Anti-Barking Devices

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

After 5 years of misery, I had to buy one… I think I made a post about this a few years ago, and now, my other next-door neighbor got not only one, but TWO dogs! Every single neighbor has at least one dog, and one of them actually said, “Cheap security”. They leave their dogs outside in the rain, sometimes in freezing weather, and they’re constantly outside (to get them out of the house, since they are a nuisance)… So ANYWAY, I got the item below in the mail. I think I screwed up the string to hold it up on a tree or whatever, since the instructions say there shouldn’t be any major obstruction to the destination. I have a few stairs from the back door, and the dogs from both sides roam around there, so I put the setting to 50 feet. I’ve heard it can take a few weeks for the dogs to be trained, but I was wondering if having two would help, or does it screw things up? I’m tired of waking up at 4am… I know its not always a dog barking, but in my dream (I think) I hear a bark. I guess it could always be a dog being let out for a second, but one bark will wake me up. I have background noise, but this weather is making things worse, getting lighter, and the damn birds.

If I hear a dog bark, I might do what I did last night, and take the device and get as close as possible to them. One fear I have is having someone steal it, because this time (unlike the previous burglarly), I will … get payback. I’m losing my fucking mind. I hate having to constantly blast music or TV, which isn’t loud, since I only have TV speakers, and I want a break from noise in general. I try to read, and the barking not only distracts me, but it angers me, and then every damn lament I have about neighbors come to the forefront… I’ve been shitting blood in the last week, could be ulcers, or a million other things… And then you have two dogs across the street which just roam and start a barking orchestra.

I live in the ghetto ghetto, so we have no animal control, and police are worthless here.

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#2

Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer for you, but I definitely do have empathy. Been there, done that. It’s awful.

I did find a website, though, that was very comprehensive and may offer helpful advice for you:

http://barkingdogs.net/

I wish you luck. The thoughtlessness of some people never ceases to amaze me.

#3

Yeah, I just don’t get it. When I moved here 6 years ago, the first thing I asked was if they could hear my drums. They couldn’t.

Thanks for the website, I’ll check it out.

#4

I read a lot of it, but I didn’t see anything addressed about having two devices, since I have so many neighbors with dogs. I was thinking of putting one on each side of my yard, right at the center which separates the front and back yard. I read that it usually takes two weeks for the dogs to be conditioned, but I’m still moving them around, depending on who is doing the barking.

#5

In my jurisdiction, Animal Control has an online complaint form (and you can remain anonymous). I kept track of the times Asshole Dog 1 (AHD1) barked for about 3 weeks (3 - 6 hours a day!) and put all the data into the complaint form. Animal Control was out the next day. The owners no longer let that dog bark all day every day (although a couple of times they let the dog bark on their balcony for a couple hours.)

This year it seems the people on this block have been getting pandemic dogs and have no interest in training them. I now have enough data on AHD2 to submit another complaint form. AHD3 – I am coming for you next!

#6

Incidentally, I have dreamed of someone inventing some kind of sound retro-reflector, with a 12 hour delay. So if your AHD barks from 10am until 6pm, you get to listen to that same barking from 10pm until 6am.

This would have to be something with pin-point accuracy, where no one could hear the reflected sound except the offending dog owners. I don’t want to add to the innocent neighbors’ woes.

There are a lot of engineers on this board; why isn’t someone working on this?

#7

There are dogs on both sides of your house, correct? I would have 2 of the devices, each as close to you side property lines as possible. IOW, as far apart as you can get them and pointing in opposite directions.

#8

You can use this to your advantage. Create a Barking Dog Channel for your local Cable TV. The number of people who love to hear the constant dog-bark can be turned into ad revenue for you.

#9

You have drums? Ah! That’s why the dogs are barking. Dogs love drums. They’re trying to get you to play more the only way they know how–by barking. Take your drums outside when the dogs are barking. Every time they bark, do a drum solo. If they keep barking, that means they like it and want you to keep playing and play even louder. :grinning:

#10

LOL – I don’t play them anymore… unless I can’t take the barking any longer, and THEN I’ll play for a short while, hoping at least one neighbor could be conditioned.

