Completely Helpless!

Just the other day, Animal Control made another visit to our neighbors house because our neighbors dog has started up with its persistent barking. I'm not sure what to do next, and have sent an email to Animal Control. I'm not sure what else to do, its a upsetting to not be able to trust a neighbor, or worry about what they might do.

Below is my letter to Animal Control:

Thanks again for all your help. I did want to fill you in on the events that transpired after your response. The neighbor came over to my house, while my wife and son were home alone. He was not kind, and was confrontational. He told my wife that we need to stop reporting them. He also told us if the its such a problem, then we should move. Of course, this is not an option, and I do not have that kind of money. I called Animal Control before calling the Police, just to make sure I was within my rights. I am very upset, and concerned. We did call the police, and they came and talked to my wife. The police did go over to the residence, but no one was home when he went over.

We have now been confined to one room in our home, that is away from our backyard. Today, the neighbor left their dog out all day. And now the dog has barked consistently for over 3 hours. It is a slow bark, but it is a constant bark for attention, or to go inside. I don't know what else to do, and am very fearful of what this might escalate too.

The fact that someone came to my house, while I wasn't home, truly is upsetting. I am not able to protect my family, and feel helpless.

We continue to document, but are at a lost of what to do next. Is there anything else you can suggest. My wife is now also pregnant with our second child, and I don't want her stressed while she is pregnant. 

Any suggestions? I'm upset primarily, because now I am worried for my families safety. People can do funny things, regardless of who thinks they are right. When a person is upset, it makes for unpredictable situations. I love my family, and I only want to provide from them, all that I can. That includes a peaceful home to enjoy our time together.

Response from Animal Services

I received a promising response from my local animal services. The person I have been working with, has been very good about responding to my emails. She also makes it a point to confirm receipt of any complaints. It gives me some solace thinking that the person I am working with, at animal services, cares about my situation.

It's easy to dismiss noise pollution, or in this instance a barking dog, as a minor problem. But it is so far from a minor problem. When my wife, locks herself in the bathroom, with the fan on high in tears, because of the constant barking, I think there is a major problem. You would think that this type of emotional response might be reserved for traumatic experiences, like a terrifying storm, or maybe a prowler in the neighborhood. The reality is, nuisance noise can drive a person to go crazy, literally. My wife and I are now at the point, that when we hear a dog bark anywhere, we physically cringe. It's upsetting to know, a dog, has conditioned us to respond to barking in such a way.

I've been reaching out to the online community, and am finding more and more horror stories every day. As I have been reaching out, I thought, "How many of us, would it take, to make some change in how nuisance dog barking were taking more seriously". The only number I could come up with was 1 million. It seems to be a magic number. The million man march, 1 million dollars, and in this case, I believe 1 million of us that are fighting for the rights of humans, might be enough to have an impact on this problem.

Of course reaching 1 million people that are all in agreement with my cause, might be far fetched, but I figure it's a goal none the less. So I plan on starting small, and hopefully one day hit that number of followers, willing to stand up for this cause. So for now, my goal is to get 100 followers to my blog. These followers would constitute the population of people willing to fight for our rights to a quiet neighborhood. Free from nuisance dog barking.

Almost a year of Nuisance Dog Barking!

I started this blog as a way to vent about our neighbors nuisance dog. I stayed pretty consistent for a couple of months, but then I faded. Not because the dog stopped barking, but because I think I was giving up. But I realized today, that I need to keep up with my posts. Nuisance dogs are a problem. I should really say, nuisance dog owners are the problem. My wife and I have been trying to enjoy our Holiday weekend, sitting around the fire, decorating the tree, and just enjoying family time. But our neighbor has managed to make it impossible to enjoy our own home. The neighbors dog had barked most of the day for extremely long durations. At one point the dog barked for over an hour straight, just because we were in the backyard. We tried the Dog Silencer Pro, but I don't think we had the patience to keep the dog barker on the full 2 weeks or more for it to become effective. One problem using the Dog Silencer Pro, or probably any other dog silencing device, is that there is an initial "Training Period" which means the dog will probably bark much more than before the device. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't handle the additional barking that the Dog Silencing device created.

My wife had to leave the house twice to get away and relax. She had to leave her own beautiful home to relax! On top of our attempts to use a dog silencing device, we've also stopped using our backyard. My son is almost two, and loves to be outside. But because of this dog, we have been unable to enjoy backyard time together as a family. We primarily play in the front yard, or he helps me in the garage. I love my family, and as a husband, I only want whats best for them. I feel helpless when dealing with a neighbors nuisance dog.

On top of our attempts at dog silencing products, we have numerous complaints in to our local animal control services. Including 2 citations. My last email to our animal control was more of a desperate plea. I'm posting a video this time, of the dog that has ruined our otherwise beautiful home. This is the dog barking for over a minute pretty much non-stop. This video shows what the dog does for very long durations, with no response from the owners. If anyone else has any suggestions, please, please offer them. Aside from trying legally to have the nuisance dog dealt with, we plan on putting in a privacy hedge next year. We'll see what happens, this week we plan on filing another formal complaint, which will make this the 3rd citation.

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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