Nuisance dog stays consistent

As a neighbor your only desire is to have other neighbors that share your same wants for the neighborhood. Pride in ownership can help a neighborhood increase in value, and it would only seem like a shared responsibility of a neighborhood to value their own property enough as an example to other neighbors that they want the same. For the most part, I am happy with my neighbors, I love waiving to them and walking out on an afternoon to have small talk with my neighbors about our lawns and how beautiful the day turned out.

But all it takes is one neighbor to ruin a neighborhood. I started this blog primarily because of my neighbors barking dog. The dog is a bonnified nuisance, and we have the documentation to prove it. My wife and I have logged as many times as we are home for times that the neighbors dog has been barking non-stop, or for durations. Sometimes for over an hour with only brief pauses. We can look over into our neighbors yard and see that the dog is begging to go in. Their sliding glass door is covered in dog prints from the Lab trying to get anyones attention. The poor dog aimlessly paces with no one giving the dog any attention. I'm not even sure if the dog gets properly walked.

For the most part, my wife and I had a great afternoon after I came home from work. I love to see my family, and when my wife is happy, I'm happy. But about 845pm tonight the neighbors dog started barking. While I type, the dog is still barking every minute to 5 minutes.

Our log of the nuisance barking is from beginning of May to mid August. We are without our Dog Silencer Pro. Our replacement has shipped, and we are hoping to get it any day now. Even if the device doesn't work, we like to know that something is "yelling" back at the dog. We have made up to 3 calls to animal control and myself 2 emails. These are informal complaints, but they do tell us that they send someone out whenever a complaint is made, formal or informal. They also remind us the proper channels to filing a complaint, which we have been putting off for a very long time, in hopes that the dog would either stop, the owners would come to their senses, or the dog leaves (the owner advised me the dog is there only temporarily....hasn't been so temporary though). I love my wife very much, and It PAINS me to see her so upset. I'm just as upset, but I try to hide my emotions to try and calm my wife down. Even though inside I just want to yell at the dog to just "Shut Up!!!". We have a 17 month old, and with the dog barking tonight we had a difficult time getting him to go to sleep.

So back to Animal Control. We have finally decided to submit the proper paperwork to Animal Control for our formal complaint. Though we struggled with the decision to formally complain, we felt for our own sanity, it was the only legal option. My wife and I are curious of what will actually happen. The owners back yard is a wreck. It is filled with abandoned "things" and some of the trash is spilling under the fence into our yard. I hope that Animal Control sees that this is no place for a LARGE Golden Lab to be living. There is no room for the dog to run, only plenty of stuff in its way.

I hope for a amicable solution, where the owner realizes that the dog has caused a problem. If their yard is addressed also, that would just be a bonus.

Anyone reading this know, you are not alone if you are dealing with a problem neighbor and nuisance dog or noise. Of course you probably already know that from googling all the horror stories. What I hope to accomplish one day, is make it easier and more effective to report and handle nuisance dogs. Some people should not legally be aloud to have a dog. They are a big responsibility, and to often than not, most people do not have the time or energy to put into keeping or raising a dog.

Letting a dog bark with no attention is cruelity to an animal!

My wife has broken down in tears twice this week over the sound of our neighbors nuisance dog. As a husband, I can't bear to see my wife our son hurt. Yet I feel helpless in dealing with the problem. I have been trying out a couple "Dog Silencing Products" have called Animal Control, and before trying any of the previous, I even talked to my neighbor about the problem (which is not easy). The first attempt at curbing or stopping the dog abuse, by talking to the neighbor didn't really accomplish anything. Animal control had been effective in the past with a different dog, but this time, we haven't seen relief. Lastly, we had tried the "dog silencing products", but I still have to tweak a few things on how I'm placing the devices before I can truly say they don't work.

The next step of course is to file a formal complaint with Animal Services. To this point I have only resorted to calls to Animal Services. But after 3 months of documenting barking times, it's about time I submit the appropriate paperwork.

It is truly upsetting, to not be able to enjoy your own home. I found an article that really speaks my feelings and concerns. The reality is, nuisance dogs are the result of owners being abusive by not taking proper care of their animals. This link is a great article that does a great job explaining the cruelty that owners of nuisance dogs are truly putting on the dog and other people:

http://www.democraticwings.com/democraticwings/archives/civil_liberties/3085.php

The more of us that band together to fight for our rights to a peaceful neighborhood, the more likely we can help people that are facing these problems....that could include yourself one day.

Finally someone got back to me!

Well I would like to say, once I finally got someone over at Good Life (the maker of the Dog Silencer Pro) the person was very friendly and helpful. The rep has sent me the return label via email. Now we'll see how fast it take for them to return new item to me.

Still waiting for Dog Silencer Pro to come thru with their Warranty!

I'm big on customer service. With over 15 years of customer service background, I have high expectations when I have a shopping experience. And with so many competitors out there vying for our money, it only makes sense that companies try to maintain a high level of customer service. So here I am, still waiting for a response from the company Good Life (the company that sells the Dog Silencer Pro) to respond to my request for a replacement or repair of my product. A simple response would make me happy right now, even if they told me it would take a little while to receive my repaired product, I might be okay with that. But no response makes me question their ability to honor any guarantee they offer. I have only tried contacting them via there contact page so far. I'm not able to make many calls during the day at work, so I try to do most my work in the evening or late at night. So for a web based company to respond to my simple request via email seems reasonable.

