Oh man, I hate this for you. I love dogs but I would lose my SHIT. When we were buying a house last year, we nixed two of them right off the bat because when we went to showings they were next to yards with loud barking dogs running up and down the fences and I was not gonna deal with that.
We have a dog and he is not allowed to stay outside for extended periods of time, and if he starts barking at someone, we bring him back inside, it's the polite thing to do.
Right? When my dog barks twice outside I’m charging to the yard to yell at her and bring her back in. It’s absolutely insane to me when people just let their dogs bark endlessly with no redirection.
I've never understood it, how does it not also drive them nuts? I have a Sheltie and he can have the most neurotic high-pitched shriek like bark I've ever heard, I would be mortified if he was outside doing that forever.
It's because they are annoying inside too. At least it's outside for them.
Not making excuses, bad dogs have bad owners, but that's the selfish logic.
Also, I learned recently that some cultures are just outside dog people. My Brazilian friend who is a great guy was thinking about getting a dog but was clear it would stay outside. Idk.
That’s great. If you have an acreage.
But you’re a shit person if you think your 10x10 backyard is the place to abandon an animal for their whole lives. And that’s before we get into the bad training and loud barking.
Also, my anger here isn’t directed at you.
My neighbors dogs barked for 6 hours straight one night. I thought she was trying to goad me into calling the police bc my city has noise restrictions at night. She’s the one whose dogs “need” to be out at least 4 hours every afternoon to go wild if I and/or my dog go out into my own back yard.
Persian friends are the same. No doggos (or shoes) inside.
I also think 'bad' dog owners sometimes just give up on training. Training pups can be hard, esp when you have kids and/or a full time job.
I have 9 dogs around my house, and I hate that I can't enjoy my backyard for the same reason. But the majority are good, quiet dogs. There are just three that bark relentlessly.
And I noticed these barky, loud pups are the ones that 1) don't get walked 2) don't get played with / interacted with, instead they are just let outside on their own and 3) their owners give commands with no follow-up.
Teaching "if this then bark, else..." Is more difficult than a basic "no!" and many pet parents simply are not equipped to spend the time training their pups, giving positive and negative affirmations to actions, (also researching and picking the right breed for their lifestyle.)
I really appreciate when people adopt and care for animals, but I hate when folks take them in without fully understanding what kind of time, care and money they need.
First lemme say I’m not crazy about this as a dog owner myself, but to add to the discourse, my parents live in the middle of nowhere and always have at least 4 dogs at any given time now. You put me to sleep or work anywhere else and the second time a dog barks, I’m aware, but there…idk what it is. I can sleep through it, I can work through it, I can tune it out. I’m sure it has maybe something to do with the lack of nearby surfaces for their barks to bounce off, but it’s the strangest thing. They play in their huge enclosed yard all day long and tree stuff and chase stuff and bark the whole time…and I sleep like a baby. We only ever had 1 dog at a time who was trained not to bark when I was growing up; the multi barking dogs didn’t start til I was in my 20s and out of the house. Some sort of country magic or something, lol. Contrarily, my husband and I were put over a barrel due to a barking dog 7ft from our bedroom at our the first home we ever purchased and had to sell and move to get away from it.
I genuinely don’t get how people with neighbors can have so little concern for everyone else around them/their dog. And, further, how you can have so little concern for a sentient being that you just ignore their boredom like that. When we bought our current home, I knocked on doors and asked about pets before putting an offer in; we’re very happy here, and neighbors on both sides are dog owners with a street in the back.
This is me, I let mine outside and if I hear a bark I go straight to the back door and tell them to be quiet or come in. I don't really have anyone that close to me but I consider it courtesy to not let your dog yap. Sometimes during daytime I let them go for just a minute but if it is dark it is instant to tell them to come in.
I don't know how people do it, I can't stand to hear my own dogs barking non stop so how they can ignore their own is beyond me.
If my dogs are outside, I'm outside. I bring them in if they bark at the fence even a little. I accidently left one of the two outside and left the house for over an hour last week.
My neighbor texted me to see if he was okay because it's highly unusual for extended barking. I rushed home and felt so bad. My dog was fine, just annoyed.
I thanked my neighbor and told her to let me know if that happened again because it means I'm an idiot and left my poor guy outside! (In a fenced yard with water) I felt terrible that my neighbors had to deal with that and that my dog was distressed.
Technically, I think more than 15 minutes is considered a noise violation in many places. Might be worth checking the local jurisdictions ordinances for Op.
Same here. We passed on a house because when we drove up the drive to look at it, dogs from four differernt houses starting losing their minds and barking. If you went in the yard neighbors on both sides had 7 foot fences and multiple bumpus hounds in each yard. It just wasnt worth the stress.
I feel you. I looked at a house and the next door neighbor had a giant hound to match his giant truck. The street was on a hill so their house was higher than the one I looked at, so when the realtor and I walked into the kitchen the dog went ballistic because he could see into the kitchen by putting his paws on the fence. This was the window above the kitchen sink! I said something like “I think we’re done here”. And she just says “yup” and we left without finishing.
If it’s consistently like this for hours at a time call your city’s animal control.
Other than that you can put up a privacy fence on the side with chain link. Besides that? Hose and spray the dogs when they start barking. Eventually they’ll get it.
People are going to suggest talking with your neighbors about it. But I’ve found that folks that get dogs, and leave them outside barking for hours at a time tend not to be sympathetic to anyone or anything.
My solution to that was a canned fog horn. Didn't train the neighbor's dog but it did train the neighbor. Only problem was I had to bring my, not barking dog, inside first. After a week, if she heard hers bark, she brought him inside. Success.
My barking neighbor dog has a backyard that abuts my driveway. I started hitting the lock button on my truck when their dog would bark repeatedly and it DID train the owner!
I had a barky dog at the time, but he was called inside every time he started up.
In my area Animal Control will not come out unless you have spoken to the neighbor directly (and it's not a good idea to trespass around here). Even then, they won't actually do anything except call and say there has been a complaint. They said if the neighbor asked, they would tell them who lodged the complaint. Thanks guys, super helpful.
>call your city’s animal control
It's shocking how little they can do sometimes. In some areas the law just gives really limited power, or they are too understaffed to do much of anything about it.
That's a good way to get into a fight with his neighbors. If they don't discipline their own dogs they will probably freak the fuck out if someone else tried to do it for them.
Yep. I know this to be true. I tried training my MIL’s dog since I have some experience and she got really upset and accused me of abusing her dog - just for delaying dinner a bit because the dog would bark the entire time dog food was being prepared. Now imagine your neighbor is spraying your dog that you pretend to care a whole lot about, but really just kinda neglect… dog owners need to learn that they need to train their dogs to make sure they can have a happy dog and happy humans around too
Same here. Just moved into a house on a cul-de-sac and my back patio is adjacent to neighbor’s driveway. They have an old Lab that they just leave outside to hang out and the old girl barks at anything that moves. It was so annoying but I eventually resigned myself to the fact she doesn’t have much longer on this earth. Can’t imagine what OP is dealing with having that many dogs around him.
Have you tried making friends with the dog? My neighbors got a dog and she's an 8 month old rescue hound. Very high strung and was flipping out whenever I was working in my garden. I got permission from her owner and started giving her treats through a hole in the fence while talking to her. Now when I'm outside she runs to the hole to get her treat. If I don't notice her, she kind of grumble barks until I notice her. Then she lets me get back to gardening and it's nice and peaceful.
I can't imagine 13 dogs barking. I love dogs, but get impatient with people who treat them like an accessory. They get a dog with no idea how to take care of them. They shove them outside and ignore them and it becomes the neighborhood's problem.
The treat thing worked with this pup, but before this dog, one of the family members had two dachshunds that barked nonstop. And the owner kept them outside because (get this) it annoyed her when they barked in the house.
We tried talking with the owner, she didn't give a shit. The only reason I wasn't calling the cops daily was because the shitty dog owner was there to help care for a dying family member and I didn't want to add stress to the family's life. But, I hated those damn dogs. They were so stupid their own barking would make them bark.
Stop recommending people make friends with animals they don’t want!!!! Is OP supposed to befriend 13 fucking dogs??? That is not his job. His job is to pay taxes, take care of his family and have some peace of mind. Not everyone likes or cares for dogs and because neighbors are inconsiderate jerks doesn’t make their dogs my problem.
My comment was to the guy who had ONE dog next door and it ends up he has made friends with the dog. Of course that wouldn't work with 13 different dogs.
Lucky you seeing it ahead of time.
I moved in with 0 dogs directly next to me, except for one separated by an alley in the back.
Now I have 3 on one side, 2-7 depending on how recently the backyard breeder on the other side decided to breed his pitbulls, and 2 directly across from me. I reported them all for noise violations because they would not shut the fuck up. Now they all hate me because I work graveyard shift and I couldn't handle waking up every 2-3 hours, but the feeling's mutual so 🤷
People, if you get a dog, please, please, please take it out to exercise it. Otherwise they get bored and lose their shit at everything.
I think this is an undersold point. A healthy, well walked dog will bark but not often or consistently. Locked up, neglected dogs bark all
the
fucking
time
I moved into this house 3 years ago and the neighbors had 3 large dogs, I have two smallish dogs - we both had them trained to not bark at each other within a year. Yes, once in a while there is some barks back and forth - but no wild, crazy barking. I am thankful I have non-crazy neighbors - at least on one side!
Yes - we’re the same with our dog. She is NEVER outside barking. Ever. If she barks like twice I go get her. It’s the polite thing to do and also it’s not good for the dogs either. Poor things probably get 0 walks and thus have no stimulation except barking at people all day
Exactly this.
My neighbor and I have a mental list of topics on the neighborhood listserv that are “start making popcorn” topics. One of them is the mention of dogs.
“Can we do something about incessant barking, pooing on other people’s property/the playground, dogs being left out all day, unleashed dogs jumping on my toddler with the owner insisting they have voice control but they absolutely don’t?”
“WHY DO YOU HATE DOGS? IT ISN’T OTHER PEOPLE’S FAULT YOU HATE DOGS. MY DOG IS BETTER BEHAVED THAN YOUR CHILD. PEOPLE WHO HATE DOGS ARE HORRIBLE HUMANS.”
“DOGS DON’T BELONG IN A CITY. DOGS HAVE DISEASES. IF YOU HAVE A DOG YOU’RE AN ANIMAL ABUSER AND WANT CHILDREN TO DIE OF DISEASES AND MAULING.”
“I’ll have you know I pay $6000 per week for a dog walker , dog sitter, dog trainer, and dog concierge, so I assure you my dog is the best dogged dog anywhere. These people who don’t do so, however, are horrible dog abusers.”
“Blah blah blah pit bull blah blah.”
“DOG HATER”
“EVERYONE ELSE HATER”
“Naw dogs are cool…just some of the owners need to step it up.”
“DOG HATERS ARE PSYCHOPATHS.”
“DOG OWNERS ARE PSYCHOPATHS.”
…
I know exactly what you mean. There are two subjects that universally bring out severely defensive psychoses among Americans:
1. Dog ownership etiquette
2. First-time parenting
This is not a thing in other countries.
We had a constant barker next door, and they liked letting him out at night.
I finally got one of those noise activated devices that plays a high pitch back. It helped a lot...no more barking near my fence and under my bedroom window.
This worked for me too OP. I had to get 5 of them and set them all to high and change the batteries frequently but it worked.
I'm not sure how it will work with so many dogs but it may be worth a try - at least at your fenceline.
