How much barkng is too much?

elliesmemory1

I have a problem with my neighbour complaining about my dog barking.

I would like to know what is classed as too much barking.

I know my dog does not bark when left as have used a dictaphone.

Dog will bark in garden a couple of times a day for few seconds and is never left to bark.

Is this too much?

Sorry for any mstakes, Keyboard playing up!

nonnatus

Well, in my opinion (and I have 8 dogs, 3 of which can be quite vocal) barking is only a problem if it continues uncontrolled for more than 5 minutes, or if it's in the middle of the night.
Dogs barking during play, or when they get excited is all part of living with dogs, just as you may have to listen to your neighbour hoovering or playing loud music.

Do you rent or own your house? (That DOES make a difference, a persons home being their castle, within the walls of which they can pretty much please themselves)
Is it detatched? (Obvious reasons for asking)
How long do you leave the dog alone for every day? Do you leave it alone at night?

Your neighbour, despite your question, has clearly decided that the answer to "how much noise?" is that "YOUR dogs bark WAY too much for their liking"
If you can't resolve it amicably, you need to be pretty sure that you're in the right....

Mojisola

Hardupandfedup wrote: »

Dog will bark in garden a couple of times a day for few seconds and is never left to bark.

Is this too much?

If that really is all the barking that goes on, of course it isn't too much.

And that's what the neighbour will be told if she makes any official complaints.

Is there another dog in the neighbourhood that barks and she thinks it's yours?

elliesmemory1

I have proved to myself that there is no barking when left as have taped using a dictaphone several times, yes that is the only barkng as dont allow it for more than a few seconds.

There are lots of other dogs around

*Vikki*

We had this same problem, they reported us to council and we were told if we dont stop them they will be proceeding to next steps :@ Wasnt even our dog either was one up the road barking like a seal!

catkins

Your neighbour should come and live in my house. The dog across the road from me frequently barks non stop for upto an hour at a time. Something like someone walking past the house will start it off and then it just doesn't stop. This can happen several times a day often in the night.

Neighbours have complained about it and environmental health have been out but nothing has ever happened - this has been going on for about 3 years.

I have a dog and he rarely barks but if he does I let him bark a couple of times (he only really barks at the doorbell or if he is in the garden and hears something) and then stop him

elliesmemory1

catkins wrote: »

Your neighbour should come and live in my house. The dog across the road from me frequently barks non stop for upto an hour at a time. Something like someone walking past the house will start it off and then it just doesn't stop. This can happen several times a day often in the night.

Neighbours have complained about it and environmental health have been out but nothing has ever happened - this has been going on for about 3 years.

I have a dog and he rarely barks but if he does I let him bark a couple of times (he only really barks at the doorbell or if he is in the garden and hears something) and then stop him

This is what I do, Allow a couple of barks then stop. It annoys me that my poor dog is not allowed to bark at all!

trolleyrun

I also have a neighbour across the road with barking dogs. There's two of them, and they fight all the time. Proper dog fights, with lots of barking, snarling etc. The owner is at home most of the day and doesn't stop it, which is annoying, as it goes on for hours.

My dog (aka Pipsqueak - not her real name), does a warning bark if someone knocks at the door, but she stops very quickly. She sometimes squeaks and barks when she's playing with other dogs in the field, but that's just playing. I can't stand barking just for the sake of it though, and if my dog had been a barker, I would've trained her accordingly to not be so vocal.

OP, your neighbour is probably hearing other dogs barking and is assuming it's your dog. If s/he's not a "dog person" s/he might not be able to tell one dog's bark from another's. Talk to your neighbour, explain that your dog only barks a couple of times and you stop him/her after that. Do you hear other dogs barking in the area? Maybe you could tell your neighbour that you can hear them too?

Caroline_a

trolleyrun wrote: »

I also have a neighbour across the road with barking dogs. There's two of them, and they fight all the time. Proper dog fights, with lots of barking, snarling etc. The owner is at home most of the day and doesn't stop it, which is annoying, as it goes on for hours.

My dogs' playtime is often quite vocal, and to a non-dog-savvy person would sound like they are killing one another. However it's all noise, and when they stop there is never a mark on either of them.

trolleyrun

Caroline_a wrote: »

My dogs' playtime is often quite vocal, and to a non-dog-savvy person would sound like they are killing one another. However it's all noise, and when they stop there is never a mark on either of them.

I understand what your saying, but these two dogs really fight. I've never heard anything like it! The owner can only take one dog out at a time (the rare time he does take them out), as they can't walk side by side and get on. He had one dog first, and then got the second as a rescue (he says), without the two dogs meeting each other. They hate each other! Other neighbours who are also dog savvy have commented on it too. It's very sad, as with training, the situation could improve, but the owner just doesn't bother.

Mulder00

How long do you use the dictaphone for? Being a dog owner myself, it's easy for us to jump to conclusions like neighbours being completely unreasonable when it comes to the amount of barking our dogs do.

We used to get complaints and I used to do things like get home and sneak up on the dogs and even at one point asked neighbours to call me the moment they hear them barking so that I could investigate the cause. Each and every single time, I would get home and hear nothing and would get really upset at our neighbours who seemed to have absolutely no tolerance.

In came the citronella barking collar. The fact that it was empty the first few days after getting home and our dog smelled like a lemon, meant that maybe the neighbours had a point!

The collar is now doing it's job, as long as we keep replacing the battery and refilling it every now and again (very seldom!!). The barker now knows when he has the collar on that he will end up smelling like a lemon. Unfortunately, it's still not fully taken care of his separation anxiety and he has learnt to cry instead of bark to get past the collar...

I'm not saying you are wrong, but do investigate a bit more than just using a dictaphone. My own experience was that the neighbours actually had a point and we did our best to correct the situation.