Never ending

My biggest concern with complaining about nuisance dogs, is the reaction the people might have when you say you have a barking problem. I believe, most people don't think barking dogs are much of a problem. The other day, I was at my dads house, and I couldn't help but notice every dog that barked in the neighborhood. He seemed oblivious to the dogs. But ever since our problem began, I became more and more sensitive to dogs barking. The affects that the noise of a constantly barking dog, makes a person cringe, blood pressure raise, and just hampers any sanity you might have. Pavlov's law has worked number on my wife and I, and now just a single bark instantly raises our blood pressure. As for why my Dad doesn't seem affected, I'm not sure. Maybe it's all the years he had worked on Jet Engines. Or maybe his life is less stressful, so he's less inclined to notice. Whatever it is that makes some people less affected by a nuisance dog, and some more, I'm not sure. What I do know, is it does affect me. So I'll keep my blog alive, and maybe one day someone will notice me on here and want to help with the cause.

Was it a Full Moon?!

I started this blog primarily because I was, and still am frustrated with nuisance dogs. As I was outside this weekend, I was uspet to hear many dogs in the neighborhood that were barking non-stop. The only saving grace was most the dogs were far enough from our house, that when my wife and I went inside it wasn't so bothersome. But it made me think. Are other neighbors annoyed? Are they reporting these dogs? Are they doing anything? But I actually stumbled on something that made me realize, I must not be the only one. I always keep track of the visits to the blog, even though I haven't had any comments, I am getting traffic. Normally I have 10-15 unique visitors. That means people are searching for solutions to nuisance dogs. I sure don't have the end all solution, but I'm hoping to help people come up with some. This weekend I noticed a spike in searches for "silencing dogs" or nuisance dogs. Surprisingly this coincided with an increase in dog barking in my neighborhood. Coincidence or not, it made me realize people are suffering from peoples inability to take care of their novelty pets. I love dogs and animals just as much as the next, but if a person isn't able to keep their dog quiet, they shouldn't be allowed to have one.

If you are on the fence about reporting a nuisance dog to Animal Control or the appropriate authorities, I urge you to follow thru and report. It is important to report incidences of nuisance dogs to animal control. Part of their responsibilty is to educate people of properly handling a dog. That also includes educating pet owners of the real reason a dog barks.

Coming soon, I will start posting the contact information of your local Animal Control. If you know your local Animal control contact information, please let me know. I would like to compile a complete list of Animal Controls across the US and the proper procedures for reporting.

Letter to Animal Control for assistance:

My heart rate is up again, it's 9:30 pm, and my wife is trying to get baby down. Unfortunately, our neighbors dog is wide awake and left with no answer to it's plead for attention. We have already submitted our formal letter of complaint to Animal Services, but since it has only been a week, we're not sure if they have taken any formal action. I'm kind of upset...it is very frustrating. So to see if Animal Services can assist me in any way, here is my email/letter to them pleading for some help:


Hello Animal Services,

My wife and I recently filed our formal complaint with regards to address: Anywhere USA. We documented 3 months of activity. We continue to document. Is there any other steps we should follow moving forward. The yard is not very "tidy" either and for such a large dog, there really is no activity for it in there backyard. It is very frustrating especially in the evening. We have made it a point to leave our house most days after work, so not to be bothered. My wife and I are very upset that we live in such a great neighborhood yet we are not able to completely enjoy our own home.

Thank you for past assistance with regards to my original inquiry last year. The dog at the address you originally assisted with has not been a problem since. We grately appreciate the efforts of the Animal Services for that event.

Thank you again for any help you can be.

Frustrated Homeowner

I have received my Dog Silencer Pro back repaired. But I have not put it back up since we contacted Animal Services. I am waiting a week before putting it back up to see if Animal Services is able to remedy the problem. 

I plead to people, please own dogs responsibly. They are a huge responsibility and should not be taken in just because they are cute. They require much attention and care. And are full of energy that needs to be utilized. If not you end up with a dog with no way of expressing itself healthily, aside from damaging property or barking instantly 

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.

It just never ends with this dog!

Currently we are without any "Dog Silencing" products. If they work or not is still up for debate. But knowing that we had a device in our backyard fighting back against our nuisance neighbors dog, was somewhat comforting. But for now, we returned the product we got from Petsmart, and are waiting for our repaired or replaced product from Good Life, the makers of Dog Silencer Pro. We mailed out our Dog Silencer Pro on Monday, and we are eager to have it back and operational. This time when I re-install it in my yard I plan on positioninig it higher, and more directed towards the dog. Also, I plan on building a bird house for it to truly protect it from the elements. The plastic "weather proof cover" is a joke. When you put it on, it also muffles the sound that the product produces. I think without the cheap plastic bag they give you, the device can reach it's full potential.

Note on my return/replacement, Good Life makes you pay for all shipping costs.

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.