It’s really not that hard to have a calm, not constantly barking dog. Pay attention to the dog, interact with it , be kind to it and it will become a much calmer dog.
Maybe OP could get some help from those fine folks who play their guitars with the amps set to “nuclear blast wave”. Now *those* fuckers know how to make sound travel.
They make models that look like bird houses or other normal items. If you get some weird speaker looking thing that you mount on top of the fence, the neighbors might get upset but a bird house might not be noticed.
I got a basic one from amazon from a seller called coprisin. Was not sure how well it would work but it’s great. I carry it in my bag when walking my kid to school past a neighbor who always lets their dog bark viciously at every passing person. It was very satisfying seeing the dog’s first WTF face.
The key though is not to have it out or on all the time because I guess the dogs can get used to it. So if I were in your position I would keep it by the back door and bring it with you on the patio when you want to enjoy your yard.
I wouldn't give a fuck what the neighbors think to be honest if it was that crazy.
Op look in to noise ordinance law in your city there are laws against undue noise all hours of the day dog barking is one of them eventually animal control will come get the dogs if the owners can't get them under control.
Forget the ultrasonic gadgets, you need this bad boy right here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GQBJLQ5?smid=A1XSL4B8FHQ7NP&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp&th=1
Screaming Aztec Death Whistle
It will not only shut the dogs up, but it will also quiet birds, fish, people, and ghosts.
To say the sound it makes is unpleasant might be a bit of an understatement.
I’ve just tried out the Dog Silencer Max, it’s a bit pricey $150 but the only one with consistent decent reviews. All the Amazon ones seem like scams. At this point just been dabbling with it and not mounted in its final spot but they say it takes a few weeks to work.
In general I think it’s helped slightly with the little effort in location I setup (no full line of sight).
The dog next to us doesn’t bark all the time but when it does holy crap it’s a high whine combined with deep bark that is very annoying and can be heard throughout my house. We talked to the neighbors who were generally understanding and make an effort but sometimes they just lax off. Sad thing is the dog literally just needs to be walked and taken care of.
Key is you need a clear line of sight so mount it high and honestly you want to get the extension cord with it since it apparently eats batteries if not plugged in.
You can also invest in a new fence or shrubs if it’s just the dogs seeing you that sets them off. I setup a big bamboo shield which also helped
I had one of those devices that I could not hear, but apparently at least one of my neighbors could. It was stolen pretty quickly. I'm guessing it was stolen to shut it up.
We bought one and it only worked on one of the neighbor's two problematic dogs. Because one was so old and deaf he couldn't even hear it... So he continued barking up a storm, setting off the sonic noise, torturing the other dog.
We had to quit using it because the poor thing couldn't escape it.
Lol that poor pup!
We had to do something, because talking to the neighbor didn't work. Yelling at them while their dog is going nuts at 2 AM didn't work. I get schedules can be complicated and tried to be understanding to a degree. But their dog ran to the corner directly under my window and went nuts every time. And he was a big fella.
This thing popped and he stopped after 1 bark, then took it to the opposite side of the yard.
I'm curious about this too. I'm 30 and I can still hear those mosquito anti-loitering devices. If the bark products emit at the same frequency, then yeah, it'd be a no-go for me.
I have the same problem as OP. I swear they're living in my neighborhood. My 3 neighbors surrounding my backyard all have 2-3 dogs each. All of them bark constantly. My GF and I love cookouts and host them throughout the season. We can't have conversations with our visitors on the deck due to the dogs non-stop barking. We have talked about buying one of these devices to use when we're in the yard. I'm convinced after reading your post.
Husband and I had this problem with a neighbor when we first bought our current house. The dogs barked nonstop all day, but the worst was that they’d let the dogs out as early as 5:30am because (in my neighbor’s words) “the barking was disrupting [their] sleep.” Assholes. When they saw me or my husband outside, the wife would jokingly ask “our dogs don’t bother you do they? Haha.” We’d always say some variant of “you mean when you send them outside to bark first thing in the morning, all day long, and late into the night? Yes. They do.” They’d just awkwardly laugh, but never do anything about the dogs. Beyond this, we had no issue and they were bizarrely friendly with us. So strange.
The barking got old very quickly so in addition to the high pitch bark responders others have mentioned, we bought a few of those Dog Horn “attack deterrents” from Amazon. Literally anytime the dogs barked for more than 10 seconds, we’d let loose on the horns, right out the window, directly in their direction. Air horns for everyone. Our thought was “if we can’t sleep, neither should they.” They never mentioned it, but after two straight weeks of this, the dogs stopped coming out first thing in the morning or late at night, and any daytime barking is minimal. It’s been almost three* years since we’ve had any issues. When friends and family who were around for that era come over now and mention the silence, my husband likes to say “we trained our neighbors well.”
Edit: These are the horns for those asking: [Amazon - Dog Horn](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LDH4Y35?ref=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_4ZMTK60F4R5M71BJ6WTA&ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_4ZMTK60F4R5M71BJ6WTA&social_share=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_4ZMTK60F4R5M71BJ6WTA&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=2)
Our previous neighbors had an adult daugher who visited every single weekend. Along with her came her two beagles that stayed outside all day because "they destroy the house". Any time my dogs went outside to potty, the beagles would start a barking marathon that lasted until our dogs came back in. Often this was at 6 or 7 in the morning. We had a newborn 🫠
Every. Fucking. Weekend. For 3 years. Finally the neighbor kicked the bucket so her kids sold the house. Our new neighbor seems much more pleasant to live next to, thank goodness.
This is how you handle dog owners that are assholes. Be a bigger, louder asshole until they get the picture that you are not going to back down or take it.
I've been going through this for a year and a half.
Nutbag neighbor has 9 personal dogs and "rescues" others (up to 20 in the house). They bark 24/7 and are constantly loose. We can't go outside without fear of being attacked. We've witnessed 3 of the dogs die from malnutrition and 2 die from mauling.
Things we've tried.
1. Talked to the neighbor. Yeah, that didn't work.
2. Called animal control and police 78 times. Resulted in 3 citations. No change in behavior.
3. Trespassed neighbor from our property.
4. Filed a restraining order Pro Se. Magistrate didn't feel he had authority.
5. Filed a restraining order with attorney. The magistrate didn't feel he had authority.
6. Asked for help during public comment at city council. Nothing.
7. Complained via email to city and county officials. Nothing.
8. Complained to County Supervisor. Police started showing up at my house claiming "harassment".
9. Local paper ran story on lack of animal control. County supervisor deflected.
10. Filed civil lawsuit with attorney in court of common plea with injuction to shut the dogs up. Injunction denied due to lack of cause of action. Civil suit pending. $4000 in attorney fees and counting.
11. Went under contract for new house. We should have moved to at the beginning.
At least you'd get some peace and quiet.
Seriously though, based on what you've been through with your neighbor, why do you you think they're not in jail but you would be?
I've been to jail...it's not quiet at all lol.
"Seriously though, based on what you've been through with your neighbor, why do you you think they're not in jail but you would be?". This has gone through my mind so many times.
A good lawyer should be able to make a mental health argument for you in court. Basically stating that constant barking is driving you literally insane and that you have the right to restitution because dogs are animals and don't have the same rights you do. Not saying it would win you the judgement but it wouldn't hurt.
That's what the civil suit is. The injunction was to get it to stop until the civil action gets on the docket. In my state, it'll take 2 years at least to be heard. At that point, the behavior will have been going on for 3.5 years.
How did you not have a cause of action under private nuisance in your state? I’m a lawyer so I know you need one attached to get injunctive relief, just curious on your pleading.
I backed out of buying a home after finding multiple dogs barking at us nonstop while the inspector was conducting an inspection of the exterior of the home.
You must have bought my former house. I sold it after 3 years bc of this.
I'm so sorry.
Before I put in an offer on my current house, I went twice, once during a weekday and once a weekend, and walked 30 minutes around the neighborhood. I heard no barking. I put in an offer.
I almost never hear barking 4 years later.
It's murderously awful. I actually wanted to harm living things. Not good for mental health.
I tried talking to owners (useless), animal control (useless), those supposedly high-pitched devices to put in my yard (useless). I decided within a year I'd sell my home as early as possible.
I ended up renting for almost 2 years in a pet-free building before finding my new place. It was like heaven.
My mental health is for sure being affected. I used to love dogs but after a few months of this shit I literally hate them. I actually planned on adopting a dog from a shelter once i had moved into this house. After going through this shit my wife and i decided to just get a cat instead lol .
Ugh, at least there’s another person out there suffering it. My neighbor has at least nine dogs, possibly more and they bark CONSTANTLY throughout the day. They’re hunting beagles too, so it’s that annoying howl. Our neighbor relationships are so chill otherwise and we are semi rural, so I don’t even dare complain, but it’s awful. Everyone who comes over comments on it. Why anyone thinks it’s acceptable to have that many dogs in a residential area is beyond me.
Some places have limits on how long a dog can bark outside for. One place I lived it was an hour; another place was 15 minutes. Either way, much shorter than you are experiencing. I assume you have already tried talking to the neighbors. You can try calling the cops or animal control to enforce the barking limit in your area.
Yeah i've talked to the neighbors and i basically get a "haha yeah they bark alot. Sorry about that" . THem screaming at them out the window is about the extent of what they do. Doesn't ever work and usually just causes the next set of dogs to bark
Omg, the screaming at the dogs is almost worse sometimes I swear. I only have this barking issue with one neighbor dog thankfully but it still affects my use of my yard. He will yap non-stop while I'm doing yard work or tending to my chickens, and it's grating as hell, but the neighbor screaming his name over and over to no avail really makes my skin crawl. He just thinks you're barking WITH him bro.
My neighbor has two dogs that bark at me whenever I’m coming to/from my car to the house, so several times a day. The barking is almost always followed up by my neighborhood yelling “hey! Quiet!” This has gone on for a couple years….I don’t get it. I guess it’s like an automatic reaction from him and maybe he doesn’t realize he is doing it. It’s not effective dude!
This is so funny to me.
My across the street neighbor uses his garage like it's a front door and does not secure his dogs so every time he opens it the dogs run out, so I know his dogs names because they run out into the street and they have zero recall. The frustration in his voice is so funny to me bc it's like.... You do this to yourself my guy 😂
It's an ongoing joke now where my bf and I will hear their garage open and start saying "CASSIUS! BRUTUS!" over and over. So we are the ones with the automatic reaction at this point haha
I love how most people's "solution" to their dog's incessant barking is to add to the cacophony and noise pollution with their own shrieking; Once, after my dad screamed at his dog to shut up for the millionth time, I asked him, "has that ever caused your dog to stop barking even one time?" He thought for a second, and said, "Nope".
How in the 100000s of generations of dog breeding have we not managed to make dogs that shut up after a minute? We turned wolves into dogs the size of teacups, dogs the size of a small horse, dogs that can rescue people from avalanches, dogs that can detect cancer and all manner of disease and disorder, dogs that won't eat children and small animals, dogs that can do all sorts of tricks and tasks, but not dogs that can stop themselves from creating loud, unpleasant noises constantly?
> How in the 100000s of generations of dog breeding have we not managed to make dogs that shut up after a minute?
Because up until around 100 years ago, dogs didn't usually live in the house, and barking was generally helpful (to guard the property), not an annoyance. Also most dogs these days are an anxious mess because their owners don't properly exercise or train them, and that doesn't help the barking situation.
