This Dogs Just Won't Stop Barking! What Can I Do?

I would probably just call the police. I say that because we had this problem when i was growing up. Well if the people are the type who dont care if their dogs are outside barking all day, they most likely wont care what you have to say. If you go to them, and then eventually end up going to the police, they are going to know you are the ones who called. I would just make an anonymous call to the police.
I give you a HUGE pat on the back for putting up with it for so long. That is one of my biggest pet peeves (no pun intended).

Call the police, thats ridiculous!! This happened to me too when I was pregnant, and it was only one, sharp, high pitched yorkie. I wanted to stick needles in my ears!! .

I live near you. Go online and fill out a complaint form.

http://plano.gov/Departments/Police/Contact%20Information...

In response to another suggestion...as far as I know, the limit is 5 dogs. If you get over five dogs, they are in violation.

As a dog owner, I say to you...YES! There is absolutely something dog owners' can do about barking!

Like bring them inside maybe? Or maybe some training?

I do not understand people who have dogs then just leave them outside all day and all night?

My wonderful dog is not a barker, thank goodness...he is also only outside to use the bathroom, then he is right back inside with us!

But my neighbors have 2 dogs and they leave them out all the time and I can not stand it when they start barking...so frustrating!

Thank goodness your daughter can sleep through all that noise!

~I have never called any authorities on anybody, especially neighbors...but 5 dogs, barking ALL the time? I just might place a call and complain.

Have you talked with the neighbors? What do they say?

Go to your neighbors and talk to them.
Ask them to bring the dogs in for a good part of the day.

My husband has a good line when he calls the neighbors behind us. They have a little yip-yap that will bark from 8 - 10 pm daily. He will call over there and say, "you might want to check on the dog..it sounds very upset."

There may be some barks from time to time....but constant barking should not be permitted.

If that doesn't work, call the city and complain.

I like Susan's idea of calling the neighbor and saying, "I'm concerned about your dogs because they've been barking so much. Would you check them to see if they're all right?"

Dogs bark for lots of reasons. One is that they may be bored. I feel sorry for dogs that are left alone with too little attention or training. I guess I should feel sorry for their neighbors, too!

My dog isn't a barker, but I have two granddogs (yes, you read it correctly) who bark a lot when they come to visit. They think they owe it to the squirrels. I have to keep a close eye (and ear) on them.

i have 2 dogs. they don't bark ALOT but they do bark (they're dogs) but.... when it's early morning and i let my dogs out if they bark a couple times i let it go BUT if they are barking for a min or 2 straight i go out there and bring them in! i think if dogs are left outside all the time, they get bored and they tend to bark TOO much. one of my neighbors has 2 outside dogs and sometimes they get barking ALOT. one week they were barking every single night for HOURS and i did call the police. there is a noise ordinance after 11pm. i'm sure your city might have something similar. during certain hours of the day / night you have to keep quiet! i would call the non-emergency police line (that's what i did) and they send an officer out - and they did keep it anonomys for me. good luck. i am a dog lover but ........... non stop barking dogs drive me crazy!!!

I would be very careful about talking to your neighbors. As much as this is a good idea and should be the first step, you must use precaution and make sure that they don't feel like you are attacking them.

I had a neighbor who played their very inappropriate music way too loud. I asked and asked and asked. I complained to our home owners association who wrote letters asking them to turn it down, and then I finally called the police several times and they received a noise citation several times. The hatred my neighbors had for me was really scary. I felt that I gave them every chance I could. I felt that if they could not turn it down or put head phones on, they no longer deserved my patience and I had to have a third party (the police) intervene. The police wanted to have a mediator help the two families discuss a solution but my neighbors refused.

So be careful.....make sure you document everything.

Good luck and congratulations on being pregnant.

oh-you should absolutely complain!! That would drive me so nuts! Nothing irritates me more than the sound of a dog barking.

I would leave an anonymous note in their mailbox. If nothing improves soon afterward, then file a complaint. I had a wonderful dog who had to stay outside all day while I was away at work. I don't think she barked, but I never had anyone tell me otherwise. I would have appreciated a note before I heard from the city.
There was a time when I fostered a beagle. I had to let her out in the morning around 6:30am for a potty break, and she would immediately begin braying and yodeling in her loudest voice to sing to the morning! I was so worried about my neighbor, assuming he wasn't awake yet, and took the first step to apologize in advance. Then I found her a home as quickly as I could - in the country! Good luck to you and congratulations on your new baby!

Not sure if you have seen this...it is the City of Plano Noise Complaint Form...specifically for dogs. :) Here is a little info from the form:

"A person wishing to file a complaint against the owner of a dog creating a disturbance by barking, howling or yelping is encouraged to maintain a dog Noise Complaint Log. A detailed, specific, and accurately kept log means a better chance of success if the case should be challenged in court. After this log is completed and signed, return to Animal Services"...

http://pdf.plano.gov/animal/noiselog.pdf

In Plano, there is a noise ordanice code:
Section 4-24(d) City of Plano Animal Services Ordinance, Public
Nuisances: It shall be unlawful and constitute a public nuisance
to keep any animal which, by causing frequent or long
continued barking, howling, crowing, meowing or other noise,
shall disturb any person of ordinary sensibilities residing in the
vicinity of the premise where the animal is kept, housed or harbored.
Any person in violation of this section may be found guilty of a
misdemeanor and incur penalties.

