Problem Dog Owners

Dogs bark. I know that. They bark for many reasons - but most of the ones I've ever had issue with bark because their owners are too stupid or apathetic to realize they are the cause.

My wife and I have moved many times in the 15+ years we have lived together - everywhere we've lived, there has been that neighbor that is blissfully unaware that rover/fluffy/spot/buddy or napoleon is bothering his neighbors.

In Oklahoma City, our neighbor left his two small fluffy dogs (pomeranians ?) in the back yard while they went out. Their cadence was pretty much a bark each every few seconds, which you can ignore for 'a while.' But after several hours, it starts to sound like a dentist's drill. My wife wrote a note to him and the paranoid neighbor phoned right away so that we understood he would do something about it and he didn't want them harmed. I'm not sure (we didn't ask) what happened to his previous dogs, but I do sense a pattern.

Bored, Boring, Barking
Dogs bark for many reasons, the most important being the territorial front they have to upkeep. And of course, besides companionship, most people think they need the dog(s) to keep burglars away. Many sites I've read about 'problem barking' say that the dog may be anxious about being left alone.

Last month, the neighbours on the acreage across the road from us phoned to let me know that they had been burglarized that day while they were out and wondered "if we saw anything or heard the dogs, umm... bark more than usual."

I had to stifle a laugh. They have three small yappy dogs and they are the loudest things I have ever heard! Anybody with half a brain could tell they're not home when those things freak out. I once tried talking to him about how they didn't seem to make noise before their dog run was attached to the front deck and now they can see people/horses/other on the road... But he couldn't hear me over his dogs and I just wandered away. My wife has said she has heard the owners frustrated swears at how much they bark even when they are home !

Training or Pedigree
My mother-in-law has always had dogs where they've lived on their acreage for 25+ years now. They always do daily walks and play with them as often as they can. I think I've heard their latest dog (their second German Shepard) bark once, in defense of another dog arriving and it quickly settled down when told.

The neighbour beside us now has a new dog. Several times they have left it in the yard, tied to a post - to do it's duties I guess - while they played xbox, ate dinner or whatever. When it's done or bored, it starts to bark. It seems to me that, being a young dog, it gets anxious easily. I've had to phone them after they decided to ignore it for an hour or more and it continued to bark (loudly). So now it seems that it has trained them that if/when it barks from the back yard, they come running to let it back in. Great behaviour training (for the owner)! The last few times they have left the house, my wife and I have heard the dog yelping from inside, obviously bored and anxious.

In the place we lived in Calgary, a few years back - the neighbour across the street was a nice old lady that had a small white dog. Every once in a while, she would have a second dog 'visiting' that would freak out (for lack of better adjectives) at the sight of any person, car or thing that went by the house. Once it started up while I was in my own back yard - it could see me from the side yard across the road, between the boards in the fence. Often it would do this for hours, not unlike the ones across the road where we live now (wonder why burglars would pick that one?).

I wrote the nice old lady a note about it, but she only told another neighbour that the dog was abused [I wonder why] and that she had agreed to take it in as they no longer wanted it. I'm sure it hastened our decision to move that winter up here to Edmonton. The thought of another summer with that 'thing' was, well - lets move on and just admit that she had no control over that dog and it was very bothersome to be outside when it was out.

Steve's Behaviour Modification Technique
Let me go back to the house in Calgary. We didn't have a back alley and our yards were connected with the neighbours. Three out of Four had dogs. Two were problems and didn't really listen to their owners. One was left alone most of the time and seemed to bark at nothing once in a while out of boredom.

Several times he barked at me when they weren't home. Once he made the mistake of doing it while I was watering. A face full of water through the fence and he continued, but backed up a bit. Another face full. Backed up some more, but I got him over the fence. He finally huffed and went back to the deck. I don't think he barked at me ever again. Now if I could just reach the ones I live by now from 100 yards away. Perhaps a water cannon ?

Changes
So, I had a lot of respect for the neighbors besides us - before they got a new dog and obviously don't know/want to take care of it. I even remember her telling me that those 3 little dogs across the road were a nuisance with their yapping ! I've phoned her twice in the last couple weeks and gone over there once. Maybe I'll print off a few howto's on training your dog not to bark - but I doubt they'll take the time to read it or try the technique's. My wife thinks they have adjusted the time the leave the dog tied up in the yard with my work schedule.

Can't wait until they get a dog run - at least I have a 50/50 chance on which side of the house they'll place it. In the meantime, I'm working on planting trees and putting in a large waterfall, privacy lattice screens, ...