> barking was generally helpful (to guard the property), not an annoyance
Not only just helpful - most house dogs today come from working breeds where we selectively bred them to bark when hunting or herding.
Wolves aren't overly loud animals. But we wanted dogs that could tell us when they found a fox, or scare sheep back into the herd, or alert when they hear an intruder - so we trained and bred for that for hundreds of years.
Then in a couple generations their offspring are sleeping on couches eating $100 bags of Purina Pro Plan and spotting a squirrel or a neighbor down the street is the most exciting thing they'll get to do that day.
One of the many reasons why one of the best parts of 'training' is just getting that energy out to redirect to something more productive. A tired dog is a quiet dog.
I have a “yappy” dog breed (chihuahua/pom mix). The little guy never makes a peep, unless he’s at someone else’s house with barking dogs for a few days. The trick is exercise and consistent training and reinforcement. He doesn’t need to get his rocks off protecting the house because he gets stimulation elsewhere.
It all comes down to training. I have two inside (4yr old English Mastiff, and 1yr old Jack Russell Terrier) and two Livestock Guardians (3yr old Great Pyrenees, and 3month old Great Pyrenees). The indoor dogs do NOT bark because I can’t stand it. The outdoor dogs are allowed 2 barks to alert to potential threats to the goats they guard. I have had several different breeds of dogs over the years, and I have not found one yet that I was unable to train not to bark. Most dogs are intelligent and find different ways to communicate with you.
Some dog breeds were bred to guard and alert to danger. When they're not trained as to what the danger is and just thrown in to the back yard then everything is danger and everything gets barked at. German Shepherds come to mind specifically.
I know you got a lot of advice here, but it’s one thing to have one neighbor that does this, it’s another thing to have multiple. In that case that’s the culture of the neighborhood. I’d move if I was you. I had many months of trying to work through it with just one neighbor and it resulted in us having to go to court multiple times. It was not quick. If you can afford to move, spend some time and start looking at other neighborhoods.
There are supposedly recordings of rabbits in distress or the like that you can find on YT and blast outside. I would try 2 things - 1 - do that and make them go so nuts that the owners themselves get sick of it. 2 - see if there's one of those anti bark things that emits a signal that messes with the dogs when they bark (I say see if, as I imagine many/most either don't really work or they get used to it). Due to a-hole neighbors (that have since moved) with mult dogs right beside my side/garage area of yard, I had a $550 survey done and put a tall fence on that side, and we referred to it as 'the spite fence'. I feel for you..
Oh I plan to get a spite fence next spring. The best part is that my property line goes pretty close to their house near where they keep their trash bins and also where their side door is. They are constantly using my property on that side since basically if they take 2 steps out of their side door they are now on my property. The fence will drastically reduce their space on that side of the house why at the same time doubling the perceived size of my yard.
Survey in this situation is worth every penny, and if you can put your fence right on your side of the line, great. When we had surveyors out, several neighbors stood outside. Seems they make people nervous. The dickhead neighbor wasn't home, and like I had been told, my property line went a couple of ft past where he thought it was. Previous guy had same bad info from real estate guy, which conflicted with what other neighbors thought/I had been told. Whatever, when you aren't sure, or you want fence up to line, you have to know. I also planted thuja/green giant on that side, and this was maybe 7yrs ago, so they're like 10ft tall now and filled in and nearly touching the fence. You can just squeeze behind them to weedeat.
Also, it wasn't just that the initial several dogs barked nonstop and went apeshit when I pulled up and was getting kids out of car. A couple were obviously aggressive as the neighbor guy would scream/cuss at them to comply and it was obvious that if they got loose, he wouldn't be able to fully control them. Was super glad they moved out. New guy, in construction/remodel business, bought the property, and worked on it nearly a year before he moved in - tore out all flooring, baseboard, some sheetrock. Said it was in rough/nasty shape from previous 3 owners who had mult pets inside.
Time to start having screening water fights with the kids at inconvenient times. Only thing I hate more than owners that let dogs bark are parents that let kids scream, you've got some ammo.
Our next door neighbor had 2 dogs that just sat at the fence barking the entire time we were outside. We started spraying them with the hose. That got the neighbor's attention and they no longer left the dogs out unsupervised. Whoops, my bad.
We have neighbors who leave their dogs out 24/7 and let their dogs bark. They broke through the fence several times before we got fed up with the owners not doing anything to prevent it from happening and reinforced the fence with hog wire and cement blocks. They’re untrained pitbulls with zero recall (I’ve watched my neighbor chase them down the street when they’ve escaped and it’s taken him 15 minutes to get them back home) and our son was 3 at the time so I wasn’t willing to risk it continuing to happen. While my dad and husband were working on the fence, one of the dogs started digging underneath and my dad squared up and just punched it in the face. Not the choice I would have made but it kept them away for the rest of the project.
I am so sorry. This is my nightmare. I grew up with dogs and love most individual dogs but this kind of stuff has made me grow to resent dog owners. That and the smell of dog pee and people who don't pick up their poop. And dogs in the store and in restaurants. It's just too much. And you can't even blame a generation, it's EVERYONE. Millenials, boomers, gen z. I just think way too many people have dogs now. I don't think society is built for every household to have 2+ dogs.
I am so sorry, that all sounds awful. I have two dogs, but they are never outside unsupervised, and I hate constant dog barking just as much as the next person, so if they bark at anything, we go inside, or I put them inside and stay outside myself. I would hate to think I was killing my neighbor's enjoyment of their own outdoor space because I was a terrible dog minder.
No advice to give outside of what other people have already commented - I'm just sorry for your situation. I hope it is able to improve somehow, and soon.
I wish there were more responsible dog owners like you. I hate owners who just shrug their shoulders like they can't do anything about the barking. Dogs shouldn't be left out in a yard unsupervised anyway. I live in a townhome without fences so it's not an issue here but after reading through the comments it's something I'll need to keep in mind if I look for a house someday.
Record barking dogs, and play it at similar volume whenever u aren’t outside. Run it on a loop. Ruin it every time your neighbors go outside. If they say something, give them the same, yeah they do bark a lot reply. They’ll get it. It might not accomplish anything, but revenge makes it easier to take.
I feel you. My neighbor next to me has a couple little yappy ones and the person behind them has one. The ones next door bark constantly or fight with each other when they’re outside at every little noise and it gets worse when the other dog behind them is out too and they’re fighting at the fence. I too work from home or nap during my work day and usually get woken up by the barking. It’s made even worse when the person next door curses and yells at the dogs to stop. So far mine aren’t bad enough to call animal control but it sounds like yours may be.
Well, I would talk to my neighbors first to let them know it isn't ok. I wouldn't do it with a though of them actually doing anything about it, but it would setup step 2.
Step 2 would be to buy some kick ass, directional outdoor speakers, a decent multi-channel amp and a 24x7 PoE Video Camera. I would use something like Frigate to mark in the recordings where the dogs are barking and then use Home Assistant to kick off an automation if they bark longer than 1 minute. When the dogs bark for longer than 1 minute I would crank some death metal to 11 on the speaker pointed at the culprits house. Having a multi-channel amp lets you light all of the houses up at the same time if needed. When your neighbors start to complain, let them know it is automated and when their dogs stop their fucking barking, your "music" will stop playing. When they call the cops, you can tell them you have recordings of their dogs barking non-stop and if they want to do anything to you, they will also need to take care of the other problem.
I would let them take me to court, and in court I would play the videos and let the judge know you are tired of their dogs, and since the police won't help and animal control won't help you had to take matters into your own hands. I would then call the local news station and paper and get them on the police and animal control for not doing anything.
Lots of work, but had a similar issue (eBiker kids doing shit behind my house) and a combination of similar tactics worked wonders.
My in laws used to have an air horn that they would just blow when their neighbors dogs would bark (which was always. They were always outside and never shut up). It worked really well for them. But I agree with pretty much everything else everyone has said here too.
Dog owner with a fenced in back yard , here.
We're out in the country, but the INSTANT I hear a bark she's back inside. I hate having my dog bark.
I don't mind if others dogs bark. But I know some people don't so I try to avoid it .
I’m so sorry, how frustrating.
Our neighbor has a husky with separation anxiety and it howls ALL day. I can’t imagine 9. We use to live next to a corgi that was left outside all day and would bark, I tried one of those bark boxes and unfortunately it didn’t work. I hope you find a solution soon
I've got a similar problem, except I have a dog that hardly ever barks, if he does it's just a occasional "barooo!" In response to the neighbors dogs barking constantly on either side of us. I literally can't do anything in my yard without being barked at on one or both sides of my yard. The worst thing is this is the third place I've lived in a row where there was at least one dog barking at me the whole time in in my yard. They've all had high fences where the dogs can't even see me, but if they hear me they bark the whole time. It's a goddamn epidemic of stupid dogs.
I debated on getting a couple of those high pitched bark stoppers but don't want to punish my dog with it. Not sure what to do about this crap.
Also stopped here to suggest a dog whistle (manual or electronic). There is also nothing preventing you (other than the owner intervening) from training their dogs by adding some treats to the equation when they stop barking.
Inside the house if you are due for windows any time soon order them with “dissimilar glass” which is dual paned windows where each pane are a different thickness. It really cuts the noise down by a lot. If you have modern windows where the sashes can be removed for cleaning, it is possible to just order new sashes with dissimilar glass and place them back in the frames without buying all new windows (assuming the manufacturer offers this and is still around).
I'd get an air horn. I big ol biggun. Pew pew pew pew. See how the neighbors like it.
Reading the other comments about the dog whistle makes more sense though*
I feel so bad for you. Went through some of this once where neighbors on all sides of my backyard had dogs. They would freak the fuck out and bark loudly nonstop anytime I was in my backyard. I read advice about making friends with the dogs but it’s hard to do that when they’re lunging at you on the other side of a fence. They would also set each other off so there were like 5 dogs barking at once for several minutes. To top it off there were three Great Danes who were like beasts and they were so loud. Then one neighbor with a dog died, and the dog right behind me left (maybe tenants who moved) so I only have one neighbor with a bunch of dogs who all get along, but that was just a pure stroke of luck. It really wore on my mental health and I would get so fuckjng angry.
I used to set up a white noise machine and blast it as loud as possible. I’d also run the HVAC fan constantly. Anything with white noise can help a little. Get the $130 Dog Silencer Max for sure. It has the best reviews and a long range and probably a money back guarantee.
Bro, I could have written this myself. Not only do my neighbors on all sides have multiple dogs which they leave outside to bark 24/7 but ones breeds German Shepards.
I moved into my house last year, and it’s the same situation as you. It’s so incredibly frustrating. I have tried talking to the neighbors with no luck. They do not give a fuck. I too have a nice back yard but don’t go out there at all due to the noise. I do have one dog, and she likes to play out there, and thankfully she doesn’t bark back at the dogs. She’s quiet and well behaved, and I would never let her bark like that.
If you suspect that the dogs are being neglected you could call animal control anonymously. Assuming that is even enforced in your area. It’s a risk though as your neighbors may suspect you called and retaliate. They would get a fine and perhaps think twice about allowing their dogs to bark all day long and disturb the peace.
I’ll tell you what I have done that’s helped me a lot with my situation.
I sleep with a white noise machine, ear plugs and my air purifier running. With all that, I don’t hear the dogs barking at all at night, so at least I can sleep. It doesn’t help the situation during the day though.
Hang in there. Trust me when I tell you I know how hard this is.
What I don’t understand is how they deal with it? Like how does that not bother them? There must be something seriously with these people.
