Barking Dog

Hi everyone, you all give such great cat advice I thought I might ask your advice on an issue I am having. I live in a semi rural area and our next door neighbors got an "outside" dog. He's not allowed in the house. When they first got him they said they want to be sure he doesn't bark and bother me. The first few days he howled when they left for hours on end, he's about six months old, but then he calmed down. But now he barks for at least 1/2 hour in the middle of the night. He barked loudly last night from 4-4:30 am and totally woke me up so I couldn't go back to sleep. Now tonight he has barked from midnight and it is 1:00 now and it's still barking. I have been nice to them, bought the dog toys, we were very friendly before the dog. Also at the same time one of their "hens" decided it was a rooster and crows really early every morning which is totally annoying so I really need my sleep at night. I talked to them nicely about the dog and asked if they could bring him in at night, and they said that there was a skunk around and that's why he's barking and I tried to tell them that dogs find things to bark at at night but they just seemed annoyed. Now it is really bothering me and keeping me up, I have two children on the autism spectrum who are starting school next week and I really need my sleep. I was hoping we could remain friendly but at this point I just want the noise to stop. I have been yelling "Quiet!" at night hoping they will hear and it will clue them in but it doesn't seem to matter. I asked them to put him in the garage but they made some excuse "It's too hot" which is bs. The dog is a poodle and will start getting cold out in the rain in the winter too. Any advice is appreciated.

A poodle is an outside dog? I'd call animal control. But I'm pretty sensitive to dogs barking.

Originally Posted by resqchick

A poodle is an outside dog? I'd call animal control. But I'm pretty sensitive to dogs barking.

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that.. I would too.

I'd also check the laws in the area. I know some states (mine just implemented this..) that you can only keep a dog out for so long at a time (ie, 1 hour at a time) before the dog must go inside.. and you can't keep a dog outside all night long, unless its a junk yard dog.

I'd call them, too. A poodle is not an outside dog. (And poodles are notorious yappers, too as are most small dogs.) You might want to call your municipal authority (township supervisor, mayor, borough hall, etc.) as many municipalities are starting to enforce noise ordinances, simply because of people with barking dogs.

I hate to hear a barking dog and won't put up with it. It got so bad with our neighbor's dog that she finally put a barking collar on it. I complained and I think every other person in the neighborhood complained as well.

The chicken? Well, fried or roasted is a good option. (OK, I'm only kidding! )

Hmm...maybe a call to animal control is in order. As hot as its been its no safer for that dog to be out in it now than it is in the winter. Maybe they need to hear from some autorities how the dog should be treated and what is unacceptable.

That being said; my neighbors have 2 ourdoor dogs. They have several warm and cool places to go. It's a big yard etc. It used to bother me a lot. But now we've gotten to know them and we've found out the situation is totally different than yours. They've had these 2 since they were puppies and used to be indoor dogs. But for some reason when they moved here the one dog refused to go in the house...ever. Then the other followed suit. They don't really know why. But these dogs are well trained. Sometimes they do bark a lot at night; but it's never botherd me enough to complain. But we have the AC on so our windows aren't open. Then it might be annoying. I've just worried about them in the winter and summer.

Is it a standard size poodle or a small one? A poodle was actually originally bred in Germany as a working dog that is very intelligent. The French bred it down in size to the small companion dog. An intelligent working dog doesn't do well just left in a yard. It needs a job to do, exercise, anything to work both it's mind and it's body. If it's a small dog it's a companion and needs to be with it's family. I would call animal control. Maybe that will at least get their attention so they give this dog what it needs.

If you are in a semi rural area you may be sol for help with animal control, depending on where you town/city limits are.

There are quite a few small subdivisions and little towns around here, they are outside of the limits of the city so AC can't really do much. The police are a little different - you can't call the city police to complain (well, you can but it won't do anything), you have to call the provincial police.

You'd probably do better with calling the police over a barking dog than AC. If the dog has some place for shelter, food and water, there isn't much that AC can do about it unless you have an ordinance like someone else mentioned above.

Whatever you do, please be sure they don't respond by putting one of those evil shock collars on the poor dog. It sounds like these people wouldn't be above that.

