Certain days it's hard for dogs not to bark....

My wife has been really bummed this entire week because of the weather. When the sun isn't shining it really affects her mood. However that may be, I have been okay with it because with the rain, comes less barking. Apparently owners of nuisance dogs don't like to leave them in the rain. Which thankfully isn't a bad thing, for the dog and myself. I've noticed a dramatic decrease in the dog barking, but not the non-stop silence I would hope for every day. Our log (we keep a log of the barking dog) is still riddled with times when the dog is less than acceptable. But for the most part, the rain means more silence everywhere. Which is okay by me, I'll take rain and a movie with no barking dog any day!

Alas, the reason for my blog tonight. I have been hearing all the neighborhood dogs barking a little extra tonight, but no fault of their own. It is the Fourth of July weekend, and that means all the home grown pyrotechnics are in full swing. I'm guilty of enjoying a good backyard fireworks display myself, and because of this I just chock up these days leading up to the Fourth of July as a freebie for the dogs. Thankfully, like I said before, it has been limited by the weather...the dogs, not the fireworks.

As for my reviewing of the Dog Silencer Pro, I'm unable to really gauge it this week. With all the rain, there really hasn't been any chances to see if the dogs are barking, or barking less, or not at all. Monday marks week three of it's operation. I plan on giving it the full week to see if there is any significant improvement, based on the products request. The company offers a one month guarantee, and I plan on holding them to that. I think I will wait until the fourth week to complete my total review of the Dog Silencer Pro product.

Until then, I hope everyone has a safe Fourth of July, and a BarkFreeZone so you can enjoy your neighborhood!

Dog won't stop barking!!!

It's upsetting to be part of a neighborhood sometimes. Especially when there is no consideration for each other. My family is pretty quiet. Actually we could be seen as kind of boring. But what we enjoy is just relaxation, and that comes with soothing noises. Not nuisance noises produced by a dog not properly trained. I don't have anything against pets, so much as I have a problem with their owners. Dogs bark for a reason, if the reason is not valid, the owner needs to remedy the problem. Otherwise a dog just becomes the source of much anxiety to the neighbors.

Today I went out to do some yard work. I had my Ipod on, and couldn't really hear much else, other than my music. But when I shut off the lawn mower to come in for a break, my wife was in tears. Our neighbors dog, had been barking non-stop the entire time I was out mowing the yard. Even the sound of the lawn mower wasn't enough to drown out the nuisance noise produced by the dog. The dog barked for over 45 min, enough to bring my poor wife to tears, of helplessness. I told her to take the baby for a drive, to unwind. The sad thing is I had to ask my wife to leave her own home for peace and quiet. There is something horribly wrong when you have to leave your own home to find peace.

I am currently designing a website, BarkFreeZone.com, I'm hoping to bring to everyone's attention the proven emotional effects nuisance noises have on people. There are ordinances in place to address these problems, but I feel they need to be taken more seriously. Most of the actions you can take are limited, or require legal intercession, with no guarantee of a resolution. Plus, you make yourself vulnerable to your neighbor and any retaliation. If there is a legitimate documented problem of a nuisance dog there should be action taken to eliminate the problem.

Please chime in if you too are suffering from a barking dog or dogs. I encourage everyone to support a Bark Free Zone in all neighborhoods!

Week and a Half with Dog Silencer

Well can't say any great news about the Dog Silencer yet. But according to Pavlov's Law, the dog has conditioned my family to not go into the backyard. Also whenever we do go back there we get tense just knowing our quiet afternoon could so easily be ruined by our neighbors dog.

I'm trying to maintain a positive attitude and hope that this device will stop the dogs barking. However, the "training period" is painful. Per the instructions, we are to give the device 2-3 weeks to be effective. Also during that time frame, it is said there can be an increase in barking, due to the dog barking at the noise from the Dog Silencer Pro. It is very hard to think that this thing will ever work. My wife and I were very agitated by about an hours worth of constant barking.

When we are outside we turn on the audible function, mainly to confirm the device is functioning properly. My wife says through out the day she turns the audible function on, and she states it is more effective that way.

I'm hoping by Monday we can start to see results. It would be great to enjoy our backyard again.

Morning Swim, Limited Dog Barking!

Wife and I went for a morning dip in the pool. About 5 min into the swim, I heard the neighbors dog barking, but it was from inside their house. Figure the dog wanted outside, and about 2 minutes later, they let him out. He was pretty good for about 10 minutes, then he made a couple barks. But I must say, they were short lived. I went to see if the Dog silencer was blinking, and it was. Verdict is still not out on it's effectiveness. But I did enjoy my swim, and aside from a few yaps, it wasn't like it was before. Time will only tell.

4 Days of the Dog Silencer Pro

I wanted to document every day of the Dog Silencer Pro. Unfortunately, I have not been able to keep up with all my responsibilities. So my blog is delayed. The first day we didn't put the Dog Silencer Pro out, because the weather was pretty bad. And I didn't want to risk damaging the product on the first day with no chance to see if the product even works at silencing the dog. Second day, we put the product out. Fortunately there wasn't much action from the dog. Wednesday, my wife was out with our baby, and my my sister-in-laws kids. She reported the dog was barking away. She wasn't sure how to work it, and kept switching it from audible to silent. She said the dog seemed less persistent when it was on silent. But he didn't actually stop. I reminded her that the product can actually make a dog bark more in the beginning stages.

For now the key is consistency. I have the product up on my pool deck. The rails are higher than the neighbors fence, so the Dog Silencer Pro shouldn't have anything blocking it.

I'm still apprehensive of the results, but look forward to a quiet backyard one day.

Dog Silencer Pro shipped!

My Dog Silencer Pro shipped today. Estimated delivery date is June 14, 2010. In the meantime, I went into my backyard to jump in the pool, and the dog of course decided to bark at me. I decided to blow the dog whistle, and it seemed to have lessened his duration of barking. I won't be happy however until the dog has been trained to not bark unless there is truly a danger present. I have observed the dog outside for the entire day. It seems that the homeowner leaves the dog out all day. It's upsetting to see that some dog owners don't really care for their dogs, rather they just leave them outside until they want their attention. Dogs require a lot of attention and training. If an owner isn't ready to take on that responsibility, they shouldn't own one.

Of course the norm is to have a dog when it's convenient.

In addition to the Dog Silencer, I am looking to add a hedge or some type of natural barrier for my back fence to help create some privacy in our backyard. This is more for our own privacy, since our house sits higher than our backyard neighbor. But there is the added benefit of some noise reduction from the neighbors.

If you find my post, please post your own horror stories of nuisance barking dogs in your neighborhood.