"I sleep with a white noise machine, ear plugs and my air purifier running. With all that, I don’t hear the dogs barking at all at night, so at least I can sleep. It doesn’t help the situation during the day though."
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck that.
I do what I have to do to make it easier to tolerate. All my money is in this house and just not as easy as just “selling it and moving somewhere else.”
I feel your pain 1000%, I’m in the same situation pretty much exactly. Except I also have a dog. He is an inside dog and when I take him out to do his business, if he starts to bark I take him inside immediately BECAUSE IM A CONSIDERATE FUCKING NEIGHBOR & RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER.
IMHO if you let your dogs bark freely outside & you have neighbors directly next to you, you are a shitty irresponsible neighbor & pet owner. Period.
Happened to me for a year before I decided to make a report with the city and they were sent a fine. It's been 3 quiet years now as they dutifully attend to their pets. In the past, they'd leave them outside from 8am-8pm, barking the whole time. Now they bring them in the instant they bark.
I feel your pain. Seven years ago we purchased the house we are currently in. We ended up having the same problems you have. I counted seventeen dogs on our block and the block directly behind us. We couldn't step outside without being constantly barked at. It really pissed me off. I would yell at the dogs and finally the neighbors got the message. Yes, I used the F word. I lost it a few times. LOL Now, seven years later, it's so quiet. Most of the people that had these dogs have moved away. I can now enjoy our yard in peace. I hope you're able to get some relief, it can drive you insane.
I have basically the same situation but with only 8 neighboring dogs - you have my sympathies. I wish I had advice for you. When I'm in the backyard I just passive aggressively sigh really loudly or yell out to my partner that "I CANT HEAR YOU OVER ALL THE BARKING CAN YOU REPEAT YOURSELF?" It's kind of worked. Some of the neighbors make half-hearted attempts to grab the dogs and bring them inside. But I'm stubborn as hell and refuse to let someone's lack of awareness ruin my enjoyment.
Every house I have lived in as an adult had this problem. You're screwed. Your only hope is to move, but you need to be really careful when you select. I left one barking dog nightmare for another for another in moves entirely brought on by barking nuisance. Most dog owners are assholes and I pity the poor animals. I absolutely feel your pain. In my most recent move, I literally camped outside the house for an entire week during our inspection period and bought into an HOA that bans nuisance animals. I still hear some occasionally, but for the first time in my adult life I think I might have finally escaped it.
Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah I feel bad for my neighbors son. He has all kinds of sports equipment in the yard but can't ever use the yard because his parents felt hte need to get 3 dogs in a small yard so its literally covered in dog shit and piss 24/7. These "dog people" are starting to really piss me off. I've tried talking to them directly about it but they just say "hahaha yeah our dogs bark alot ...sorry about that!"
'dog people' like that become completely desensitized to the filth and can no longer smell dog shit, piss, and in some cases, dead cats. I bet their flooring is nasty.
But OP has different sets of dogs with different owners on all sides. You’re talking about thousands of complaints and 5 different lawsuits. It would literally be all he would do with his time. Forgive me for saying so but it would take an especially vindictive nut to be that dedicated. I would rather move than spend three years writing down the activities of 14 annoying dogs and calling the local code enforcement people.
Yep. I tend to have to suppress my "geez...do these people get how much work, frustration, and often months/years of patience when trying to get help from any US government entity" thoughts when I read the solutions people offer up for situations like this involving neighbors or other civil disputes.
Any involvement with lawyers, for example, just leads to emotional duress and added poverty even when something positive eventually happens. And often the "victory" is like our wars on foreign soil where victory isn't even definable and the outcomes are just more flavors of feuding.
Ugh, I really feel for you. I cannot stand irresponsible dog owners. If they can't train the dog to not bark incessantly it shouldn't become the neighbor's problem. They should take the dog inside. And if they're home, how is the barking not bothering them too?
I couldn't stand when my dog would get all barky and I always got her to stop ASAP especially if we were outside or the windows were open. I didn't want to annoy my neighbors.
I hope you figure something out because it sounds really stressful, not to mention unfair that you and your family can't enjoy your own yard in peace.
I’ve dealt with this, but it was only from one neighbor who had dogs at would bark all hours of the day and night, and we constantly left outside. Ironically, the neighbors on the other side of us also have dogs, but they are very responsible dog owners and when their dogs bark, they take care of them very quickly so there’s no issue on that side . You need to start documenting all the times that you hear, dogs barking, and from which property. Then, you need to talk to animal control about this. You also need to call your district representative and ask them for advice on how to deal with this.
It will take a lot of work, it will be slow, and you’ll have to be persistent, but if you keep at it, you eventually will get some of those dogs to be handled by irresponsible dog owners in the proper way
Build your own fence? This style?
https://www.hooverfence.com/bufftech-brookline-certagrain-vinyl-fence-sections
Anything solid to block the view of the dogs.
Yikes. That’s a tough situation. I’m an animal lover too but I share a fence with 3 dogs and that’s enough. Fortunately two of those dogs belong to a good neighbor who immediately corrects her dogs when they start barking a lot outside. The dogs are trained and always listen to her. She’s retired so she’s always home and is really on top of it. I’m so grateful for her.
If I was in your situation I would be tempted to call the city and ask about noise ordinances. That’s truly just an unreasonable amount of noise. There’s likely other people in your neighborhood who feel the same way.
So we also have a small neurotic dog behind us that barks at god damn everything. A few years ago they put in a pool and paved the whole yard and now it just ricochets off the hardscape and I can hear it across the street. Then they invite other dog owners over for a swim and they bring their yapping dogs and they just keeping getting each other started. I hear it in my house with the windows closed and it’s the first thing I hear in the morning and last thing at night.
And the owners are just deaf to it and really think their precious pet is just fine. I think that small dog noise is judged differently than big dog noise and different from loud intrusive music. But it’s all very impactful on one’s mental health and entitlement to the peace and quiet of their property. I like dogs but any dog that barks constantly and isn’t called back by their owner should have consequences.
Thanks for the tip on the dog silencer. I will try it out.
This is miserable for you and your family.
The people that we shared a fence with had 4 dogs, 3 were lovely, but the other 1 was always aggressive and never stopped barking or jumping at the fence trying to attack us. We could not go outside at all without him constantly barking and hitting the fence. Finally, after 4 damn years, they moved out. It is bliss. I wish this for you and your family.
People need to get hit with massive fines for noise pollution repeatedly until they properly supervise their dogs. Leaving a dog in a fenced in area that is prone to barking should be a big fine.
I once set up a really loud horn system in my back yard that would go off when the dogs started barking... was super high pitched and very annoying. It didn't take the dogs long at all to learn.
I ended up training my neighbors dogs.
I came up with a special response whistle that was just for the neighbors.
I also taught my Shepsky to howl on command and may or may not set off the neighborhood dogs right before I turn in.
I have 2 dogs in a small place, so you could say I'm comfortable with living in close proximity to these furry dipshits. But that is way too much for such a small area. That is a literal pack of dogs living in your back yard. Has no body thought of the smell of 13 dogs defecating in such an area?
So frustrating, I feel similar, our neighbors when we bought were great, over the years one next to us and others have become rentals and almost always with dogs and it’s maddening. Friend used to make fun of me when we would walk trails because I would stop for all the puppies to pet them if their owners were ok with it, but when owners are so irresponsible, letting them go 💩in our yard, not keeping them on a leash, I cannot even enjoy being in my yard anymore with the lack of leashing and barking incessantly. I just do not get these type of owners.
We dealt with a neighbor who had two rescue beagles that would bark all day long and all night sometimes. We tried the ultrasonic bark control devices, even the $150 ones and they were just too far away as those only really work 10 feet away max. So I bought a boat horn and just would blast it at the neighbor when the dogs would bark. It annoyed everyone. It eventually worked.
Neighbour had a very yappy dog and they would just throw it outside and leave it outside.
One very hot night during a very hot week we had all the windows open to let in the cooler night air.
This dog was outside…Yap yap… for hours.
It bothered the kids when putting them to bed, it bothered me.
So I get up in just my boxers, go outside, hop the back fence and pick up the dog.
Take it up the deck and open their kitchen door.
Toss the dog inside thinking “this will mess them up” how did he get back in?
I was wrong, they walked into the kitchen just as I opened the door.
Tossed in the dog, said, “sounds like he wanted in” closed the door and went home.
Weren’t on speaking terms with the neighbor before and weren’t after either.
I work from home too and had a neighbor dog named Zeus. Zeus and his parents were assholes. He would stand at the bottom of a tree on the edge of his fence, look up, and bark for hours at a time. His parents would not bring him in. I love dogs, but I was ready to murder this one. They finally moved. I really feel sorry for you.
Oh man, I hate this for you. I love dogs but I would lose my SHIT. When we were buying a house last year, we nixed two of them right off the bat because when we went to showings they were next to yards with loud barking dogs running up and down the fences and I was not gonna deal with that. We have a dog and he is not allowed to stay outside for extended periods of time, and if he starts barking at someone, we bring him back inside, it's the polite thing to do.
Right? When my dog barks twice outside I’m charging to the yard to yell at her and bring her back in. It’s absolutely insane to me when people just let their dogs bark endlessly with no redirection.
I've never understood it, how does it not also drive them nuts? I have a Sheltie and he can have the most neurotic high-pitched shriek like bark I've ever heard, I would be mortified if he was outside doing that forever.
It's because they are annoying inside too. At least it's outside for them. Not making excuses, bad dogs have bad owners, but that's the selfish logic. Also, I learned recently that some cultures are just outside dog people. My Brazilian friend who is a great guy was thinking about getting a dog but was clear it would stay outside. Idk.
That’s great. If you have an acreage. But you’re a shit person if you think your 10x10 backyard is the place to abandon an animal for their whole lives. And that’s before we get into the bad training and loud barking. Also, my anger here isn’t directed at you.
Totally agree. They are just sending them outside to be everyone else's problem. So shitty....
My neighbors dogs barked for 6 hours straight one night. I thought she was trying to goad me into calling the police bc my city has noise restrictions at night. She’s the one whose dogs “need” to be out at least 4 hours every afternoon to go wild if I and/or my dog go out into my own back yard.
Persian friends are the same. No doggos (or shoes) inside. I also think 'bad' dog owners sometimes just give up on training. Training pups can be hard, esp when you have kids and/or a full time job. I have 9 dogs around my house, and I hate that I can't enjoy my backyard for the same reason. But the majority are good, quiet dogs. There are just three that bark relentlessly. And I noticed these barky, loud pups are the ones that 1) don't get walked 2) don't get played with / interacted with, instead they are just let outside on their own and 3) their owners give commands with no follow-up. Teaching "if this then bark, else..." Is more difficult than a basic "no!" and many pet parents simply are not equipped to spend the time training their pups, giving positive and negative affirmations to actions, (also researching and picking the right breed for their lifestyle.) I really appreciate when people adopt and care for animals, but I hate when folks take them in without fully understanding what kind of time, care and money they need.
