Awful Situation!

This has remained a very frustrating situation. I received a text from my wife that our neighbor came to our door to tell us to stop reporting them for the dogs barking. When my wife defended our position, he advised her to one: deal with it, since dogs bark! Two: Buy window treatments. Three: Stop reporting them. Four: To Move! This was all done towards my wife, with my little two year old just hanging out.

Of course, you can imagine, I was, and still am pretty upset. A grown man, comes to confront my wife, while I'm not home, all while he is angry and confrontational. I never felt so helpless. I was not be able to stand up for my family.

Here's the reality; We have been working through problems with our neighbors nuisance dog, for a long time now. It all started with myself going over to my neighbors house to discuss the problem. That encounter ended with the owner of the house acknowledging the problem, but letting me know "Dogs Bark!" Unfortunately, I'm not on board with this reasoning. And when a dog barks for more than 15 minutes straight, to over 1 hour or more of continuous barking, there is a problem. And from that day on, we made it a point to document all barking dog activity.

After much documenting, we were able to file complaints to Animal Control. We actually had two formal complaints that ended in violations tickets issued. The last violation seemed to have remedied the situation.

Fast forward to warmer weather, and the neighbors have reverted back to leaving the dog out all day with no attention. The other day, I came home, and my wife was in tears. The dog had been barking on and off all day. Whenever she would go outside to let our son play in our backyard, the dog would bark directly at her and my son. Also, we found the neighbors fence is falling over, and the dog is able to put is face through openings in the fence. Needless to say, I'm not a fan of a dog that has access to my son.

So comes my frustration, the neighbors adult son, made a trip to confront my wife. This was prompted because of Animal Controls prompt response to an email I sent to them the night before. My frustration had boiled over, and my only recourse was to let Animal Services know of the dog problem starting back up. I also asked if anything could be done about the fence, and their yard (the neighbors yard is littered with junk).

Any direct confrontation to discuss the matter is now a moot point. By the simple fact that the neighbors son would advise us to move, lets me know the type of person I have as a neighbor.

I am very upset, that we still have not completely been able to enjoy our beautiful home and yard. I pray for my patience and sanity, to maintain a calm disposition towards my neighbor if I see him. I pray that no confrontation comes of our neighbors seeing us anymore. I pray for just an enjoyable day, with considerate neighbors.

As a result of the neighbor coming over, we did call the police. My wife did feel threatened, and the neighbor did not come peacefully or with any good intentions. The police did come, and went over the their house, but no one answered. The police have advised my wife to call if any other altercation occurs, and report it immediately. I just hope this all blows over, and we can enjoy our summer.

What do you think? What would you do? (talking to neighbor is no longer an option)

Wish I could enjoy the warm weather!

Just want to enjoy the warm weather like everyone else. Unfortunately, when warm weather comes, that also means it's time to for neighbors to leave the dogs outside. And that means more barking. I wish it were easy to just pick up and move. The reality is, most people aren't able to afford moves. Especially when it involves a purchased home. I can be thankful for the winter. We were fortunate enough to not have a barking problem. But we also didn't spend anytime in our backyard. My wife and I actually were very hesitant of spending any time in our backyard, figuring why push our luck.

Well this afternoon, I took my son outside to enjoy the warmer weather. All seemed well, until he ran near the back of our yard. That's all it took. Our neighbors dog started barking at us immediately. I walked over to see where the dog was, and the dog was near the fence, and just barking directly at us. Not only was the dog barking a problem, but I noticed the fence was loose. Now I have a barking dog, with the potential of getting into our yard. Not a combination that I'm at all happy about. Thankfully, after my inspection of the fence, and a quick yell at the dog to stop, the neighbors came out and took the dog in.

I'm still frazzled that I'm still dealing with this issue. Animal Control has been great throughout all of my reporting, and has definitely had a huge impact on the barking problem. I'm just upset that, now I'm so programmed from the frustration of the barking that did occur, that my tolerance for a dog bark is very low. Had the owner addressed the barking sooner, I might have a higher tolerance for moderate barking.

Ideally, I'm hoping I can earn more in my career soon, and make a move that puts us in a better neighborhood, with more space between us and our neighbors hopefully. It's been over a year now since we've moved into our home. The barking problem has definitely made it very stressful for us living here. Even now that the barking is much less, it still has had a lasting impact on how we are able to enjoy our own home. It's not easy to forget the discomfort caused by the nuisance barking, and my wife and I are very wary of any activity in our backyard.