And here is a brochure about noisy animals and how to handle it:
http://pdf.plano.gov/animal/barking_dogs.pdf

Good luck! I too am a dog owner of two dogs and I feel horrible when they one bark too much or if I have let them out during the night and they bark. It is MY responsibility as a pet owner to make sure they are not being a nuisance to others. Kind of like kids...would you let them run all over a store screaming? :)

Call the city and find out what the ordinance is for barking dogs then call animal control, probably handled through a non-emergency police number. Although I know Ft. Worth has a separate animal control number. They are probably right at the city limit for the number of dogs with 5. Who knows maybe some of the other neighbors have complained too. I know my one dog makes a lot of noise sometimes and if he gets obnoxious he gets brought back in the house.

We have/had this same problem and I would bet your neighbors are greatly aware of the problem. Our neighbors have 4 large dogs outside, one that barks constantly. My husband talked to her very politely and kept the conversation very friendly. She told us she was very aware of the problem and explained all the steps she had taken and what she had planned if the problem continued. One thing she promised to do was to start putting the dogs up by 10 PM and this has helped a great deal. One time we even had a letter stuck in our door appologizing in advance that they were going to be on an overnight trip and that the dog would be out all night. Yes, this was a pain, but at least we knew what was going to happen.

If you go talk to the neighbor, you might find they are well aware of the problem but haven't done anything about it because no one has complained. It is very important to us to have a good relationship with all our neighbors and having a civilized conversation is a great place to start.

Call your local police. Your area may have a limit to how many dogs a homeowner can have, and a time frame in which the dogs can be outside, a noise limit. This is excessive also if it dosn't stop start calling the homeowners everytime the dogs are barking they'll get sick of it and start controlling their dogs. I have two of my own, we don't leave them out all day, and when they start barking I step outside and tell them NO. They usually stop right away but if they don't in the house they come.

I have the same thing! My neighbors dog drives me and family nuts and I'm not pregnant! They have been barking for almost 2 yrs now. Allllllllll day long till exactly 8pm and then they take them inside I suppose. If they barked past 8pm I'd have already gone bonkers and called the city or something. I am actually going to leave them an annonimous note in their mailbox. We'll see if anything changes. I went out and bought the bark off as seen on tv. It emits a high pitch sound when they bark. It DID NOT work. It didn't work at all and we tried it for over week. Save your money on that one. Good luck. I'm going with the letter first then I guess I'll have to call the city and see if they can do anything. Good luck and congratulations on being pregnant!

J.G.,
We took in a puppy that barked all day and all night once we put him with our older dog in a wire fenced area. Like those dogs, he barked at everything. He was quiet in the house, but my husband refused to allow that.

Our neighbors spoke to us, so we got a collar that sprayed him, then one that shocked him. Finally, we cut his vocal cords - twice. I never thought I would do such a thing, but no-one would take him. It was that or death.

This is the only dog that we have ever had that barked. It may be his breed.

Just know that there is no easy way to make a dog stop barking.

Good luck,
Jen

You are unfortunate to be living next to a pack of dogs. This is different than if they had just one or two dogs. A pack of dogs is like a mob of people - if one dog barks, they all instinctively bark with each other and the commotion turns into a riot. We have three dogs living behind us and it is the same. They bark at every person that walks by. It sucks the most when my neighbor gets up and lets them out at 6 am. I'm afraid you're SOL unless the city has an ordinance about how many dogs a person is allowed to have. 5 seems like too many. Call the city.

What?! Are these dogs left outside barking all day? Are the people home when they are outside?
I have O. dog and I am very aware of his barking and I bring him in right away if he's out and barking.
I'm sure you can anonymously call the police dept. to report nuisance barking. Maybe they are oblivious to it and O. call will do the trick. Hope so.

Physically the only thing a dog owner could do is have the dogs vocal cords cut so they CAN NOT bark at all... (I am not in favor of this!) As a dog owner I am concious of my barking dog... She is usually an inside dog and behaves very well inside and on her leash... But heaven forbid she get outside without a leash on... She WILL NOT come to us... Will not listen... You say her name and she runs the other way... She stays near our house,.... Thankfully no neighbors have complained... But last week she got out ( thanks to the 3 yr old child ) and stood in our yard BARKING for 4 hours straight... I am also confused as to how they don't end up hoarse!!!
In the very least I would guess that there would be a noise ordinance or some thing...
Living in TX you don't really have to worry about the cold as we up here in MI do... But maybe call animal control and see what they have to say... Perhaps an inspection would be warrented...