I might wait a while before purchasing another one. It might not be working, but I also read it takes a few weeks. I’ve also had fridge problems for a while, so I have to think about a lot of things.

#11

There’s a child’s toy available at the dollar store, you might look into.

It resembles a gun, only the nose part is the plastic face of a roaring bear. It’s green and yellow plastic and has a dial on the side. The dial points to different animals, and when you pull the trigger it makes their call or whatever.

There’s a couple of birds and a bear for sure, but the most authentic sound it makes is of wolves howling, it’s quite loud too.

Directly behind my house lives an annoying little dog that suffers from high separation anxiety. It isn’t barking or yapping so much as screaming in distress. Every moment it’s outside, I swear. It’s a difficult sound to ignore, very alarming.

I discovered when it really bugged me I could pull out this toy and bast it a couple of times, and the annoying creature would instantly fall silent, HaHaHa!

I realize this isn’t a long term solution, of course. But it’s very rewarding because it works instantly. I’m pretty sure it’s just confusing the creature.

And, of course, it’s kinda fun too!

Good Luck! (I’ll be following your thread for other solutions!)

#12

Yes, I had a neighbor’s toy poodle that was like this. It honestly sounded like a young child was being tortured. Fortunately I do have great neighbors, and the lady simply wasn’t aware this was happening, because it would only do it when she was out.

It does occur to me under these circumstances, if a neighbor was not doing the right thing, rather than call animal control you could call the cops and tell them it sounds like a child is being abused in that house, and maybe they should check.

#13

I actually came here to mention something that happened last night, but got sidetrcaked by other comments…

So I go outside to adjust the anti-barking device… Whichever side is barking, I move it closer to that side. All of a sudden, I hear the non-burglarizing neighbor with the two dogs. She said, “Are those dogs bothering you” and I was as nice as possible, and said yes. She said, “Well, they’re gonna bark if you’re in the backyard”. I told her that in the last 4 months (she then said how EVERYONE has been inside for the last 4 months), I’ve spent no more than a combined hour outside. I told her I check my mail either very early or very late (it’s actually on my porch, 3 steps) but its usually the other dog (small, but aggressive, high frequency annoying bark), but that barking gets all the other dogs going. She just kept repeating herself, but then added, “If my dogs are barking non-stop, it’s because I’m not home” (I thought he hasn’t left her house - and there’s always someone there). Then she brought up another incident. Her friend who comes over will pull in, and honk her horn non-stop. Odd, because I constantly see her on her phone as she waits - why not put it to good use and text or call your friend with a “I’m here”… One day, she parked in MY driveway, and not just for a minute or two, so I stayed in my porch to ask her from a distance in a nice tone voice that she could park on the side of my house (it’s technically the public’s, although I can’t understand why her grandson who lives with her parks there, instead of on the side of THEIR house)… The friend said it was only for a short while, which didn’t impress me.

Then the neighbor said something like, “Well, she also told me that you told her ‘It’s my driveway’” and I said I don’t remember saying that, don’t know why I would, because its inherently obvious, and then she said, “Well, I’ve known her for fifty years”… I didn’t give her that, “Are you calling me a liar shit” - I just wanted to end this shit, because it was freezing, and I just got out of the shower, and even gestured being frozen so she’d go in… Then she goes on to tell me the dog’s names, how I should talk to them, and how maybe if they play in my yard, they’ll get to know me, etc… I tell her, “Well, I’m quiet, I don’t make any noise”, to which she agreed. The one sorta nice thing she said was, “Well, I just don’t want any hard feelings”… But I thought about that all night, and it was the first time in probably a year that I didn’t go to bed around midnight… Even when I woke up in the middle of the night to pee, it was on my mind, just like now. Sort of a replay, and an extension of the conversation in my head (another reason I try to stick to myself). She even said toward the end, “If its that bad, you can come knock on my door”, but I said I wouldn’t do that, as I wouldn’t want to bother you…

I don’t want to talk to anyone, lol… I just want to be in my own little world. I even blocked my contacts from getting through to me by phone, so it just goes to the voice mail (and they can always text me). I don’t have many contacts, but when I do get a call (usually mom), it’s bad news, and her texts never make sense, since she uses talk-to-voice and still hasn’t learned English well.

