Sunday, April 24, 2016

Looking for Contributors

I started this blog many years ago as a sort of therapy. Living next to a nuisance dog, or in a neighborhood with nuisance dogs can be detrimental to your mental and physical health. It's not easy dealing with a nuisance dog, and its almost impossible to deal with the owners of a nuisance dog.

Thankfully, today I don't have nearly the issues I had in my past two homes. Additionally, I took my own advise and got to know one of my neighbors who has a "howler". Thanks to some good old fashioned relationship building, we were able to work out our issues with her dog. Also, I opted to buy a house without backyard neighbors to reduce the odds of having a dog in the backyard.

Now my story is ideal, and things did finally work out for me. But not everyone has the luxury of moving, or neighbors aren't always so accommodating either. So I've kept this blog open for people to have a place to learn about my experiences, and have a place to vent.

However, I have noticed that my blog gets plenty of traffic, even without me posting regularly. And that can mean only one thing ... there are people out there dealing with this same problem every day.

So I'd like to start posting and looking for additional contributors.

I'm hoping to start compiling:

  • Horror Stories
  • Success Stories
  • Tips on dealing with barking dogs
  • How to report barking dog problems in your area
  • Reviews on the reporting process in your area
  • Failures on the reporting process in your area
  • Barking Device Reviews

And anything else, I'm open to any story to post.

If you have one post to contribute, or you want to be a regular contributor, just let me know.

Reply on this post, and we'll figure the details out from there.

Hoping to add a "Bark Map", so if you visit often, please keep checking in on this blog.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Pet Safe Basic Bark Control

In all the time I've posted on this blog, I only ever reviewed the Dog Silencer Pro. And I'll save you some time with that review. Basically, the concept works, but if there is any other noise that might set off the device it looses its affect. My overall experience with the Dog Silencer Pro was that it didn't solve my problem. There were also some design flaws that I won't get into, mainly it wasn't truly an outdoor product.

As for something that truly works, and that I can verify, up until recently I didn't have anything to recommend. But thank goodness something did work.

The short story:

My neighbors dog was becoming a real nuissance. I spoke to my neighbor and she was great. She agreed to work with me to help solve the problem. In the interim we exchanged phone numbers so we could text her if the dog was a problem. This was the best solution that no device could every accomplish...or maybe that would be a cool device, one that texts the owners when the dog barks... I digress. To help with the problem I gave her my Dog Silencer Pro to give the device a fighting chance, and put it in her backyard. That did not work, if anything it might have aggrevated the dog (which they say it will do, but who really wants to deal with additional aggrevation when it comes to a barking dog). Finally, my neighbor went out on her own and bought the Pet Safe Basic Bark Control collar. Eureka, problem solved, almost immediately.

So there you go, a simple but effective device and problem solved. The only problem, or challenge is convincing the owners of the dog you might have a problem with, is to get them to put a collar on their dog. But if you can, its a great way to gain back peace and quiet.

Monday, June 18, 2012

There are good neighbors!

Sometimes just having a good neighbor is all you need when you have an issue that needs to be resolved.

Our neighbors dog recently started barking and howling. For over a year the dog was not a problem. But for some unknown reason, in the last 3 weeks, the dog has started becoming a problem. The dog had wasn't barking for long durations, but it was barking when my would be putting out kids down for bed, or worse yet, when they were in bed. 

Enter great neighbor. As I went out to place our Dog Silencer Pro, I saw our neighbor outside trying to get the dog to stop. I took that as an opportunity to ask about the change in the dogs behaviour. She told me what we had observed, which was this was a new characteristic of her dog. But unlike other neighbors I've dealt with, she showed genuine concern about her dogs new routine. 

The conversation ended with me letting her borrow our Dog Silencer Pro so it had a more direct line to give it a better chance at correcting the dogs behaviour. More importantly, she gave us her phone number to call if it were ever an issue.

My wife and I had not wanted to complain to her up to this point because we did like this person as a neighbor, and didn't want to ruin what relationship we had already started. But she proved to be a sincere person, and we are now working together to help resolve her dogs new barking behaviour.

Verdict is out on the Dog Silencer Pro, but today there was no barking. I'll see with my neighbor if she attributes it to using the device.