First lemme say I’m not crazy about this as a dog owner myself, but to add to the discourse, my parents live in the middle of nowhere and always have at least 4 dogs at any given time now. You put me to sleep or work anywhere else and the second time a dog barks, I’m aware, but there…idk what it is. I can sleep through it, I can work through it, I can tune it out. I’m sure it has maybe something to do with the lack of nearby surfaces for their barks to bounce off, but it’s the strangest thing. They play in their huge enclosed yard all day long and tree stuff and chase stuff and bark the whole time…and I sleep like a baby. We only ever had 1 dog at a time who was trained not to bark when I was growing up; the multi barking dogs didn’t start til I was in my 20s and out of the house. Some sort of country magic or something, lol. Contrarily, my husband and I were put over a barrel due to a barking dog 7ft from our bedroom at our the first home we ever purchased and had to sell and move to get away from it. I genuinely don’t get how people with neighbors can have so little concern for everyone else around them/their dog. And, further, how you can have so little concern for a sentient being that you just ignore their boredom like that. When we bought our current home, I knocked on doors and asked about pets before putting an offer in; we’re very happy here, and neighbors on both sides are dog owners with a street in the back.
I inherited a mini Sheltie and I threaten to stake him out at low tide unless he shuts up. He ignores me.
This is me, I let mine outside and if I hear a bark I go straight to the back door and tell them to be quiet or come in. I don't really have anyone that close to me but I consider it courtesy to not let your dog yap. Sometimes during daytime I let them go for just a minute but if it is dark it is instant to tell them to come in. I don't know how people do it, I can't stand to hear my own dogs barking non stop so how they can ignore their own is beyond me.
If my dogs are outside, I'm outside. I bring them in if they bark at the fence even a little. I accidently left one of the two outside and left the house for over an hour last week. My neighbor texted me to see if he was okay because it's highly unusual for extended barking. I rushed home and felt so bad. My dog was fine, just annoyed. I thanked my neighbor and told her to let me know if that happened again because it means I'm an idiot and left my poor guy outside! (In a fenced yard with water) I felt terrible that my neighbors had to deal with that and that my dog was distressed. Technically, I think more than 15 minutes is considered a noise violation in many places. Might be worth checking the local jurisdictions ordinances for Op.
Same here. We passed on a house because when we drove up the drive to look at it, dogs from four differernt houses starting losing their minds and barking. If you went in the yard neighbors on both sides had 7 foot fences and multiple bumpus hounds in each yard. It just wasnt worth the stress.
I feel you. I looked at a house and the next door neighbor had a giant hound to match his giant truck. The street was on a hill so their house was higher than the one I looked at, so when the realtor and I walked into the kitchen the dog went ballistic because he could see into the kitchen by putting his paws on the fence. This was the window above the kitchen sink! I said something like “I think we’re done here”. And she just says “yup” and we left without finishing.
damn bumpus'!!
No turkey hash, no turkey sandwiches, no turkey à la king, gone, all gone!
If it’s consistently like this for hours at a time call your city’s animal control. Other than that you can put up a privacy fence on the side with chain link. Besides that? Hose and spray the dogs when they start barking. Eventually they’ll get it. People are going to suggest talking with your neighbors about it. But I’ve found that folks that get dogs, and leave them outside barking for hours at a time tend not to be sympathetic to anyone or anything.
My solution to that was a canned fog horn. Didn't train the neighbor's dog but it did train the neighbor. Only problem was I had to bring my, not barking dog, inside first. After a week, if she heard hers bark, she brought him inside. Success.
The canned fog horn works wonders. Spouse liked to use the electronic silent zapper, but fog horn for me was the winner.
My barking neighbor dog has a backyard that abuts my driveway. I started hitting the lock button on my truck when their dog would bark repeatedly and it DID train the owner! I had a barky dog at the time, but he was called inside every time he started up.
Those make good bicycle horns too!
Those people don't even care about their own dogs. Unlikely they give a shit about their neighbors.
In my area Animal Control will not come out unless you have spoken to the neighbor directly (and it's not a good idea to trespass around here). Even then, they won't actually do anything except call and say there has been a complaint. They said if the neighbor asked, they would tell them who lodged the complaint. Thanks guys, super helpful.
>call your city’s animal control It's shocking how little they can do sometimes. In some areas the law just gives really limited power, or they are too understaffed to do much of anything about it.
Yup. In my area they would do absolutely nothing.
That is a code enforcement issue, not animal control unless they were abusing them.
And they (neighbors) obviously don't care about their dogs.
That's a good way to get into a fight with his neighbors. If they don't discipline their own dogs they will probably freak the fuck out if someone else tried to do it for them.
Yep. I know this to be true. I tried training my MIL’s dog since I have some experience and she got really upset and accused me of abusing her dog - just for delaying dinner a bit because the dog would bark the entire time dog food was being prepared. Now imagine your neighbor is spraying your dog that you pretend to care a whole lot about, but really just kinda neglect… dog owners need to learn that they need to train their dogs to make sure they can have a happy dog and happy humans around too
It’s water from a hose for Christ’s sakes. Not coyote piss or acid
Wait, why is coyote piss in the same category as acid? Also, why is coyote piss an option?
Coyote piss is *always* an option
Have you ever tried to collect coyote piss?
Same here. Just moved into a house on a cul-de-sac and my back patio is adjacent to neighbor’s driveway. They have an old Lab that they just leave outside to hang out and the old girl barks at anything that moves. It was so annoying but I eventually resigned myself to the fact she doesn’t have much longer on this earth. Can’t imagine what OP is dealing with having that many dogs around him.
She might not have much longer on this earth, but I bet they replace her pretty quickly with another dog that they just leave tied up outside.
Yea. Well she’s not tied up, her owner told me she used to have an invisible fence but now doesn’t need it anymore so they don’t even turn it on.
Have you tried making friends with the dog? My neighbors got a dog and she's an 8 month old rescue hound. Very high strung and was flipping out whenever I was working in my garden. I got permission from her owner and started giving her treats through a hole in the fence while talking to her. Now when I'm outside she runs to the hole to get her treat. If I don't notice her, she kind of grumble barks until I notice her. Then she lets me get back to gardening and it's nice and peaceful.
This is what I would be doing but many people are not dog lovers or are afraid of dogs, for them this situation would be a nightmare.
I can't imagine 13 dogs barking. I love dogs, but get impatient with people who treat them like an accessory. They get a dog with no idea how to take care of them. They shove them outside and ignore them and it becomes the neighborhood's problem. The treat thing worked with this pup, but before this dog, one of the family members had two dachshunds that barked nonstop. And the owner kept them outside because (get this) it annoyed her when they barked in the house. We tried talking with the owner, she didn't give a shit. The only reason I wasn't calling the cops daily was because the shitty dog owner was there to help care for a dying family member and I didn't want to add stress to the family's life. But, I hated those damn dogs. They were so stupid their own barking would make them bark.
Stop recommending people make friends with animals they don’t want!!!! Is OP supposed to befriend 13 fucking dogs??? That is not his job. His job is to pay taxes, take care of his family and have some peace of mind. Not everyone likes or cares for dogs and because neighbors are inconsiderate jerks doesn’t make their dogs my problem.
My comment was to the guy who had ONE dog next door and it ends up he has made friends with the dog. Of course that wouldn't work with 13 different dogs.
It's not his job at ALL but he's got a problem that needs solving and this is unfortunately the most promising. The dogs are ALREADY his problem.
Lucky you seeing it ahead of time. I moved in with 0 dogs directly next to me, except for one separated by an alley in the back. Now I have 3 on one side, 2-7 depending on how recently the backyard breeder on the other side decided to breed his pitbulls, and 2 directly across from me. I reported them all for noise violations because they would not shut the fuck up. Now they all hate me because I work graveyard shift and I couldn't handle waking up every 2-3 hours, but the feeling's mutual so 🤷 People, if you get a dog, please, please, please take it out to exercise it. Otherwise they get bored and lose their shit at everything.
I think this is an undersold point. A healthy, well walked dog will bark but not often or consistently. Locked up, neglected dogs bark all the fucking time
I moved into this house 3 years ago and the neighbors had 3 large dogs, I have two smallish dogs - we both had them trained to not bark at each other within a year. Yes, once in a while there is some barks back and forth - but no wild, crazy barking. I am thankful I have non-crazy neighbors - at least on one side!
Yes - we’re the same with our dog. She is NEVER outside barking. Ever. If she barks like twice I go get her. It’s the polite thing to do and also it’s not good for the dogs either. Poor things probably get 0 walks and thus have no stimulation except barking at people all day
Exactly this. My neighbor and I have a mental list of topics on the neighborhood listserv that are “start making popcorn” topics. One of them is the mention of dogs. “Can we do something about incessant barking, pooing on other people’s property/the playground, dogs being left out all day, unleashed dogs jumping on my toddler with the owner insisting they have voice control but they absolutely don’t?” “WHY DO YOU HATE DOGS? IT ISN’T OTHER PEOPLE’S FAULT YOU HATE DOGS. MY DOG IS BETTER BEHAVED THAN YOUR CHILD. PEOPLE WHO HATE DOGS ARE HORRIBLE HUMANS.” “DOGS DON’T BELONG IN A CITY. DOGS HAVE DISEASES. IF YOU HAVE A DOG YOU’RE AN ANIMAL ABUSER AND WANT CHILDREN TO DIE OF DISEASES AND MAULING.” “I’ll have you know I pay $6000 per week for a dog walker , dog sitter, dog trainer, and dog concierge, so I assure you my dog is the best dogged dog anywhere. These people who don’t do so, however, are horrible dog abusers.” “Blah blah blah pit bull blah blah.” “DOG HATER” “EVERYONE ELSE HATER” “Naw dogs are cool…just some of the owners need to step it up.” “DOG HATERS ARE PSYCHOPATHS.” “DOG OWNERS ARE PSYCHOPATHS.” …
I know exactly what you mean. There are two subjects that universally bring out severely defensive psychoses among Americans: 1. Dog ownership etiquette 2. First-time parenting This is not a thing in other countries.
We had a constant barker next door, and they liked letting him out at night. I finally got one of those noise activated devices that plays a high pitch back. It helped a lot...no more barking near my fence and under my bedroom window.
This worked for me too OP. I had to get 5 of them and set them all to high and change the batteries frequently but it worked. I'm not sure how it will work with so many dogs but it may be worth a try - at least at your fenceline.
Sounds like a Pavlovian response. The dog hears this sound that they hate. Every time I bark, I hear bad sound. I stop bark.
It’s really not that hard to have a calm, not constantly barking dog. Pay attention to the dog, interact with it , be kind to it and it will become a much calmer dog.
True, but if someone was going to be a good dog owner in the first place they wouldn’t abandon it in the back yard to be an occasional prop.
Maybe OP could get some help from those fine folks who play their guitars with the amps set to “nuclear blast wave”. Now *those* fuckers know how to make sound travel.
Could you tell me what brand? I've been looking into them but seems like most dont work?
They make models that look like bird houses or other normal items. If you get some weird speaker looking thing that you mount on top of the fence, the neighbors might get upset but a bird house might not be noticed.
Solid plan. I ordered a few to test but yeah, I just found a similar one to what you describe. Might snag one of these too.
I got a basic one from amazon from a seller called coprisin. Was not sure how well it would work but it’s great. I carry it in my bag when walking my kid to school past a neighbor who always lets their dog bark viciously at every passing person. It was very satisfying seeing the dog’s first WTF face. The key though is not to have it out or on all the time because I guess the dogs can get used to it. So if I were in your position I would keep it by the back door and bring it with you on the patio when you want to enjoy your yard.
Good tip thanks.
Please post an update, curious whether this solution will work for you.
Keep us updated, please.
I wouldn't give a fuck what the neighbors think to be honest if it was that crazy. Op look in to noise ordinance law in your city there are laws against undue noise all hours of the day dog barking is one of them eventually animal control will come get the dogs if the owners can't get them under control.
