I just wondered if anyone could give me any advice on barking. I have two dogs and one of them (Muffin) insists on barking when I leave for work in the morning at 8 o'clock. She's a collie cross aged 11 and she's always been left with another dog for company during the day. We moved into a new house a year ago and about a month after we were told by the neighbours that they were barking ALL DAY. Muffin is a bit overweight and we really didn't think she was fit enough to bark for 8 hours so we started videotaping her (it amounted to just over an hour).

Anyway to cut a very long story short, we have seen two different "behaviourists" (one of them advised we put her on very strong sedatives!!!! - she was on clomicalm at the time but that did no good). Each one of them told us different things and we saw no improvement. I've started to hide their food around the place (have recently switched to a BARF diet and trying homeopathic flowers remedies), give them kongs and treat balls, leave the radio on, bought her a crate, gave her basic training, have a DAP diffuser, along with more exercise but I've only managed to get it down to about 10-20 minutes. I know it must be hell living next door to the noise but I don't know what else I can do. Does 20 minutes of NON-constant barking (amounts to about 10 seconds every five minutes or so) constitute a nuisance in the laws eyes?

Really worried about it - have even tried one of those high pitched bark breakers but they just laughed at that. Sorry this is so long just tried to give you the full picture.

Thanks for your help.

Poor you, it certainly seems as if you are pulling all the stops out to try and get this sorted out, even to the extent of seeing one of the behaviourists-from-hell.

Do you know if she barked like this at your old house? It could be something she's always done, and your old neighbours didn't object/didn't notice. If so, it could be a very ingrained habit.

Do you know if there's anything that 'sets her off'? People walking past the house, a car alarm, someone else's dog barking in the distance?

I don't know what else you can try, but if a total of 20 minutes occasional barking legally constitutes a nuisance I'd be very surprised. Keep smiling.

We were having a similar problem with Chelsea, though her barking was triggered by the dog next door. We finally broke down and bought her an aboistop collar and it worked a charm. Doesn't work with all dogs so you may want to see if your vet could loan you one, but definitely worth a try.

I did see a couple were advertised for sale here in the Bring and Buy section.

Wendy

Thanks for the replies. We never got any complaints at the old house, although she was quite destructive (now have to have bolts in my fridge and freezer doors to keep her out!) She's really good now, just likes to knock the washing basket over and see what we've put in the bin which I can live with. Sometimes I wish she was still destructive cos at least then it would only be our problem and wouldn't have to disturb the neighbours.

We thought about one of those squirty collars but as we have another dog we figured that if he barked it would punish the one wearing it. Muffin is also a bit nervous so she could be in a bit of a state when we get home if we used one. We do know that sometimes the neighbours at one side are extremely noisy on a morning. They have two children and we sometimes hear them shouting and being shouted at, on a morning. We've tried to suggest to the neighbours that it may be that what is disturbing the dogs but I think because it's kids that are being noisy they think that is acceptable.

If anyone has any other ideas I would be most grateful but am also grateful for words of encouragement.

Thanks again.

I have jjust had a catalogue from Canine Chemist. There is a devise to use in the room where the dog is that emits an unpleasant high frequency sound if the dog barks. I have never heard of this or heard whether it works. does anyone have any more info???

That's what I tried Brainless but, when I looked back at the video of them barking while I was out, all they seemed to do was just look at it and carry on barking. I had it on the "silenced to humans" setting though cos I had a Guinea Pig at the time that was distubred by it so I don't know whether the fully audible bit would work. Was very loud though and I figured that that would disturb the neighbours just as much as the dogs barking! Was £50 down the drain in my opinion.

I have one of the ultra sonic collars and it only took two barks for my dog to stop barking, any excuse to bark and she would, she gets lots of praise for not barking and now comes in for praise and you can almost hear her saying 'aren't I good'. It is not as heavy and bulky as the Aboistops. She doesn't worry about the noise just looked down and wondered but soon worked out that if she barked it whistled.

The advantage of the collar is they realise its them not what is that thing over there.

My 12 year old boy didn't stop barking at my bitch in season though, hormones got the better of him. The Aboistop didn't really stop him either!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had the same problem with my Schnauzer when we moved house 2 yrs ago....Like you, our neighbours complained - we taped him and he was barking (howling) non stop from 5 mins after we left until when we came back (hours at a time) We never had this problem at our old house.

We did some thinking and realised that at the old house the dog used to sit on the windowsill in the bedroom when we went out..we had an ottoman that he could jump on to and then sleep or look out of the window. The problem was that he could not look out in our new home. We got 'his' ottoman of my mother and put it under the window and voila, we have not had anywhere near as much barking. (barks at passers by but then he stops)

So the only advice i have is think really hard what is different in your new house? Did she have a sleeping place, has the routine changed? Did she have a favouite passtime that she no longer has...Does she have more/less room now? you could try taking her out for a walk/run before you go out.. Or try some basic training again..We had to do the 30 seconds, come back 1 min come back...Took about 2 weeks and he is fine now...He is so fine that im letting my self in for another barker in 5 weeks, we bought him a pup! (Hopefully will keep him occupied and not create 2x the ammount of noise! lol)

Just some ideas..