Friday, January 27, 2012

How to deal with a Barking Dog owner

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.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Mckinney TX - Reporting a Barking Dog

FYI to any resident of Mckinney TX, if you need to report a problem with a barking dog, here is the information I found on reporting. Thank goodness, Mckinney has an anonymous policy for the first and second report. However, after that, you will more and likely need to file a complaint that makes your personal information available to the owner.

Personally, I'm just happy that they allow residents to report without divulging personal information.

And here it is:

Barking Dog in McKinney, TX


From their site:


Q:  What do I do if my neighbor's dog barks constantly?


A:  Notify Animal Control at (972) 547-7445 to file a complaint during normal business hours Monday - Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. If the complaint is outside normal business hours, notify the McKinney Police Department non-emergency number at 972-547-2700. 

I need to be rich!

Bark Free Zone was started out of frustration. I had a backyard neighbor who's dog was terrorizing us in our own home. Two houses later, and I think we ended up in a pretty nice house, without backyard neighbors. This seemed to fix most of the problem. However, it never fails to amaze me how inconsiderate neighbors can be.

I'm sitting in my front office right now, with the windows open, hoping to enjoy some fresh air, and all I am delighted with is nonstop barking of a little "yapper". I'm not completely upset about it, since, I don't spend much time in this room, and it is not very frequent. But I am reminded of how annoying, and inconsiderate neighbors can be.

This go around, my blood pressure has not boiled over much. But I am still perturbed. Hence why I have kept this blog up. It is my place to vent. Just know if you are out there, and you are dealing with an annoying neighbor or dog, I feel for you, and wish you only the best.

I feel the only solution in my future for a completely Bark Free Zone, is to eventually by a house with land and plenty of separation between me any my neighbors. It is unfortunate, that my family cannot enjoy a peaceful Sunday afternoon in our own home, without an hour or more of nonstop barking.

And don't be fooled by the suggestion of talking to a neighbor with a barking dog. Owners can get pretty nasty, and will cause more duress on you and your family if you were to start up any altercation. I personally feel local government should allow for anonomous complaints about barking dogs. This way, the problem can be addressed, and neighbors don't have to worry about retaliation. Trust me, "been there done that", and it is not pretty when the person knows you are the one complaining about their "beloved" pets.

About now, I am just going to have to close my window, and take a break from studying, There is no concentrating with a yapper like the one going on and on right now!


Thursday, October 6, 2011

I pray that people realize the pain that barking dogs have on a person. My family personally agonized for over a year with a neighbors barking dog, and dogs on a number of occasions. Thankfully the dog the was a "temporary" resident. His temporary status was for that year. I was able to talk to the owner initially, but his leaving comment for me, after being apologetic at first, was, "Dogs Bark!"

Unfortunately, that is not a sufficient reason. Also, a dog, or dogs barking indefinitely infringes on our rights as American Citizens to enjoy the peace and serenity of our own home. It is understandable that dogs bark on occasion, but it is not acceptable for long durations.

I started my blog on one night simply to vent. It was for the most part the main reason for most of my posts. Thankfully, there is a big gap in posts because I currently don't have a nuisance dog problem. Although, I can hear dogs in my neighborhood that probably are, they do not bother me like a dog in my backyard. I was blessed to get a new job that allowed me to relocate. A must I was looking for in my new house was no backyard neighbors. I would rather have a road behind my house, then deal with a neighbor that doesn't care to take care of his/her own dog.

Having said all that, I still want to help the cause. My heart goes out to people experiencing problems with nuisance dogs. And here is a prime example. The below is from someone that posted a comment on my page. You can link to her profile here. I cringed when I watched:


We need to support each other. All persons experiencing nuisance neighbors and dogs, need to band together, and help support one another. I wish I could do more, and maybe we can. But we need to be heard as a common voice to be heard by the right people.

Dealing with nuisance sounds is like being beaten slowly. It's just plain torture to have to hear and deal with constant bombardment of sounds that are unwelcome. I found my poor wife in the bathroom curled up in a ball because of our neighbors dog. It's just not fair, and not right.

Good luck to the person above, I hope things work out, and the local government steps in and realizes the severity of the problem.