how much barking is ok?

autismmum

so here is the question
what do your dogs do?? are they loud? bark often?

Nicifer_noonoo

I guess it's not how often, but at what times and for how long. I have no problem with barking dogs during the day if it's caused by someone at the door, or a noise outside, but when it goes on for hours and hours I do tend to get a bit ratty And when they bark past 10pm and no one goes to see to them...that to me is unacceptable.

orlao

Have a look at your council website......they should have guidance about what level and time noise is acceptable..not just dogs but music, DIY etc.
As long as your dogs aren't "breaking their rules" there is nothing your neighbours can do! However if they are barking late at night or early in the morning for instance they can complain to the council and ask that your are issued with a noise abatement order which can lead to court action.

I have a neighbour who likes his own way too.....he thinks that dogs shouldn't bark when he leans over my (6ft) fence, he threatened to report me and started trying to wind up the dogs to make them bark more.....climbing fence, kicking it,barking at the dogs things like that.....when I checked the rules I discovered that his regular 7am Sunday morning DIY and grasscutting was against the rules....so we've come to an arrangement....if he trys to report me, I'll do the same to him....

Childish I know:D but this guy is used to shouting and then people back down and then he moved next door to me!

If you shout at me I smile sweetly and then say no....refuse to argue and point out that if it's a valid comment I'm happy to try and resolve the issue but if it's not.....well tough! I live in an area that length of residency counts, a bit league of gentlemen IYKWIM, my answer has always been that time served only counts with prison or pensions....the rest of time it's irrelevant!
I'm all for neighbourly contentment but sometimes the best way to get it is to ignore them:rotfl:

marybishop

I think it's reasonable to expect a dog to bark at strange sounds/situations, after all they're protecting their property (and you!). My dog barks if he's unsure about something i.e. window cleaner up the ladder, strange noise outside at night. He even barks at us if he's fast asleep and he gets woken up by us making a loud noise near him as it makes him jump!

He barks at the back door to be let back in from the garden - if we ignore him he will carry on barking which seems perfectly reasonable to me. How else is he supposed to get our attention. If we left him to bark for ages I could fully understand why neighbours would get fed up and complain but that would be our fault for ignoring our dog's needs.

Your dogs are only doing what comes naturally in my opinion - protecting their family and property. 10 times in 24 hours doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

MrsTinks

Personally my dog doesn't bark othe than when people ring the doorbell or knock on the door. Very rarely will she do a little "vuf" if she can hear something but it's not a full blown bark.
The neighbours have always commented that she's a very quiet dog too.
My view is that barking at the door when people come to it is acceptable, same with strange noises, but we're talking a short period. Prolonged barking that the owner does not attempt to correct is unacceptable.
As to the hour of day... toughie... I can't control when people ring my doorball after all, but I'd always shush the dog if it's late. If the dogs are barking in the middle of the night I might have a few issues...

merlinormartin

Our dog only barks when someone delivers something through the letter box, postman .. junk mail etc... he barks for around 20-30 seconds if left or 5 seconds if we catch him in the act and shout at him! ... although i do notice if he doesnt get alot of excercise he does tend to "vuff" at things during the day.

sammy_kaye18

hi autismmum

our dog does bark but only the usual doggy stuff - we live in a ground floor flat that has gravel outside it and our dog has learnt that gravel means theres someone in the garden - he will bark but more a s awarnign as if to say 'yes im here and i can hear you' but hes pretty good. Bonfire ngith he hates but we have a relaxant to calm him down a bit now so hes more settled and apart form that its only really the mail man who gets an earful or whoever knocks the door. Even then it is only 15 - 20 seconds

t_r

Hi,
Dog barking behaviour can be modified without any cruelty to the dog i.e. electric collars.:mad:

I use a company called barbusters and can't recommend them enough. It’s quite funny but once I started using them I was amazed how many friends and colleagues use them. They are a national franchise if you want I can route out there website

WeirdoMagnet

t_r wrote: »

Dog barking behaviour can be modified without any cruelty to the dog i.e. electric collars.:mad:

I use a company called barbusters and can't recommend them enough. It’s quite funny but once I started using them I was amazed how many friends and colleagues use them. They are a national franchise if you want I can route out there website

Not sure if you are implying that electric dog collars are not cruel, but if barking is a problem (which it doesn't really seem to be in the OPs case), there are plenty of other positive training methods which can be used effectively, rather than resorting to e-collars or other aversives.

Barkbusters are not often recommended, for the simple reason that they are a franchise who don't require you to have previous experience of dogs to become a franchisee, use a 'one-size-fits-all' approach, and often don't fix the 'problem' at all! Better to try the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, who's members are assessed according to a strict code and use kind and fair principles of training and do not employ coercive or punitive techniques or equipment.

daisykinn1

We trained our dog from the day we got him that if he barked he got ignored so he stopped, quite an effective training method if your dog is an attention seeker like ours! I think you should attempt to break your dogs routine of barking...although not with collars perhaps a rattle or a water pistle.

apples1

unpopular comment coming up but I just being honest...

Next door's dog barks to be let back in. They let him out for obvious reasons just before they go to bed which can be anything from 10pm to 1am (only as late as 1am if they are entertaining etc so not often that late). I am a busy Mum and heavily pregnant. I work the hours my daughter is at school doing admin etc for our business. Our daughter is up by six in the morning and therefore I often fall asleep before Doggie has been out.

Sometimes he barks just two or three times (other times a few dozen or more) before they let him back in. Either way I am woken up and I really really resent it. I was asleep. Now I am not. Often I can't get back off to sleep and am awake for a fair while.

It is blissfully quiet where we live and I hate the fact that I have to be woken up by the Dog. If they blared music that loud every night or set an alarm off or did anything else with the same volume it would be considered unacceptable and anti-social but because it's a dog it's considered ok.

Makes me so cross. I am either just dozing off or sound asleep and jump out my skin at the sudden noise in the previous silence.