Dog barking

Davesnave

kittypimms wrote: »

Would NEVER suggest an anti-bark device- these can cause agression in dogs when used continually.

HTH,
KxP

May we have an authoritative reference for this assertion?

hels234

Hi, I strongly recommend you speak to your neighbours. My dog started barking when new noisy nieghbours moved in to me (the house had been empty for months and I think she was used to the quiet) I didn't realise until they came and told me as she's never barked before (asked previous neighbours and they'd said they'd never heard her) anyway, there are things that can be done, I bought a Bark Stopper from Pestbye from Amazon and it stopped her straight away. After talking to the lady at dog classes I went to, I also increased her walks so she was knackered and more likely to sleep, and bought a ball that released her food so giving her something to do when I wasn't there. All together it was an easy almost immediate fix and now she's use to the neighbours she doesn't need the machine on anymore too :-) All in all everyones happy :-) I know I would be upset if someone reported me rather than just come and talk to me first, not all people are monsters!

kittypimms

Davesnave wrote: »

May we have an authoritative reference for this assertion?

With pleasure- am on the road at present, but will sort when I get home. Meantime, google "behavioural effects of anti bark devices on dogs" and there should be a lot of stuff on there!

harrup

Crikey....I can't believe some of the whacky suggestions.

Let me preface this by saying that I love dogs....until recently I had a large dog....but I TOTALLY understand the OP - nothing cheeses me off more than hearing a dog bark or yap constantly ( luckily mine was calm and only barked to alert me when the doorbell rang and we were out in the garden!).

And fearing for ones safety when sitting out in your own garden? Not on.

Still....putting myself in the dog's owner(s) shoes....regardless of how timid and non-confrontational the OP is - there really is no other sane and civilised way other than to go next door - or even send a letter to the neighbour - politely requesting them a) to raise the fence hight and b) to supervise the dog to prevent it from barking incessantly.

If any of my dogs would have ever bothered my neighbours I would have bent backwards to ensure my dogs were not a nuisance....but if someone sprayed my dogs with a pistol or did some other strange and bizarre thing - all because they are too cowardly to raise the issue with me - that would NOT have gone down well.

cherry76, you really got to take the bull by the horns here. If you are worried and disturbed by the next door dog, you have to bring it to the owner's attention. If you are unwilling to do it in vivo just send them a polite note ( & photocopy it, so you have a record), and explain.

Personally, I would NOT offer the dog treats as this could backfire badly. You may well end up with a chummy dog ....who then barks constantly requesting treats!

Consider yourself lucky - if your disturbance was caused by young kids yelling constantly or even intimidating teenagers you wouldn't have much recourse. Just dogs are meant to be invisible and inaudible...

harrup

googler wrote: »

If attempts at friendship fail, and it continues to bark at you, I'm advised the tactic is to face it down.

Stare it straight in the eye, hold eye contact, and without making any sound, draw your lips back in a snarling fashion. If it's trying to establish dominance over you, you have to take dominance over it.

Spectacularly bad advice. Unless you want to challenge the dog to a fight.

Barking is simply how a canine "talks". in the OP neighbour's dog scenario it could mean anything from "come play with me" to "clear off" to "I'm bored/lonely and my owners won't let me back in".

Plus....we really don't know whether its a ccase of the dog simply going "woof" a couple of times ...or barking incessantly.

I understood the OP post that the central issue was the OP being scared/worried about the dog and her safety - owing to the low fence - rather than it being primarily a noise issue.

googler

googler wrote: »

If attempts at friendship fail, and it continues to bark at you, I'm advised the tactic is to face it down.

Stare it straight in the eye, hold eye contact, and without making any sound, draw your lips back in a snarling fashion. If it's trying to establish dominance over you, you have to take dominance over it.

Interesting that the consensus goes against this, since it was provided by a long-term dog owner.

Ah, well.

Davesnave

googler wrote: »

Interesting that the consensus goes against this, since it was provided by a long-term dog owner.

But long term dog owners are those best able to carry out your advice, while those unsure about dogs aren't very likely to succeed, even if they could be persuaded to try it.

You may as well say to someone with vertigo that they should face their fear and climb onto the roof of their house.

Dogs are pack animals, so their barking may indicate an owner who is unable to be the dominant member of that pack. Otherwise, it is an owner who has, knowingly or otherwise, conditioned the dog to behave in an anti-social way.

harrup

googler wrote: »

Interesting that the consensus goes against this, since it was provided by a long-term dog owner.

Ah, well.

googler, your suggestion wasn't necessarily wrong per se....but wrong in this particular instance.

Staring a dog in the eye will elicit one of 2 responses from it - to fight OR to " flight". I.e. it either takes up your challenge or it will demurely cower away. If you are unconcerned of either response occuring, by all means try it.

But since the OP was worried about this dog in her/his vicinity - or perhaps is afraid of dogs in general - if the dog responds by increasing it's antics ( and it may well do so!)- say, by growling - not only was the situation not helped and the problem solved , it made matters even worse.

If my own dog barked and I told him "quiet" and he would not heed the command - I might well stare it in the eye instead of repeating the command. But I'm not afraid of my dog and he knew the pack order. After all- it was my own dog. Dominating someone elses dog , on the other hand, may well turn out to be unwise.

Davesnave

kittypimms wrote: »

With pleasure- am on the road at present, but will sort when I get home. Meantime, google "behavioural effects of anti bark devices on dogs" and there should be a lot of stuff on there!

Yes, I can Google... (sounds like the title of a pop song!) ..but as you may realise, most of the stuff out there is from vested interests, hence my question.

Gothicfairy

googler wrote: »

Interesting that the consensus goes against this, since it was provided by a long-term dog owner.

Ah, well.

I am in my mid 30's and have grown up with dogs, I have then owned dogs all my adult life and I still think it is a terrible bit of advice.

What you might or might not do with your own dogs and your pack is not the same as some dog you do not know and have no idea how it was raised.
I might "growl" at my dog ( don't need to but am going with your idea) as I know what it's reaction would be and how to cope should it go wrong but I would never ever do that to some strangers dog.

If someone did that to my dog they are likely to get bitten as my dog would not have a clue why or by what right they were trying to challenge the pack.