I would never report my neighbors dogs. They were their first. I would talk to the neighbor and tell them that you are having trouble with the dogs barking all day. Maybe they are at work and do not know that the dogs bark. I would ask them to bring the dogs in the house at night if they bark at night. Give then a chance to work on it. Tell then that the dogs barking are keeping your family awake at night. I am sure they will try and fix the problem, they just need to know about it.

Do some research. I believe there are devices that you can have on your property that emits a high pitched sound when the dogs bark. The dogs can hear it (people can't) and they don't like it. It is designed to be a barking deterent for people in your situation. I would guess that companies that make bark collars would be good resources for this type of item. If they don't make it, their customer service representatives probably know who does. Good luck!

I live in a neighborhood where the houses are pretty close together, and the fence in our backyard is the only separation from our neighbor's backyard. I called our neighborhood homeowner's association multiple times... they said that they can revoke that homeowner's privileges to the community (pools, tennis courts, etc.) if they don't do anything about their barking dog. Since that neighbor was ignoring the HOA's written notices, I typed out a frustrated, but cordial, anonymous letter and put it in their mailbox to be respectful of their neighbors and control their dog's barking. It seemed to work, except after a few months they would conveniently "forget" about the complaint and let their dog bark again, and I mean for at least 4-5 hours a day. So I put another typed note in their mailbox, and sometimes the dog still barks, but not the extent it was before. I am a stay-at-home mom, so the endless hours of barking really, really gets on my nerves since I am home most days. If any dog barks for that long everyday, there is a problem, like the dog is not happy about something, and the owner needs to fix it.

Yes, it would bother me. Your neighbors aren't very respectful of others around them. I would speak with them or have my husband do it. I know it can be awkward. My neighbor's dog used to bark constantly every time they went out of town and my neighbors had no idea. I spoke with them about it and they were very apologetic. The next time it happened, I put a note in their mailbox about it and after that the problem was pretty much resolved. I'm not sure what they did, but we were still friendly with them up until they moved 2 years ago. If speaking with them about it doesn't work, I would report them to the police. Most cities have a ordinance about things like this. You shouldn't have to be bothered by other people's barking dogs in your own home 24/7. Good luck and congratulations on the baby!

I don't really have any advice. We also have a neighbor with a dog that barks non-stop. But fortunately they can't let the dog stay out or he'll get our and run away, so he's been inside most of the time. We have 2 dogs, and if they get to barking a lot, I make them come inside as "punishment" (they prefer to be outside). It annoys me when MY dogs bark, and I'm also concerned about them bothering the neighbors, so I don't let them stay outside if they are barking. And it really annoys me that my neighbor doesn't care that her dog will bark, making all the dogs in the neighborhood bark. I'm thinking about looking into the device that Linda W. mentioned.

No, I would go insane too! I would talk to the neighbors first though or even write them an anonymous letter if you don't feel comfortable talking to them. We have one dog and apparantly she was barking and annoying one neighbor (we live on an acre and if she goes to the one side I literally can't hear her barking when I'm inside as the garage separates it too). They called the HOA on us and I wish they would have just told us and I HATE barking and when/if I do hear her I always take action. But if they have that many dogs I would assume they HAVE to know. And if it's a smaller yard they have to know. I am fairly certain that most city ordinances say it is illegal to have more than 3 dogs (it might be 4 but I know there is a law against this unless they are foster "pet parents"). So check into your city, call your city's non-emergency number and ask them what you need to do to get it stopped if you talk to them and they just don't care or do anything about it. Good luck, I know barking dogs (even my own!) can drive me insane and she's not even that bad but still, VERY ANNOYING!!

There are things the owners can do and yes you can report it to the city. We had neighbors that were reported and were about to lose the dogs due to not doing anything about it. We are not in the country so their is a noise ordinance in most cities. I have two large dogs and they do not bark excessively...we would not allow it. My neighbors love them because when they do bark more than normal, there is a reason! There are so many products now that are made to curb that issue---they should do something. I agree with talking to them about it but you never know how people will respond so just be prepared. If you don't want to talk with them, a warning from the city may do the trick and they would not know who reported it.

I can not imagine that is healthy for the dogs either.....

non stop barking would drive me insane.
are your neighbors home owners or renters?
have you even talked to them nicely about quieting their dogs?
neighbors should be able to get along.
in california we have laws about how many dogs you can have in the yard, and 5 is too many.
if you are all renters you might want to contact the landlord of your neighbors property.
if you call the city the neighbors will probably know it was you anyway, so maybe trying to talk to them first would be better, let them know that you cannot hang with the noise. Even after you have the baby it's still going to be a nuisance, right?
I'm a pretty big believer in "ask and you shall receive", so maybe take them a cake and tell them you love living there but can they please work on less barking from their yard.
would you not be doing the entire neighborhood a favor by quieting the dogs? Dogs are supposed to bark to alert you ... these dogs bark all the time so they are worthless in that respect.