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I wish I knew how to prevent my neighbor’s dog from barking when it was really loud. They used to leave their screen door open whenever they left the house. Both of the dogs barely took a minute to breathe since they were too busy barking almost 24/7. Even though I filled in many noise compaints, it did me no good. The two dogs annoyed everybody in the neighborhood, not only me. The noise wouldn’t let any of us have a good night’s sleep; they wouldn’t stop during the day either.

I am in no way implying that dogs should not bark!  They are dogs and that is what they do. Sometimes they have very good reasons for barking such as being left outside by mistake, being lonely, bored, hungry or thirsty or perhaps confined behind a fence and just wanting in on the action on the other side. hence just plain curiosity. For some dogs, it is actually a learned behavior that is negatively reinforced by giving the dogs special attention and even treats to hopefully pacify and quiet the dogs down. In reality, it is showing the dogs that this is a good behavior and that if they want more attention, all they need to do is to continue barking more.

It’s not a great idea to leave your dog outside. It pretty much then comes with a guarantee that there will be problems with your neighbors, not to mention that there is no way to protect your canine from sudden bad weather. Some dogs are held in crates while their owners are away, but they shouldn’t be kept there for more than four hours at a time. One of the things you could do is keep it indoors, yet offer it a view on the outside of the house or apartment; it should have a space of its own where it can feel relaxed. Don’t forget to also create his own little bathroom area in the farthest part of that room using a dog litter tray, piles of newspapers or better yet, a little doggie door in which he can do his business outside within a fenced in area of course.

So let’s say you have done all of the above and perhaps even more and your dog insists on constantly barking or perhaps it is your neighbor’s dog that is doing this annoying habit-what then? Perhaps a bark collar might be the answer. If it is a neighbor’s dog, the best way to start out would be to write them a firm but decent letter that you may want to consider typing and sending anonymously. Your neighbor probably doesn’t even realise that his dog annoys everyone while he is gone. If that does not resolve the issue, you may want to either send another anonymous letter or perhaps even talk to them face to face about them considering the idea of getting their dog or dogs a bark collar.

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