Another reason why I talk on places such as this, and yet, I still try not to get confrontational or too friendly, because everyone sorta sticks in my mind permanently, including the shit I’m typing now…

Over and out. I apologize to anyone who had to read that.

#14

Some dog owners are just astonishing. The breathtaking entitled belief that the problem would just go away if everyone else changed their behavior to accommodate their poorly socialized / poorly trained / poorly treated dog. The funniest instance of this was my old neighbor in New York who had a nutty lab (ultimately harmless, but who would know that) who would jump their fence and chase people down the street. I passed her walking it one day and it did its usually thing, went nuts and she could barely control it. “But he only does that with men!” So… I guess the problem in this scenario is all men, rather than you and your dog?

#15

Not in any way to disagree with your point, but …

When I was active on some bicycling forums (fora ?), there were endless finger-pointing threads that arose from bad car/bike encounters, each camp invariably blaming the other.

My pithy comment tended to be: assholes come on 18 wheels, 6 wheels, 4 wheels, 3 wheels, 2 wheels, 1 wheel, and no wheels.

In this case, I make the same assertion: some assholes own dogs :-/

We hominids can get awfully tribal, and start believing that those in our tribe would simply never.

But it turns out … the assholes in our camp … just might, and probably do.

Woof.

[from a guy whose yellow lab, pictured in his avatar, virtually never barks, for any reason]

#16

I mean, I share those sentiments completely. But I thought I was perfectly clear, since I did say “some”.

It’s responsible dog owners as much as non- dog owners who suffer at the hands of irresponsible dog owners. And, of course, the dogs owned by both.

#17

You were. I was trying to amplify your point.

Violent agreement here :slight_smile:

There, too.

We have barkers all around us since the last year or three. It’s making it much harder for us to maintain our dog’s (no bark) training.

I think it also becomes a self-perpetuating thing: when there are so many barkers in a neighborhood, it’s ‘cover’ (for somebody who was looking for an excuse) to not try to train their dog to bark unnecessarily.

#18

I’m sensitive to your point about tribalism with regard to bike vs car conflict, too - I used to race and ride a lot when I was living in the U.K. The problems is not “bike riders” or “car drivers”, the problem is assholes.

#19

That does make it tough. My dog pretty much never barks. He barks if someone comes into the house that I did not let in, which is fine, that’s kinda the point.

And he barks at other dogs that are barking, which didn’t use to be an issue till my neighbor got some dachshunds that bark at anyone or anything. Then sometimes there starts building a back and forth.

Prior to that, some of my neighbors had dogs that would let out a little woof or bark, more as a greeting, and my dogs would woof back, and that was about it. They’d occasionally get a bit loud if they started racing each other up and down the fence, but it was still a playful bark, which, I may be a bit biased as a dog owner and lover, is much more tolerable than the more argumentative barking that goes on with these dachshunds.

Now that I have a new pup, I’m hoping that I can keep these dachshunds from teaching her bad manners.

#20

Has this been working for you at all? My past experience is that all dogs are different but generally speaking these devices don’t work. I’m sorry to say that I think your best option is to tell the neighbor that it needs to stop (between the hours of 10-8 if you’re feeling generous) or you will be contacting animal control. Don’t get drawn into a conversation about how they’ll improve the situation, because that is their problem. If things don’t improve, contact animal control. You are entitled to a quiet night, and they can put the dog(s) in the house if they really want a guard dog.