Roxanne

Muffin used to be locked in the kitchen in the old house because she was so destructive. There was no lock on the kitchen door when we moved here so we had to take a chance on the first day and she was fine, so now she has the run of the downstairs. We used to leave the curtains open in the room but we saw on the videotape that she was jumping up at the window and looking out barking so we started to close them and it has definitely helped. Hubby takes her out for a walk on a morning and she comes back tired (she's overweight so it doesn't take much), he then puts on the DAP diffuser and stuffs her belly with food in the hope that that will lull her to sleep. We also tried not taking her for an early walk and not feeding her first thing but it makes no difference.

The only difference in her lifestyle is that she now has more room. Could try shutting her in the kitchen again I suppose but she'll probably end up scratching her way through the door again!!

Any more ideas anyone? Most grateful.

Andrea

I am so pleased I have found this site, it's made me feel a lot better already. I have had my x-labrador for just 4 weeks, we got it from the rspca and he's about 4 years old. Unfortunitly we work during the day and have to leave the dog outside for about 8 hours a day during the week. Anyway we received a letter from the council just the other day saying that someone had complained about the noise. I worried about it all weekend and phoned the council this morning. I found out that 4 people have complained that he is barking continuosly all day!
I feel awful, he is such a happy dog and we get so much joy from having him. Now i feel like i am a bad dog owner for neglecting my dog all day long and that he must be unhappy. I also find it hard to believe that he barks all day long as we have waited outside before we come home and haven't heard him barking. We had also been asking our neighbours on both sides, before we received this letter,one of which is at home all day and she says he doesn't bark, only occasionally when he can hear things going on outside.
I don't really want him in the house all day long because of the mess but it looks like thats what we will have to do and Im sure he'd rather be out in the sun. But I feel awful that we are causing a disturbance. I've looked at the anti bark sprays on the internet but at approx £80 I don't want to pay this unless Im confident that it will work.
Any comments will be gratefully received and cheer me up!

Hi Kelly and welcome to the Forum :)

Could I ask you ...is your dog in kennels in the garden when you are at work or is he just out in the garden? I have to say , I have had to complain to the council about a pair of dogs near me that barked almost continuously ....and the owners didnt believe me ;) Unfortunately , the dogs used to begin once they knew that the owners had gone ....they are not daft :) Also ..if they bark in the garden , they will bark in the house too as a general rule ..

Did the RSPCA ask if you worked fulltime? I dont want you to feel victimised ...I am not passing judgement ..just curious :)

Melody :)

Dogs barking can be very annoying, but it does annoy me that kids making continual noise all day for weeks on end is considered acceptable, but because a dog is a dog, is is not acceptable. Seems unfair really :(

Years ago I was on the receiving end of a neighbourhood petition, (strange that they were all nice to me to my face, and that the biggest complainant allowed his elderly spaniel to defecate outside my gate and did't pick it up ) and basically the problem was that mu dogs were often inside, but because i left windows open the barking (any barking) sounded loud, also the road was a cul de sac type so I guess noise seemed louder.

Anyway I basically ended up changing my whole life and stopped working and worked from home as a landlady which I hated, but much better for the dogs!

So sorry I can't offer much help, but just to let you know that you are not alone :)

Good luck, hope it does get sorted.

Lindsay

My dog is in a run with a kennell, the rspca knew we would be out all day and inspected the garden and run before we got the dog. He also has plenty of toys and a radio to occupy him. He is quite happy to go out there in the mornings and knows his routine now, although he does whine not bark when we first go sometimes.
He hardly ever barks in the house, only really when he hears noises but not all the time. He never barks at us or when he goes out for walks.
I know on a few occasions when we've come home and left him outside for a little bit before bringing him home he hasn't been making any noise, just lying in his bed. Of course he goes completly mad with excitement when we do go to get him!

Hi Kelly ...yes , the dogs near us were by and large quiet when their owners were at home ... :)

Could you ring the RSPCA and talk it over with them ..maybe see what they suggest vis a vis the Aboistop Collar? I know a lot of people on here have used the remote ones to good effect but I am not sure about the automatic one ...

Melody :)

Have you actually tried putting on a tape or video recorder to see if it is really your dog barking? A freind had complaints about her dogs barking at night, which was impossbile as they sleep in her bedroom. Turned out to be another dog entirely, but as she has a lot of dogs the neighbours just assumed it was hers!

we all seem to bend over backwards in trying to keep our dogs quiet for our neighbours sakes, and yet the people who leave their poor dogs out in all weathers day and night seem to get away with it.I have 3 labs and work part time.in summer they are out in the garden and in winter in the house.Given the amount of noise both adjoining neighbours make with their kids and diy habits i would be incensed if anyone complained about an occasional noise from my dogs.

Hi
Well i car't see a problem here i have been thought this one twice with my council so far in larst 4 years once they get complaint then they have to have a recording from complaintant then they come out and lisen to noise level for themself then talk to owners unreasnable amount of barking is if your dog is none stop for more then 10 mins in more then 1 hour
or if there barking when some one walks past your home then stoping this is classes as ok
sandy