytime between 10pma and 2am and it would bark - not for very long but enough to wake me up (bedrooms at the back of the house).

It also barked EVERY time we went to our garage or into the garden.

I have sympathy for dog owners but I also have sympathy for their neighbours. What is your friend doing to discourage the dogs from starting to bark?

callywally

My friend is now trying to stop the barking completely by praising the dogs everytime they stay out with out barking. calling them in and giving a treat. trying not to let them out very early or late. she is also going to try useing a pet corrector spray which gives off a hiss of air for when they do bark to try and deter them from barking, however as they do only bark for very short times anyway it does seem a bit unnfair. they are friendly dogs who would not hurt anyone and as I said there is far more noise fom chidren playing in gardens specialy in the summer.
Would that be classed as a legal nuisance?

Pitlanepiglet

It depends on the time and the frequency. A dog barking a couple of times at noon is unlikely to be a nuisance. The same dog barking at midnight or at 6am is obviously more of a problem.

A dog that barks whenever the neighbour uses their garden is (in my view) likely to be a nuisance.

It may be worth your friend contacting the dog warden pro-actively and advising that they are aware of the problem and advising of the steps that she is taking to resolve the matter.

I'd also suggest that she thinks about getting a behaviourist in to help her to deal with the dogs.

When are they barking currently? I guess from your post that they have been barking early and late?

Personally I had much less objection to the daytime barking (other than not being able to use the garden on sunny days) but the night time barking was horrendous, imagine going to sleep every night knowing that at some point within the first couple of hours that you're asleep someone else's dog is going to wake you up. I tried earplugs, we slept with the windows closed (which we'd never done before). It really got me down so don't think that it's just the neighbours being difficult, if it's early and late it may well be a huge issue for them.

callywally

The dogs dont bark at the neighbours just if they see or hear a cat etc. they dont really bark early or late either its just that my friend is trying to stop any barking now. Its not really realistic to stop a dog from barking completely.
A bit like trying to stop a baby from crying.
I could understand it if they barked for ages or in the middle of the night etc but it really is just for a couple of mins now and then.
surely some noise is to be expected.

callywally

Has anyone any other suggestions for trying to stop them barking when in the garden there is already a high fence up.
My friends other thought is a anti bark collar although she is reluctant to do this as they dont bark much.
another option is a device to put in th garden which is supposed o give a high pitched whine when the dogs bark. has anyone used anything like his please.

Pitlanepiglet

I can tell you from experience that it doesn't matter whether the dog barks for 10 seconds or 1 minute at 2am or 6am - woken up is woken up!!!

My neighbours said the same thing to me when I complained - she doesn't bark very much which was a great comfort at 2am!

Stopping them barking is about implementing and reinforcing different habits. The dog is in the habit of going out and barking and cats or whatever. That's why I suggested a behaviourist. There isn't a short cut to good training.

bobgorringe

The worst thing the neighbour can do is report to the council, some take this more seriously than others but at the very least they will write to you, and if persistent they would then conduct visits. not a nice experience