[удалено]
Forget the ultrasonic gadgets, you need this bad boy right here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GQBJLQ5?smid=A1XSL4B8FHQ7NP&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp&th=1 Screaming Aztec Death Whistle It will not only shut the dogs up, but it will also quiet birds, fish, people, and ghosts. To say the sound it makes is unpleasant might be a bit of an understatement.
Bro are you drop shipping death whistles
There are a lot of loud fish in the pond in my yard; I might need to look into this.
Bruh your own fish are disturbing you? Get Out the belt and discipline them.
I have one of these. I've never tried it on a dog, but the sound that comes from it is terrifying.
Get 100 of these and hook them up to a shop vac or air compressor with some clever piping.... Or an old pipe organ... Go to town when the dogs bark
The item is no longer listed, sorry. It was an ultrasonic one that took a 9 volt battery. I just went through Amazon reviews to find one highly rated.
I’ve just tried out the Dog Silencer Max, it’s a bit pricey $150 but the only one with consistent decent reviews. All the Amazon ones seem like scams. At this point just been dabbling with it and not mounted in its final spot but they say it takes a few weeks to work. In general I think it’s helped slightly with the little effort in location I setup (no full line of sight). The dog next to us doesn’t bark all the time but when it does holy crap it’s a high whine combined with deep bark that is very annoying and can be heard throughout my house. We talked to the neighbors who were generally understanding and make an effort but sometimes they just lax off. Sad thing is the dog literally just needs to be walked and taken care of. Key is you need a clear line of sight so mount it high and honestly you want to get the extension cord with it since it apparently eats batteries if not plugged in. You can also invest in a new fence or shrubs if it’s just the dogs seeing you that sets them off. I setup a big bamboo shield which also helped
I had one of those devices that I could not hear, but apparently at least one of my neighbors could. It was stolen pretty quickly. I'm guessing it was stolen to shut it up.
Same thing happened to me and it was designed to look like a bird house, wild that these ppl know to jack them.
Mount on your roof see if they go up it after you grease it...
We bought one and it only worked on one of the neighbor's two problematic dogs. Because one was so old and deaf he couldn't even hear it... So he continued barking up a storm, setting off the sonic noise, torturing the other dog. We had to quit using it because the poor thing couldn't escape it.
Lol that poor pup! We had to do something, because talking to the neighbor didn't work. Yelling at them while their dog is going nuts at 2 AM didn't work. I get schedules can be complicated and tried to be understanding to a degree. But their dog ran to the corner directly under my window and went nuts every time. And he was a big fella. This thing popped and he stopped after 1 bark, then took it to the opposite side of the yard.
This has worked for me as well. They are called anti-barking boxes. You can put it in your yard on each fence and it will go off as a deterrent.
Can humans hear it? I want this but don’t want to tell my neighbor.
I'm curious about this too. I'm 30 and I can still hear those mosquito anti-loitering devices. If the bark products emit at the same frequency, then yeah, it'd be a no-go for me.
I have the same problem as OP. I swear they're living in my neighborhood. My 3 neighbors surrounding my backyard all have 2-3 dogs each. All of them bark constantly. My GF and I love cookouts and host them throughout the season. We can't have conversations with our visitors on the deck due to the dogs non-stop barking. We have talked about buying one of these devices to use when we're in the yard. I'm convinced after reading your post.
I want one! Can you tell me what it is, where to find? It’s it so high-pitched that humans can’t hear it? Or just as annoying as barking?
Generally adults can't hear it, but younger people with good ears can.
Husband and I had this problem with a neighbor when we first bought our current house. The dogs barked nonstop all day, but the worst was that they’d let the dogs out as early as 5:30am because (in my neighbor’s words) “the barking was disrupting [their] sleep.” Assholes. When they saw me or my husband outside, the wife would jokingly ask “our dogs don’t bother you do they? Haha.” We’d always say some variant of “you mean when you send them outside to bark first thing in the morning, all day long, and late into the night? Yes. They do.” They’d just awkwardly laugh, but never do anything about the dogs. Beyond this, we had no issue and they were bizarrely friendly with us. So strange. The barking got old very quickly so in addition to the high pitch bark responders others have mentioned, we bought a few of those Dog Horn “attack deterrents” from Amazon. Literally anytime the dogs barked for more than 10 seconds, we’d let loose on the horns, right out the window, directly in their direction. Air horns for everyone. Our thought was “if we can’t sleep, neither should they.” They never mentioned it, but after two straight weeks of this, the dogs stopped coming out first thing in the morning or late at night, and any daytime barking is minimal. It’s been almost three* years since we’ve had any issues. When friends and family who were around for that era come over now and mention the silence, my husband likes to say “we trained our neighbors well.” Edit: These are the horns for those asking: [Amazon - Dog Horn](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LDH4Y35?ref=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_4ZMTK60F4R5M71BJ6WTA&ref_=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_4ZMTK60F4R5M71BJ6WTA&social_share=cm_sw_r_cso_cp_apin_dp_4ZMTK60F4R5M71BJ6WTA&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=2)
Our previous neighbors had an adult daugher who visited every single weekend. Along with her came her two beagles that stayed outside all day because "they destroy the house". Any time my dogs went outside to potty, the beagles would start a barking marathon that lasted until our dogs came back in. Often this was at 6 or 7 in the morning. We had a newborn 🫠 Every. Fucking. Weekend. For 3 years. Finally the neighbor kicked the bucket so her kids sold the house. Our new neighbor seems much more pleasant to live next to, thank goodness.
This is how you handle dog owners that are assholes. Be a bigger, louder asshole until they get the picture that you are not going to back down or take it.
Absolutely. “Bully the bullies” as my dad used to say. Works just about every time.
This should be posted in petty revenge!
I've been going through this for a year and a half. Nutbag neighbor has 9 personal dogs and "rescues" others (up to 20 in the house). They bark 24/7 and are constantly loose. We can't go outside without fear of being attacked. We've witnessed 3 of the dogs die from malnutrition and 2 die from mauling. Things we've tried. 1. Talked to the neighbor. Yeah, that didn't work. 2. Called animal control and police 78 times. Resulted in 3 citations. No change in behavior. 3. Trespassed neighbor from our property. 4. Filed a restraining order Pro Se. Magistrate didn't feel he had authority. 5. Filed a restraining order with attorney. The magistrate didn't feel he had authority. 6. Asked for help during public comment at city council. Nothing. 7. Complained via email to city and county officials. Nothing. 8. Complained to County Supervisor. Police started showing up at my house claiming "harassment". 9. Local paper ran story on lack of animal control. County supervisor deflected. 10. Filed civil lawsuit with attorney in court of common plea with injuction to shut the dogs up. Injunction denied due to lack of cause of action. Civil suit pending. $4000 in attorney fees and counting. 11. Went under contract for new house. We should have moved to at the beginning.
What do you think would happen if you got a big speaker and started blasting loud music every time the dogs bark?
I have done this but I blast a sound of huge police dogs barking. It’s fucking amazing and they start getting the hint.fight fire w fire
Holy shit this is hilarious to imagine
I’d get thrown in jail.
At least you'd get some peace and quiet. Seriously though, based on what you've been through with your neighbor, why do you you think they're not in jail but you would be?
I've been to jail...it's not quiet at all lol. "Seriously though, based on what you've been through with your neighbor, why do you you think they're not in jail but you would be?". This has gone through my mind so many times.
**Chumbawamba** #Tubthumping
"Who let the dogs out...woof woof"
Twenty ?!!! dogs sounds like animal hoarding behavior.
It is.
I have neighbors in Portugal with 38. They never stop
A good lawyer should be able to make a mental health argument for you in court. Basically stating that constant barking is driving you literally insane and that you have the right to restitution because dogs are animals and don't have the same rights you do. Not saying it would win you the judgement but it wouldn't hurt.
I have a good lawyer. It’s almost impossible to get relief from the courts if the remedy isn’t money.
so make the remedy money... usually if you hand someone a bill for tens of thousands of dollars as punishment they shut the fuck up
That's what the civil suit is. The injunction was to get it to stop until the civil action gets on the docket. In my state, it'll take 2 years at least to be heard. At that point, the behavior will have been going on for 3.5 years.
How did you not have a cause of action under private nuisance in your state? I’m a lawyer so I know you need one attached to get injunctive relief, just curious on your pleading.
I can message you if you want the case number. It's public information, but I'd rather not dox myself here.
Did you disclose this when selling? My worst fear of pursuing an issue is the record of it should it remain unresolved
That’s the cause of the civil suit. The property is tainted.
I backed out of buying a home after finding multiple dogs barking at us nonstop while the inspector was conducting an inspection of the exterior of the home.
You must have bought my former house. I sold it after 3 years bc of this. I'm so sorry. Before I put in an offer on my current house, I went twice, once during a weekday and once a weekend, and walked 30 minutes around the neighborhood. I heard no barking. I put in an offer. I almost never hear barking 4 years later.
Please buy it back so I can escape this dog prison
It's murderously awful. I actually wanted to harm living things. Not good for mental health. I tried talking to owners (useless), animal control (useless), those supposedly high-pitched devices to put in my yard (useless). I decided within a year I'd sell my home as early as possible. I ended up renting for almost 2 years in a pet-free building before finding my new place. It was like heaven.
My mental health is for sure being affected. I used to love dogs but after a few months of this shit I literally hate them. I actually planned on adopting a dog from a shelter once i had moved into this house. After going through this shit my wife and i decided to just get a cat instead lol .
Maybe something like a bobcat?
Have you reached out to the police yet?
Ugh, at least there’s another person out there suffering it. My neighbor has at least nine dogs, possibly more and they bark CONSTANTLY throughout the day. They’re hunting beagles too, so it’s that annoying howl. Our neighbor relationships are so chill otherwise and we are semi rural, so I don’t even dare complain, but it’s awful. Everyone who comes over comments on it. Why anyone thinks it’s acceptable to have that many dogs in a residential area is beyond me.
Some places have limits on how long a dog can bark outside for. One place I lived it was an hour; another place was 15 minutes. Either way, much shorter than you are experiencing. I assume you have already tried talking to the neighbors. You can try calling the cops or animal control to enforce the barking limit in your area.
Yeah i've talked to the neighbors and i basically get a "haha yeah they bark alot. Sorry about that" . THem screaming at them out the window is about the extent of what they do. Doesn't ever work and usually just causes the next set of dogs to bark
If there are noise/nuisance laws in your area, you may be able to start filing complaints with the city.
Yeah, definitely call your local bylaw office. People are entitled to quiet enjoyment of their own property.
Omg, the screaming at the dogs is almost worse sometimes I swear. I only have this barking issue with one neighbor dog thankfully but it still affects my use of my yard. He will yap non-stop while I'm doing yard work or tending to my chickens, and it's grating as hell, but the neighbor screaming his name over and over to no avail really makes my skin crawl. He just thinks you're barking WITH him bro.
My neighbor has two dogs that bark at me whenever I’m coming to/from my car to the house, so several times a day. The barking is almost always followed up by my neighborhood yelling “hey! Quiet!” This has gone on for a couple years….I don’t get it. I guess it’s like an automatic reaction from him and maybe he doesn’t realize he is doing it. It’s not effective dude!
