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| Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 | 4:49 pm
[spyke143]
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Ratdogs
Atleast you don't have a little ratdog that comes to your yard from down the street & start barking at you. I've told the owner about it, but he thinks he's still in Mexico & won't do anything about it. I think little dos are the worst, that high-pitched barking really gets on my nerves. My dog is very quiet, thank god, I give him alot of attention. | | Monday, March 31st, 2008 | 8:39 am
[pastilla]
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A Little Monday Morning Venting
Have you noticed that owners of problem dogs always feel the need to state, "Dogs bark . . . that's how they communicate" . . . as if they are proclaiming some Great and Holy Truth?
So. Flippin'. Irritating. | | Friday, March 7th, 2008 | 11:21 am
[mod_2]
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Los Angeles Barker Seeks Writ
Our pro-barking neighbor has filed petition for Writ of Administrative Mandamus seeking to overturn Los Angeles Animal Services’ Order to Comply issued to abate her dogs’ excessive barking. [this means she’s suing the city] That case is BS109602 in Los Angeles Superior Court Stanley Mosk. There is a Hearing scheduled before Judge David Yaffe in Dept. 86 on 4/18/8. We complaining neighbors are not being served documents and are paying to download them. Petitioner filed her points and authorities 3/3/8, and City will respond shortly. She seeks total overturn on grounds 1) she wasn’t provided with complete records of proceedings; 2) that administrative hearing examiner did not render “findings” of whether testimony and evidence at hearing were credible or no, and simply recited what was said and presented without “bridging” way evidence and testimony showed a violation had occurred under local anti-bark law; 3) that City abused its authority by unreasonably requiring dogs be kept inside 9pm-7am, or out with supervision only for sanitary reasons, with no cutoff date or review to determine if barking was no longer problematic; and 4) required sterilization of dogs – claims this is unreasonable as she’d invested substantially in dogs hoping to recoup funds and companionship through breeding.
WHY WE ARE, and YOU should be, concerned: I’m not the first Los Angelean to report to this list that their personal experience of the well-intentioned barking control laws was enforcement was either toothless or bit complainants in the @$$! If she’s at all successful it won’t become any easier for anyone else to get enforcement here. We have only the highest praise for and confidence in the judge-like, thorough, responsible, concerned and impartial conduct of the hearing at issue and the highly experienced examiner conducting it in a manner that would stand up to any appeal scrutiny. But the before and since leaves us more than convinced that too many other lynchpin officers and officials of this City would dismiss this law and those asking its enforcement as their personal nuisances.
We initiated our barking complaints 11/2005. First mediation hearing 2/2006 (presiding animal control officer, apparently recovering from injury, was physically unable to speak intelligibly, a hardship for her and us); administrative hearing 6/2006 (finding excessive barking was substantiated by evidence and issuing order to abate); board of animal services commissioners appeal hearing 3-4/2007(affirming previous order after hearing, the subject of this writ).
Through these years we’ve continued to suffer from the barking which owner took no steps to abate. Instead, she aimed ghettoblasters at our homes, then covered them with flags to prevent videotaping (and still does); trained fixed color nightvision videocameras on our toilet and neighbor’s kitchen window to “catch them teasing my dogs” (which she consistently alleges is the cause of the barking but never produces evidence despite eight fixed cameras); files civil harassment restraining orders against us (denied); calls police on us for recording the dogs barking outside while standing beneath her external-microphone CCTV system filming us to point out our tape recorder; focuses halogen worklights on our bathroom window at night; runs gas-powered generator outside our bedroom eight hours filling house and neighborhood with carbon monoxide and NOISE though no problem with her electric, etc. We continued to complain to the authorities about the barking, collect current evidence for and request a license revocation hearing, while the City earnestly ignored our pleas for relief.