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Whatever you do, please be sure they don't respond by putting one of those evil shock collars on the poor dog. It sounds like these people wouldn't be above that.

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Shock collars aren't bad when used properly. They're actually a great training tool.

I use them on my dogs (11lbs and 20lbs), we've used them for recall exercises, training inside to keep them off of things, we use them when we go hunting and when they're out in the field. They need to be used correctly though and timing is extremely important with them.

For highly intelligent dogs, the shock collars for barking don't seem to be as effective and seem to be more of a frustration. I prefer the citronella spray collars for barking.

I knew that they are used a lot for training retrievers and when the dogs are taken out to the field. A lot of people don't have a clue how to use them and that is when they become a cruel device. When they are set right it is really a vibration rather than a shock. They are a training device not a punishment.

Bark collars are a last ditch effort for some people. A friend of ours had a Doberman that used to bark constantly all day every day, and they complained. The bark collar he bought worked great, for about a week, until he figured out a low frequency type of bark, that didn't trigger the collar.


I found it vastly amusing.

I have used a bark collar in the past, on Missy. Now I just strap it on, and she's quiet. It hasn't had a battery in it for years.

I have the same issues with a neighbor with a 24/7 outdoor dog. Very annoying, the dog barks at everything. I can not stand barking dogs. But, the dog is for the most part, quiet at night

August is skunk mating season, so it doesn't surprise me that the dog is barking. At least it's not all night and should stop soon. IME, even dogs that are indoors will bark if skunks (or other wild animals) are around. Our next-door neighbor gets upset when her dog barks, especially at night, but I tell her that's the dog's job, i.e., to alert humans to something strange going on (outside). She woke us up at 1:30 a.m. the other night, and when I looked out, there was a fox sitting on our front steps.

That said, I don't believe in keeping dogs outside all the time or allowing them to bark for hours on end.

I stand on my conviction that strapping a shock device onto an animal is simply wrong, no matter what the purpose. You dismiss the pain as minimal or just a "vibration," but why would you inflict any discomfort on the dog? Dogs can and should be trained through reward, rather than deterrents of any kind. It's more difficult and requires more effort from the trainer, but it's the right and humane thing to do.

And it's not just about the pain -- it's about the ugly and degrading treatment of a dog who is electronically forced, rather than trained and encouraged, to do the bidding of a human. Maybe it has to do with the mindset of hunters, whose whole attitude toward animals is beyond my comprehension... but this is not the way any animal should be treated.

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

I stand on my conviction that strapping a shock device onto an animal is simply wrong, no matter what the purpose. You dismiss the pain as minimal or just a "vibration," but why would you inflict any discomfort on the dog? Dogs can and should be trained through reward, rather than deterrents of any kind. It's more difficult and requires more effort from the trainer, but it's the right and humane thing to do.

And it's not just about the pain -- it's about the ugly and degrading treatment of a dog who is electronically forced, rather than trained and encouraged, to do the bidding of a human. Maybe it has to do with the mindset of hunters, whose whole attitude toward animals is beyond my comprehension... but this is not the way any animal should be treated.

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Not trying to get into a debate, but training based solely on rewards can have just as many negative effects as solely using "hard" training.

What happens in reward based training is that the dog learns that there are no real consequences to not obeying the command. While in and of itself, it's not necessarily a bad thing, but the minute you put the dog in a high distraction setting and it doesn't obey you, dangerous things can happen.

I can use one of my dogs as an example, because when I first got her reward based training was all I used. All I had heard was reward based training = good, correction (or hard) training = bad. Sadie was good inside, she was even good outside, but if you had her in an area that wasn't fenced in and she was off the leash, you'd better hope nothing more interesting than yourself or a treat came by because she'd take off after it. She almost got hit by a car when she was about a year old because she took off after a squirrel and those treats that were in my hand did nothing to stop her. She knew that there were no consequences to her not obeying my command, other than that she wouldn't get the treat. Not something that you want in a hunting dog, or a family pet IMO.