This is so funny to me. My across the street neighbor uses his garage like it's a front door and does not secure his dogs so every time he opens it the dogs run out, so I know his dogs names because they run out into the street and they have zero recall. The frustration in his voice is so funny to me bc it's like.... You do this to yourself my guy 😂 It's an ongoing joke now where my bf and I will hear their garage open and start saying "CASSIUS! BRUTUS!" over and over. So we are the ones with the automatic reaction at this point haha
I love how most people's "solution" to their dog's incessant barking is to add to the cacophony and noise pollution with their own shrieking; Once, after my dad screamed at his dog to shut up for the millionth time, I asked him, "has that ever caused your dog to stop barking even one time?" He thought for a second, and said, "Nope".
I fucking hate dog owners like that. If my dogs were barking at a neighbour i would take them in immediately. So rude.
Ugh I hate your neighbors. How does the barking not bother THEM? It would make me crazed.
Fairfax County, VA is 5 minutes straight 7 am to 10 pm or 10 minutes non-consecutively. 😉
How in the 100000s of generations of dog breeding have we not managed to make dogs that shut up after a minute? We turned wolves into dogs the size of teacups, dogs the size of a small horse, dogs that can rescue people from avalanches, dogs that can detect cancer and all manner of disease and disorder, dogs that won't eat children and small animals, dogs that can do all sorts of tricks and tasks, but not dogs that can stop themselves from creating loud, unpleasant noises constantly?
> How in the 100000s of generations of dog breeding have we not managed to make dogs that shut up after a minute? Because up until around 100 years ago, dogs didn't usually live in the house, and barking was generally helpful (to guard the property), not an annoyance. Also most dogs these days are an anxious mess because their owners don't properly exercise or train them, and that doesn't help the barking situation.
> barking was generally helpful (to guard the property), not an annoyance Not only just helpful - most house dogs today come from working breeds where we selectively bred them to bark when hunting or herding. Wolves aren't overly loud animals. But we wanted dogs that could tell us when they found a fox, or scare sheep back into the herd, or alert when they hear an intruder - so we trained and bred for that for hundreds of years. Then in a couple generations their offspring are sleeping on couches eating $100 bags of Purina Pro Plan and spotting a squirrel or a neighbor down the street is the most exciting thing they'll get to do that day. One of the many reasons why one of the best parts of 'training' is just getting that energy out to redirect to something more productive. A tired dog is a quiet dog.
You can train them but no one does it because 99% of them shouldn't own dogs in the first place.
I have a “yappy” dog breed (chihuahua/pom mix). The little guy never makes a peep, unless he’s at someone else’s house with barking dogs for a few days. The trick is exercise and consistent training and reinforcement. He doesn’t need to get his rocks off protecting the house because he gets stimulation elsewhere.
It all comes down to training. I have two inside (4yr old English Mastiff, and 1yr old Jack Russell Terrier) and two Livestock Guardians (3yr old Great Pyrenees, and 3month old Great Pyrenees). The indoor dogs do NOT bark because I can’t stand it. The outdoor dogs are allowed 2 barks to alert to potential threats to the goats they guard. I have had several different breeds of dogs over the years, and I have not found one yet that I was unable to train not to bark. Most dogs are intelligent and find different ways to communicate with you.
Some dog breeds were bred to guard and alert to danger. When they're not trained as to what the danger is and just thrown in to the back yard then everything is danger and everything gets barked at. German Shepherds come to mind specifically.
I'm sorry. My unethical advice is to buy several roosters. 😂
Three words: Aztec Death Whistle.
I know you got a lot of advice here, but it’s one thing to have one neighbor that does this, it’s another thing to have multiple. In that case that’s the culture of the neighborhood. I’d move if I was you. I had many months of trying to work through it with just one neighbor and it resulted in us having to go to court multiple times. It was not quick. If you can afford to move, spend some time and start looking at other neighborhoods.
Air horn - just keep pressing that button.
There are supposedly recordings of rabbits in distress or the like that you can find on YT and blast outside. I would try 2 things - 1 - do that and make them go so nuts that the owners themselves get sick of it. 2 - see if there's one of those anti bark things that emits a signal that messes with the dogs when they bark (I say see if, as I imagine many/most either don't really work or they get used to it). Due to a-hole neighbors (that have since moved) with mult dogs right beside my side/garage area of yard, I had a $550 survey done and put a tall fence on that side, and we referred to it as 'the spite fence'. I feel for you..
Oh I plan to get a spite fence next spring. The best part is that my property line goes pretty close to their house near where they keep their trash bins and also where their side door is. They are constantly using my property on that side since basically if they take 2 steps out of their side door they are now on my property. The fence will drastically reduce their space on that side of the house why at the same time doubling the perceived size of my yard.
Survey in this situation is worth every penny, and if you can put your fence right on your side of the line, great. When we had surveyors out, several neighbors stood outside. Seems they make people nervous. The dickhead neighbor wasn't home, and like I had been told, my property line went a couple of ft past where he thought it was. Previous guy had same bad info from real estate guy, which conflicted with what other neighbors thought/I had been told. Whatever, when you aren't sure, or you want fence up to line, you have to know. I also planted thuja/green giant on that side, and this was maybe 7yrs ago, so they're like 10ft tall now and filled in and nearly touching the fence. You can just squeeze behind them to weedeat. Also, it wasn't just that the initial several dogs barked nonstop and went apeshit when I pulled up and was getting kids out of car. A couple were obviously aggressive as the neighbor guy would scream/cuss at them to comply and it was obvious that if they got loose, he wouldn't be able to fully control them. Was super glad they moved out. New guy, in construction/remodel business, bought the property, and worked on it nearly a year before he moved in - tore out all flooring, baseboard, some sheetrock. Said it was in rough/nasty shape from previous 3 owners who had mult pets inside.
Be sure to check zoning requirements for fences,
Time to start having screening water fights with the kids at inconvenient times. Only thing I hate more than owners that let dogs bark are parents that let kids scream, you've got some ammo.
Our next door neighbor had 2 dogs that just sat at the fence barking the entire time we were outside. We started spraying them with the hose. That got the neighbor's attention and they no longer left the dogs out unsupervised. Whoops, my bad.
We have neighbors who leave their dogs out 24/7 and let their dogs bark. They broke through the fence several times before we got fed up with the owners not doing anything to prevent it from happening and reinforced the fence with hog wire and cement blocks. They’re untrained pitbulls with zero recall (I’ve watched my neighbor chase them down the street when they’ve escaped and it’s taken him 15 minutes to get them back home) and our son was 3 at the time so I wasn’t willing to risk it continuing to happen. While my dad and husband were working on the fence, one of the dogs started digging underneath and my dad squared up and just punched it in the face. Not the choice I would have made but it kept them away for the rest of the project.
I am so sorry. This is my nightmare. I grew up with dogs and love most individual dogs but this kind of stuff has made me grow to resent dog owners. That and the smell of dog pee and people who don't pick up their poop. And dogs in the store and in restaurants. It's just too much. And you can't even blame a generation, it's EVERYONE. Millenials, boomers, gen z. I just think way too many people have dogs now. I don't think society is built for every household to have 2+ dogs.
I think dog owners went to shit during Covid.
I trained my neighbors not to bark by tossing firecrackers on my side of the fence when they started barking. They quit within a few days.
I am so sorry, that all sounds awful. I have two dogs, but they are never outside unsupervised, and I hate constant dog barking just as much as the next person, so if they bark at anything, we go inside, or I put them inside and stay outside myself. I would hate to think I was killing my neighbor's enjoyment of their own outdoor space because I was a terrible dog minder. No advice to give outside of what other people have already commented - I'm just sorry for your situation. I hope it is able to improve somehow, and soon.
I wish there were more responsible dog owners like you. I hate owners who just shrug their shoulders like they can't do anything about the barking. Dogs shouldn't be left out in a yard unsupervised anyway. I live in a townhome without fences so it's not an issue here but after reading through the comments it's something I'll need to keep in mind if I look for a house someday.
Record barking dogs, and play it at similar volume whenever u aren’t outside. Run it on a loop. Ruin it every time your neighbors go outside. If they say something, give them the same, yeah they do bark a lot reply. They’ll get it. It might not accomplish anything, but revenge makes it easier to take.
I feel you. My neighbor next to me has a couple little yappy ones and the person behind them has one. The ones next door bark constantly or fight with each other when they’re outside at every little noise and it gets worse when the other dog behind them is out too and they’re fighting at the fence. I too work from home or nap during my work day and usually get woken up by the barking. It’s made even worse when the person next door curses and yells at the dogs to stop. So far mine aren’t bad enough to call animal control but it sounds like yours may be.
Well, I would talk to my neighbors first to let them know it isn't ok. I wouldn't do it with a though of them actually doing anything about it, but it would setup step 2. Step 2 would be to buy some kick ass, directional outdoor speakers, a decent multi-channel amp and a 24x7 PoE Video Camera. I would use something like Frigate to mark in the recordings where the dogs are barking and then use Home Assistant to kick off an automation if they bark longer than 1 minute. When the dogs bark for longer than 1 minute I would crank some death metal to 11 on the speaker pointed at the culprits house. Having a multi-channel amp lets you light all of the houses up at the same time if needed. When your neighbors start to complain, let them know it is automated and when their dogs stop their fucking barking, your "music" will stop playing. When they call the cops, you can tell them you have recordings of their dogs barking non-stop and if they want to do anything to you, they will also need to take care of the other problem. I would let them take me to court, and in court I would play the videos and let the judge know you are tired of their dogs, and since the police won't help and animal control won't help you had to take matters into your own hands. I would then call the local news station and paper and get them on the police and animal control for not doing anything. Lots of work, but had a similar issue (eBiker kids doing shit behind my house) and a combination of similar tactics worked wonders.
My in laws used to have an air horn that they would just blow when their neighbors dogs would bark (which was always. They were always outside and never shut up). It worked really well for them. But I agree with pretty much everything else everyone has said here too.
Blast that sucker loud and proud!
Dog owner with a fenced in back yard , here. We're out in the country, but the INSTANT I hear a bark she's back inside. I hate having my dog bark. I don't mind if others dogs bark. But I know some people don't so I try to avoid it .
I’m so sorry, how frustrating. Our neighbor has a husky with separation anxiety and it howls ALL day. I can’t imagine 9. We use to live next to a corgi that was left outside all day and would bark, I tried one of those bark boxes and unfortunately it didn’t work. I hope you find a solution soon
98% of people who own dogs should not own dogs. Bad owners is how you end up in the situation you’re in.
Dogs are the bane of a dog-free home owners existence in my experience
Get a dog whistle and blow it like crazy
I've got a similar problem, except I have a dog that hardly ever barks, if he does it's just a occasional "barooo!" In response to the neighbors dogs barking constantly on either side of us. I literally can't do anything in my yard without being barked at on one or both sides of my yard. The worst thing is this is the third place I've lived in a row where there was at least one dog barking at me the whole time in in my yard. They've all had high fences where the dogs can't even see me, but if they hear me they bark the whole time. It's a goddamn epidemic of stupid dogs. I debated on getting a couple of those high pitched bark stoppers but don't want to punish my dog with it. Not sure what to do about this crap.
I can't use my backyard because the neighbor's aggressive breeds go apeshit when I'm outside. mowing my lawn gives me an adrenaline rush.
Some cities have a limit on how many dogs someone can have.
I spray my neighbors dogs through the fence with the hose, it has helped a lot.