I hope the incident that we had today, is not the norm. We still plan on using our backyard, and letting our son enjoy running around and playing with all his toys. But we also plan on staying vigilante in our reporting of any dog barking nuisance.

It's still polution!

In a day that being "green" has become hip, and environmentalism has become popular. It's scary to think that one pollution is looked at as not being at all important. One that affects millions of people everyday, some without any knowledge of the ill affects it has on them. A pollution so blatantly obvious, but so easily dismissed.

I'm speaking of noise pollution. Of course noise pollution comes in so many forms, including, vehicles, people, excessively loud music (especially bass), and my least favorite, nuisance barking dogs. As detrimental to a persons health, as noise pollution is, it is not taken as seriously as other forms of pollution. But if it were to be taken more seriously, I believe it could have an amazing impact on society. People naturally are less stressful in more peaceful surroundings. With reduced, or no noise pollution, people are able to think more clearly, and be more creative. There is just more enjoyment in life, one that comes only with some silence.

Unfortunately for myself, I don't live in that world. I have just came inside from listening to my neighborhoods dogs, barking at nothing. No robbers, no trespassers, no noises, aside from other dogs barking. Also, no owners around to get their dogs to stop barking.

Thankfully for now, our close proximity barking dog nuisance has been lessened. But the neighborhood is still full of nuisance dogs. As I listened in horror to the dogs, I thought; am I the only one that cares, do any of the other neighbors go crazy from hearing the dogs bark non-stop. I hope not.

I just pray to have a more quiet peaceful home in the near future. One without so many inconsiderate neighbors. Probably one without neighbors would be better. I guess I can just hope and pray.

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.

Thankfully I'm not alone

I'm sorely glad, that I have found other people with the same problems my family has faced with nuisance neighbors barking dog. Lately I have been scouring the internet of stories, of nuisance neighbors and their dogs or other activities. My stories seem to pale in comparison to so many, but the end result remains the same. We live in what we would hope to be a quiet and peaceful place, and a thoughtless neighbor takes away our peace by allowing their dog to bark with no consequence. It's actually a terrifying examination of human nature, learning about these neighbors and the horror stories of how the neighbors react, to otherwise polite attempts to resolve the situation. I am glad though to find, I am not alone, and that their is some civility out there. I truly wish everyone to enjoy the fruits of their labor, and that includes ones own home, and the peace and quiet we should all expect to experience there.

Today I was thinking about what goes into licensing a pet. And I believe it is merely a formality by local government to keep track of animals and their dwellings. But then I thought, what a great opportunity to qualify an owner, to be a competent dog/pet owner. Wouldn't that just make sense. Not that I want to take away from dog ownership, but improperly raised dogs cause problems for the owners and the public. Unfortunately, I believe many people own dogs merely as a novelty. They like the company of the dog when it is convenient to them. But dogs require constant interaction and attention. With proper caring and training a dog is definitely a great companion to have. But without that caring and training, a dog is left to be a nuisance to the owner and others. Also, as a dog/pet owner, additional requirements might include, specific verbiage by local government holding the owners responsible for keeping their dogs from nuisance barking or nuisance behavior. Stipulations like this, might deter a person from owning a dog and truly consider all the ramifications of owning a pet.

I'm hoping to stay consistent now with what I started with my site, BarkFreeZone.com . It all started as a way to vent, but now I see it can be used to reach out and unite people looking for some relief from what is already a hectic world we're all part of.

It's hard to love thy Neighbor!

I've sat at my window thinking, "God, do you really want me to love this person, this person who cares nothing for his own animal? That they just leave it outside, and bring it in when it suits them. Do I really care to love my neighbor, since they show no regard to myself? The same neighbor who shows no consideration for anyone else, by having a yard full of junk. God, how do I love any neighbor in that case?"

I think many people have to, at some point, realize that one of our greatest commandments, is almost impossible for us to embrace. We would rather skip over this commandment, in hopes that it won't matter so much in the end. My only option to show any love for my neighbor is to pray for them. I know we all have our struggles, and I can pray for their lives, and peace on them. I think God asks us to be selfless, and learn to love like God loves. It's what makes us human though, and flawed.

I will keep trying to "Love" my neighbor, but when we aren't able to find silence, because of their nuisance dog, I feel only malice towards them, for not being considerate. I'll keep trying, and in the meantime, I'll pray for us all, because we're all here together, trying to just get by sometimes.

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.