I introduced a prong collar to her pretty soon after that incident. I would give her the command, if she did it she got the treat, if she didn't, she got a correction on the collar. I did the same with Fynn when I got him. About 4 months after I had Fynn, I invested in a pair of electronic collars, my dogs are good offleash but there's always times when they get just out of earshot or there's a lot of wind and they can't hear you properly. We worked with short distances at first on calm days, if they came when called they were treated, if they didn't they got the beep and a low shock. Now they can be out of earshot and the second they hear that beep they come.

There will always be exceptions to the rule - some soft dogs are easy to train using just reward based training, but once you get a smart, stubborn or dominate breed/dog things change tenfold - they will find ways to outsmart you.

People are too quick to humanize their pets, have you ever watched a mother with a litter of puppies? There is a lot of yelping going on there - because the mother is teaching the pups through corrective behaviour (nipping at the scruff, etc). Many of the corrective training tools (slip, prong, martingale, electronic - even flat/belt collars to some extent) are designed to mimik this natural behaviour.

Sorry if I sound rude, but I hate the bad rep that these great training tools are given because some people use them incorrectly or do not have experience seeing them used in the proper manner.

One last comment, and I'll drop this:

If you are conditioned to believe it's all right to use pain and fear to train your dog, you will always find ways to rationalize that choice. But if you were able to step outside yourself for a moment, if you could see yourself inflicting pain on your dog... I hope that image would be chilling to you, and you would rethink the issue.

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Whatever you do, please be sure they don't respond by putting one of those evil shock collars on the poor dog. It sounds like these people wouldn't be above that.

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I've worn one myself, they aren't as bad as people think (remember the dog has non-conductive fur too, so its like putting it on your jeans or shirt). It is NOTHING like a human taser, which I will never ever ever again do as that is so ungodly painful. Granted, I would be one very large dog, but used properly you can adjust the good ones to the lowest setting that will get a response from the animal. No more, no less, and to object to that IMO you really just have to be one of the people that just doesn't believe in any negative reinforcement whatsoever rather than a question of degree. Personally, like with kids, I believe a combination of both positive and negative reinforcement work, just avoiding extremes.

Dogs typically also aren't idiotic, and they are training tools. After a few times, the dogs tend to figure out that loudly barking gets an undesirable response, so they stop. Same with invisible fences, the dogs don't shock themselves a hundred times a day, just maybe once every few months as a reminder the border is still there. If the dog did have a mental issue, then of course you would pursue other options.

Originally Posted by Ducman69

I've worn one myself,

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Please tell us it was on a dare xD

Originally Posted by nerdrock

Shock collars aren't bad when used properly. They're actually a great training tool.

I use them on my dogs (11lbs and 20lbs), we've used them for recall exercises, training inside to keep them off of things, we use them when we go hunting and when they're out in the field. They need to be used correctly though and timing is extremely important with them.

For highly intelligent dogs, the shock collars for barking don't seem to be as effective and seem to be more of a frustration. I prefer the citronella spray collars for barking.

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I am sorry shock collars are barbaric, dogs can be trained without the use of them it just takes more hard work shock collars are for a quick fix. Electric shock prods arent even alowed on cattle any more so why should it be used on dogs. In some countries they are even banned (wish it was so world wide). In fact a man in Wales got a £2000 fine the other day for using one on his dog.

Back to the op I would ring the owners every time the dog woke you, you may find that they dont hear thier dog so just think you are being picky, though why they keep a poodle outside I really dont know.

Hmmm I agree about calling animal control I think in most cases animal control is county wide not just designated for city limits or that kind of thing.

But OMG a poodle outside...sorry but that just sounds wrong. Like putting my Franklin outside..horrible.

My neighbors have an outside dog but he is a hunting only dog has food and shelter plus a roof over his kennel. He only barks when the neighbor comes home because he knows then its play time and he is out of his kennel then and comes up to our house and plays with Franklin or goes swimming in the pond. For an outside dog he is treated very well even if I dont agree with him being outside like that.

On the collar situation....I too dont agree with them however to each their own as long as I dont see it its out of sight out of mind but that doesnt mean at all that I agree with their use. My dog barks and he can be quite annoying but I managed to train him without a collar tool or using treats....him not getting attention from me was enough over a period of time for him to stop barking constantly.