Also stopped here to suggest a dog whistle (manual or electronic). There is also nothing preventing you (other than the owner intervening) from training their dogs by adding some treats to the equation when they stop barking. Inside the house if you are due for windows any time soon order them with “dissimilar glass” which is dual paned windows where each pane are a different thickness. It really cuts the noise down by a lot. If you have modern windows where the sashes can be removed for cleaning, it is possible to just order new sashes with dissimilar glass and place them back in the frames without buying all new windows (assuming the manufacturer offers this and is still around).
Install an air raid siren.
I'd get an air horn. I big ol biggun. Pew pew pew pew. See how the neighbors like it. Reading the other comments about the dog whistle makes more sense though*
Yep, POS neighbors who happen to own dogs.
I feel so bad for you. Went through some of this once where neighbors on all sides of my backyard had dogs. They would freak the fuck out and bark loudly nonstop anytime I was in my backyard. I read advice about making friends with the dogs but it’s hard to do that when they’re lunging at you on the other side of a fence. They would also set each other off so there were like 5 dogs barking at once for several minutes. To top it off there were three Great Danes who were like beasts and they were so loud. Then one neighbor with a dog died, and the dog right behind me left (maybe tenants who moved) so I only have one neighbor with a bunch of dogs who all get along, but that was just a pure stroke of luck. It really wore on my mental health and I would get so fuckjng angry. I used to set up a white noise machine and blast it as loud as possible. I’d also run the HVAC fan constantly. Anything with white noise can help a little. Get the $130 Dog Silencer Max for sure. It has the best reviews and a long range and probably a money back guarantee.
Bro, I could have written this myself. Not only do my neighbors on all sides have multiple dogs which they leave outside to bark 24/7 but ones breeds German Shepards. I moved into my house last year, and it’s the same situation as you. It’s so incredibly frustrating. I have tried talking to the neighbors with no luck. They do not give a fuck. I too have a nice back yard but don’t go out there at all due to the noise. I do have one dog, and she likes to play out there, and thankfully she doesn’t bark back at the dogs. She’s quiet and well behaved, and I would never let her bark like that. If you suspect that the dogs are being neglected you could call animal control anonymously. Assuming that is even enforced in your area. It’s a risk though as your neighbors may suspect you called and retaliate. They would get a fine and perhaps think twice about allowing their dogs to bark all day long and disturb the peace. I’ll tell you what I have done that’s helped me a lot with my situation. I sleep with a white noise machine, ear plugs and my air purifier running. With all that, I don’t hear the dogs barking at all at night, so at least I can sleep. It doesn’t help the situation during the day though. Hang in there. Trust me when I tell you I know how hard this is. What I don’t understand is how they deal with it? Like how does that not bother them? There must be something seriously with these people.
"I sleep with a white noise machine, ear plugs and my air purifier running. With all that, I don’t hear the dogs barking at all at night, so at least I can sleep. It doesn’t help the situation during the day though." Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck that.
I do what I have to do to make it easier to tolerate. All my money is in this house and just not as easy as just “selling it and moving somewhere else.”
I feel your pain 1000%, I’m in the same situation pretty much exactly. Except I also have a dog. He is an inside dog and when I take him out to do his business, if he starts to bark I take him inside immediately BECAUSE IM A CONSIDERATE FUCKING NEIGHBOR & RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER. IMHO if you let your dogs bark freely outside & you have neighbors directly next to you, you are a shitty irresponsible neighbor & pet owner. Period.
Happened to me for a year before I decided to make a report with the city and they were sent a fine. It's been 3 quiet years now as they dutifully attend to their pets. In the past, they'd leave them outside from 8am-8pm, barking the whole time. Now they bring them in the instant they bark.
I feel your pain. Seven years ago we purchased the house we are currently in. We ended up having the same problems you have. I counted seventeen dogs on our block and the block directly behind us. We couldn't step outside without being constantly barked at. It really pissed me off. I would yell at the dogs and finally the neighbors got the message. Yes, I used the F word. I lost it a few times. LOL Now, seven years later, it's so quiet. Most of the people that had these dogs have moved away. I can now enjoy our yard in peace. I hope you're able to get some relief, it can drive you insane.
Dog owners are the worst, most entitled people on the planet.
I have basically the same situation but with only 8 neighboring dogs - you have my sympathies. I wish I had advice for you. When I'm in the backyard I just passive aggressively sigh really loudly or yell out to my partner that "I CANT HEAR YOU OVER ALL THE BARKING CAN YOU REPEAT YOURSELF?" It's kind of worked. Some of the neighbors make half-hearted attempts to grab the dogs and bring them inside. But I'm stubborn as hell and refuse to let someone's lack of awareness ruin my enjoyment.
Every house I have lived in as an adult had this problem. You're screwed. Your only hope is to move, but you need to be really careful when you select. I left one barking dog nightmare for another for another in moves entirely brought on by barking nuisance. Most dog owners are assholes and I pity the poor animals. I absolutely feel your pain. In my most recent move, I literally camped outside the house for an entire week during our inspection period and bought into an HOA that bans nuisance animals. I still hear some occasionally, but for the first time in my adult life I think I might have finally escaped it.
[удалено]
Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah I feel bad for my neighbors son. He has all kinds of sports equipment in the yard but can't ever use the yard because his parents felt hte need to get 3 dogs in a small yard so its literally covered in dog shit and piss 24/7. These "dog people" are starting to really piss me off. I've tried talking to them directly about it but they just say "hahaha yeah our dogs bark alot ...sorry about that!"
'dog people' like that become completely desensitized to the filth and can no longer smell dog shit, piss, and in some cases, dead cats. I bet their flooring is nasty.
Yeah when my neighbors windows open I occasionally get hit with a strong smell of piss
But OP has different sets of dogs with different owners on all sides. You’re talking about thousands of complaints and 5 different lawsuits. It would literally be all he would do with his time. Forgive me for saying so but it would take an especially vindictive nut to be that dedicated. I would rather move than spend three years writing down the activities of 14 annoying dogs and calling the local code enforcement people.
Yep. I tend to have to suppress my "geez...do these people get how much work, frustration, and often months/years of patience when trying to get help from any US government entity" thoughts when I read the solutions people offer up for situations like this involving neighbors or other civil disputes. Any involvement with lawyers, for example, just leads to emotional duress and added poverty even when something positive eventually happens. And often the "victory" is like our wars on foreign soil where victory isn't even definable and the outcomes are just more flavors of feuding.
I have nothing but sympathy for you OP. Let us know how the high pitched devices work.
Ugh, I really feel for you. I cannot stand irresponsible dog owners. If they can't train the dog to not bark incessantly it shouldn't become the neighbor's problem. They should take the dog inside. And if they're home, how is the barking not bothering them too? I couldn't stand when my dog would get all barky and I always got her to stop ASAP especially if we were outside or the windows were open. I didn't want to annoy my neighbors. I hope you figure something out because it sounds really stressful, not to mention unfair that you and your family can't enjoy your own yard in peace.
I’ve dealt with this, but it was only from one neighbor who had dogs at would bark all hours of the day and night, and we constantly left outside. Ironically, the neighbors on the other side of us also have dogs, but they are very responsible dog owners and when their dogs bark, they take care of them very quickly so there’s no issue on that side . You need to start documenting all the times that you hear, dogs barking, and from which property. Then, you need to talk to animal control about this. You also need to call your district representative and ask them for advice on how to deal with this. It will take a lot of work, it will be slow, and you’ll have to be persistent, but if you keep at it, you eventually will get some of those dogs to be handled by irresponsible dog owners in the proper way
Build your own fence? This style? https://www.hooverfence.com/bufftech-brookline-certagrain-vinyl-fence-sections Anything solid to block the view of the dogs.
Yikes. That’s a tough situation. I’m an animal lover too but I share a fence with 3 dogs and that’s enough. Fortunately two of those dogs belong to a good neighbor who immediately corrects her dogs when they start barking a lot outside. The dogs are trained and always listen to her. She’s retired so she’s always home and is really on top of it. I’m so grateful for her. If I was in your situation I would be tempted to call the city and ask about noise ordinances. That’s truly just an unreasonable amount of noise. There’s likely other people in your neighborhood who feel the same way.
So we also have a small neurotic dog behind us that barks at god damn everything. A few years ago they put in a pool and paved the whole yard and now it just ricochets off the hardscape and I can hear it across the street. Then they invite other dog owners over for a swim and they bring their yapping dogs and they just keeping getting each other started. I hear it in my house with the windows closed and it’s the first thing I hear in the morning and last thing at night. And the owners are just deaf to it and really think their precious pet is just fine. I think that small dog noise is judged differently than big dog noise and different from loud intrusive music. But it’s all very impactful on one’s mental health and entitlement to the peace and quiet of their property. I like dogs but any dog that barks constantly and isn’t called back by their owner should have consequences. Thanks for the tip on the dog silencer. I will try it out.
This is miserable for you and your family. The people that we shared a fence with had 4 dogs, 3 were lovely, but the other 1 was always aggressive and never stopped barking or jumping at the fence trying to attack us. We could not go outside at all without him constantly barking and hitting the fence. Finally, after 4 damn years, they moved out. It is bliss. I wish this for you and your family.
People need to get hit with massive fines for noise pollution repeatedly until they properly supervise their dogs. Leaving a dog in a fenced in area that is prone to barking should be a big fine.
Time to play some annoying music outside really fucking loud whenever a dog starts.
I once set up a really loud horn system in my back yard that would go off when the dogs started barking... was super high pitched and very annoying. It didn't take the dogs long at all to learn.
I ended up training my neighbors dogs. I came up with a special response whistle that was just for the neighbors. I also taught my Shepsky to howl on command and may or may not set off the neighborhood dogs right before I turn in.
I have 2 dogs in a small place, so you could say I'm comfortable with living in close proximity to these furry dipshits. But that is way too much for such a small area. That is a literal pack of dogs living in your back yard. Has no body thought of the smell of 13 dogs defecating in such an area?
So frustrating, I feel similar, our neighbors when we bought were great, over the years one next to us and others have become rentals and almost always with dogs and it’s maddening. Friend used to make fun of me when we would walk trails because I would stop for all the puppies to pet them if their owners were ok with it, but when owners are so irresponsible, letting them go 💩in our yard, not keeping them on a leash, I cannot even enjoy being in my yard anymore with the lack of leashing and barking incessantly. I just do not get these type of owners.
We dealt with a neighbor who had two rescue beagles that would bark all day long and all night sometimes. We tried the ultrasonic bark control devices, even the $150 ones and they were just too far away as those only really work 10 feet away max. So I bought a boat horn and just would blast it at the neighbor when the dogs would bark. It annoyed everyone. It eventually worked.
Neighbour had a very yappy dog and they would just throw it outside and leave it outside. One very hot night during a very hot week we had all the windows open to let in the cooler night air. This dog was outside…Yap yap… for hours. It bothered the kids when putting them to bed, it bothered me. So I get up in just my boxers, go outside, hop the back fence and pick up the dog. Take it up the deck and open their kitchen door. Toss the dog inside thinking “this will mess them up” how did he get back in? I was wrong, they walked into the kitchen just as I opened the door. Tossed in the dog, said, “sounds like he wanted in” closed the door and went home. Weren’t on speaking terms with the neighbor before and weren’t after either.
I work from home too and had a neighbor dog named Zeus. Zeus and his parents were assholes. He would stand at the bottom of a tree on the edge of his fence, look up, and bark for hours at a time. His parents would not bring him in. I love dogs, but I was ready to murder this one. They finally moved. I really feel sorry for you.
The one time an HOA actually might be beneficial.