Let's hope they respond to my request this time. I see on there site that you can call 24/7...I think I might try that, because being out over $100 for something I just bought is really getting on me.....here goes, I'll let you know how it goes.............

........Just got off the phone with a rep with Good Life. After 3 calls and 2 disconnects, I finally got a rep on the line. The after hour service is only for ordering, and is a contracted company separate from the Good Life. They primarily handle taking orders over the phone. When I finally did get someone on the line he was courteous and friendly. He advised me he would forward my request to the company, and they should recieve a response around 6 am. So to this point, the tally is as follows: 2 contacts via their website, 2 calls disconnected, 1 call completed, 1 rep forwarding my request to be addressed in the morning. Of course this isn't a lot of work on my part, just a minor inconvenience. But it doesn't bode well to me on the company.

My complete and final review will come after I've had all my experiences with the Good Life resolved. I still pray that everyone can enjoy a quiet neighborhood where you can relax from the stresses of our lives.

So far so good!

For about 1 week, we have lived in a localized Bark Free Zone. When my family walks the neighborhood, we of course still hear dogs barking. But nothing more than background noise. I have found one house that the dogs are a little out of control, and wonder how those neighbors feel about the dogs. I understand a little barking, the kind to 1: Warn, or 2: Let the owner know it's time to be back inside or give some attention. But all in all I have enjoyed a week of comfortable afternoons relaxing on my front porch and enjoying the evening cool breeze.

That said, still not sure if the Dog Silencer Pro really accomplished what it said it would. Because up until we had to retire the device (it's currently not working, need to contact the company), the dog barked just as much as before the product. Part of me likes the fact that the device at least "yelled" back at the dog. The real reason the quiet has persisted, is the dog isn't there anymore. Or at least I hope it's gone. Originally when I talked to the owners of the problem, he told me it was his sons dog and they would be living with them temporarily. So I think the temporary has ended, and I'm praying that it stays this way.

I do plan on keeping the Dog Silencer Pro, as long as they give me a new one. I want it just in case, I might try different placement positions in the future. But just knowing I have something that might curb nuisance dog behavior leaves me partially re-assured.

Back to work, I hope if you are having a barking dog problem, you are finding some peace somehow!

Silence is Beautiful!

Nothing beats a clear night, the peace that comes from just relaxing and listening to the silence and enjoying all that God has given us. Tonight I was able to enjoy my backyard and the beautifulness that is silence and just find a moment to relax and enjoy the peace. For a moment, I had no schoolwork, no work to do, no deadlines to meet, and no dog barking. I pray for this every day and night, and I pray this for everyone that needs just a moment to reflect and relax. Everyone needs some time to just shut off the senses, and just enjoy the silence.

I will return to my review of the Dog Silencer Pro this week. But for now I'm just enjoying the silence. Not sure if I'm giving the Dog Silencer Pro credit, it hasn't been on for the past 3 days. I'll fill you in on my thoughts soon.

But for now, just enjoying a Bark Free Zone!

Dog not so bad today....fingers crossed!

Today was beautiful, and with beautiful days comes people out, kids playing, birds chirping, and bakring dogs. The latter not so welcome, especially when the dog doesn't know when to stop. So today I needed to get a lot of yard work done. My wife washed the car, I did all the yard work, and baby slept. That was pretty nice, if you have kids you know what I mean. I did all the yard work with my Ipod on. My new headsets block out almost all the noise, so even if the dog was barking I wouldn't have heard it. But I know my wife would have, so I kept waiting to see her come in the back yard to let me know. But surprisingly I got done with my entire yard without the dog getting started. Usually when I make it to the back fence the dog lets loose. So to push our luck further, after the yard was done, my wife was done, and the baby was up, we all jumped in the pool. That I thought of course would set off the dog. But he stayed pretty behaved the entire time we were out today. If only I can count on days like this again, I could finally start enjoying my beautiful backyard again.

Now there is a variable that changed that I must note. We have been testing the Dog Silencer Pro for the past 3-4 weeks. As I have mentioned in previous posts, we haven't had much of a chance to see if the Dog Silencer Pro has been doing it's job because of the rain. Well my wife went to check on it the other day (because the dog had been barking) and found that it had gotten wet. Per the instructions, we took it inside and laid it on its face to let it drain and dry. But that meant today we didn't have it out with us. Surprisingly it also meant, we had a quiet dog. Part of me was wondering if the Dog Silencer Pro had been going off inadvertently because of surrounding noises. This may have been alerting the dog, or annoying it. Whichever, a day without the Dog Silencer Pro and we had a pretty well behaved canine. As for giving credit to the Dog Silencer Pro. I'm not ready to give that verdict. Plus I have some gripes about the product I need to express in my review. I am happy however to have been able to enjoy an entire day with my family without the stress that comes with a nuisance barking dog.

Good luck to you out there with a barking dog problem. I only hope you find relief somehow. Soon I will start updating my website (still in the works) to have links to local Animal Controls and procedures on reporting dogs. For now, just cross your fingers, and pray that the dog just shuts up!

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