It never fails, late in the evening, a quiet afternoon, time
with the family in the yard, and your enjoyment is ruined by the neighbor’s
dog. The peace and delight that you would expect to experience, suddenly ends.
And that is where the nightmare begins.
Thankfully, I don't live the nightmare scenario that I
briefly mentioned above, but I know that so many people in this world do. To
the point they are suffering. And if you are anything like me, you looked to
the internet to solve the problem, and find other people that might have
experienced the same thing. Also, you look for solutions; Stop Barking products
and such. In your search, you are just hoping to read about a solution that
fixes a barking dog problem
I wish it were that easy.
When I started this blog over a year ago, I started it
completely out of frustration. I just needed a place to put my thoughts, and
calm down. More or less, it became a diary. I found that I was passionate about
my frustration, and needed to find a solution. So many nights were spent
scouring the internet looking for ways to stop the dogs in my neighbor’s yard
from barking.
Here is one online suggestion I tried, but I feel it
backfired:
Confront the dog owner – The basic idea is that it is best
to try and work things out with a dog owner before reporting. Some states
require you try to work out any problems between yourselves before involving
any city intervention. But from personal experience, this method is flawed.
I did this twice in two different homes I lived in. Both of
my “discussions” ended poorly. If anything confronting my neighbor only
strained any relationship I had with the neighbor, and made it unsafe for my
family. The last house I owned, I spoke to the owner, and thought maybe he was
going to remedy the problem. But time told the true story of their
inconsideration. The answer you will hear from a dog owner, or dog sympathizer
is, "Dogs bark! Deal with it" Unfortunately, that is not a good answer,
nor is it fair to neighbors.
The reality is yes, dogs bark, but they bark for a reason,
and usually it is because the dog owner isn't giving the dog the attention
required.
When I confronted the dog owner, and my complaints to Animal
Control persisted, the dog owner decided to come to my house. This ended
poorly, with the dog owner verbally accosting my wife, while my baby boy stood
by her side. I had called the cops to report the incident, but the dog owner
made himself unavailable when the cop went to question him.
So my suggestion to people’s suggestion to confront the dog
owner, I say no! This is not a good approach. If you have a family, or are not
ready to strain your neighborhood relationship, then I would suggest not
confronting the dog owner.
Unfortunately, in many places, City Governments require an
effort to remedy the problem as neighbors before action is brought against
them. The sad fact though is most neighbors resort to retaliatory behavior, and
it is terrifying. I would not recommend putting your family at risk to talk to
a neighbor that has a nuisance dog.
My recommendation to this suggestion:
If you have time and patience, I would suggest building a
real relationship with the neighbor. Become friends with them, real friends.
Get to know them personally. Have them over, and visit at their home. Befriend
your neighbors, and truly mean it. If you go into trying to befriend them with ulterior
motives, the sincerity is lost.
Now you may be thinking, What the Wha! But I truly believe
in this approach over any other approach, and I can explain why. In my two
instances where I confronted the neighbor, they didn't know me from any other
Joe. And if anything, it was threatening for them to have me come to their door
and complain to them about their pet. However, if I had instead tried to get to
know them, I would have been able to show them who I was, and that I mean no
harm or malice towards them.
Of course, this approach will not immediately fix the
barking dog problem, but it can lead to the solution, and hopefully a new
friendship. Better yet, you would know a neighbor that would be looking out for
yourself and your house too.
The reason I believe this approach is a good one, is because
it worked for me. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that is what happened, but
looking back, I do see how beneficial it was to have befriended my neighbor.
The neighbor I became good friends with was my next door
neighbor. He had a German Shepard. I loved that dog. It was well behaved, and
protective of my neighbor’s family, and me. He needed no leash, and would stay
right by my side or my friends. All in all, it was a good dog. And unbenounced
to myself, I had become friends with the owner of a dog that eventually would
become a problem.
Not long after I purchased the house, I got married. Before
my wife, I would go to work in the morning, and be home a little after 6pm
every day. My neighbor had a similar schedule. And life was good. But there was
something I didn't know that was happening every day. Until my wife was living
with me, the neighborhood we lived in seemed like a perfectly quiet place. She
found out in a bad way that wasn’t the case. It turned out that the neighbor’s
dog would bark all day, while we were at work. The dog would be left on a leash
during the day with no attention. So it would just bark, and bark, and bark.
Needless to say, I found out pretty quick about the problem.
But because of the relationship I had built with my neighbor,
I was able to simply call him up, and let him know his dog was barking all day.
And guess what happened, he fixed the problem. And our friendship went on as if
there were ever a barking problem.
Inevitably, when dealing with a barking dog problem, there
is no quick solution, short of an illegal one. But there are some creative
solutions. I would hope that someone reading this might be able to take some
simple suggestions, and use them themselves in the midst of their frustrations.