Following are selected excerpts of requests for action made to our local shelter Supervisor, City Councilman, City Council President, Board of Animal Services Commissioners, LAAS General Manager, Mayor, Deputy City Attorney/Neighborhood Prosecutor (we’d been involving Neighborhood Watch program and Senior Lead Police Officer as well), and City Controller (her website publishes audit of LAAS programs critical of barking complaint backlog and recommending improvement years ago; she forwarded our complaint back to our City Councilman), all of which produced no reaction:
“We Are Tortured In Barking Dog Hell While LAAS Doesn’t Enforce . . . . New Year’s Eve/Morning, I slept ninety minutes. This wasn’t my choice, recovering from major surgery nineteen days earlier; it was determined by my neighbors’ barking dogs . . . Being allergic asthmatic, I cannot check into a hotel to avoid the noise. Earplugs/covers don’t work and would forfeit control of my Temporomandibular Joint Disorder . . . is LAAS’s task to solve these problems, as I’m sure any Small Claims Court would point out were I to seek financial punishment of the neighbors to effect change” ***
“We believe that the Board’s Hearing of Administrative Appeal 3/27/2007 concerning Administrative Hearing 6/12/06 and General Manager’s Order to Comply 7/5/2006 was improper under LAMC § 53.18.5. . . provides a maximum 100 days between timely-filed appeals and a decision by the Board. It further provides that in the event the Board has not made a decision within this time period, the decision of the General Manager is deemed affirmed (§ 53.18.5(q)7). The Board began Administrative Appeal Hearing of the General Manager’s 7/5/2006 Order to Comply on 3/27/2007, more than 200 days after time an appeal would have been properly filed . . . Notice of Administrative Appeal Hearing . . . did not disclose Hearing was an Appeal of the 6/12/2006 Administrative Hearing and the General Manager’s 7/5 Order resultant. We reasonably believed this Administrative Hearing resulted from General Manager . . . decision to revoke . . . license” ***
“continue barking excessively and unsupervised all hours and all over the neighborhood complying neither with the Order nor it’s purpose, noise reduction. The noise is as bad as it ever was, and we have the audio/video/testimonial evidence, eyebags and grouchiness to prove it. Please schedule the opportunity for us to present this evidence as soon as possible because the noise and sleeplessness are insufferable” ***
A revocation hearing was scheduled, then cancelled after the Board decided to belatedly hear the appeal. According to the Board’s Agendas, which are published online at lacity.org, the General Manager did present a rule modification at meeting following the Appeal Hearing. If approved this rule modification assigned responsibility for deciding to hear or simply affirm on a particular board officer. If obeyed this rule would save the next rational person from the menacing looks and implied eviction I received for appropriately exploding in disbelief that we could be there almost a year of miserable suffering later to be blithely informed the matter was still open. Also following the untimely April 2007 affirmation, a revocation hearing was rescheduled for October, then November, then January 2008. This was before the earliest anticipated date for the writ hearing.
At the January hearing we three complainants (the only two households adjacent to offensive hill crest property are populated full-time by retirees and housewife) were afforded scant time to present or discuss our video, no time for audio, shocked stares at my 47 page, 10pt. Type additional barking log, and no opportunity to cross-examine respondent. This was done so that each angry witness for respondent having a big agenda and little scruples, no evidence and no time near the property, would have a generous opportunity to malign we complainants and our dogs, while deifying the barking dogs and respondent. A couple bordering the other side of our property appeared. They’d tethered their screaming German Shepard full-time for years until a productive mediation hearing, after which they surrendered the dog – the hearing handled by a skillful and concerned officer familiar with the matter followed five-six investigations for tethering (illegal here) and caging the barking dog in an aviary with their macaws. HE stated he believed he had seen me standing across the street from respondent’s residence using a squeek toy to tease respondent’s dogs into barking and that the only dogs he heard barking were ours, and SHE asserted she is a Petco certified dog trainer. The hearing examiner found that sufficiently important or credible to include in the report without asking for evidence of teasing or further information about the other case (in response to her assertion she didn’t appear at previous hearing fearing retaliation - I stated our previous tethering/caging/animal cruelty and barking were resolved by mediation hearing). The neighbor flanking the couple’s far side also attended to “support” respondent, and did so by attacking the couple for caging the dog, and attacked me for stating he had his dates of caging and dogs caged wrong, none of which is relevant to this. Etc. No testifying misbehavior, irrelevancy, or unsubstantiated attack by her mob was discouraged nor was evidence of their allegations invited by the hearing examiner. Examiner’s report reveals he allowed the misbehavior not, as the seasoned restraining order judge had done, in order to get it’s incredibility into the transcript as basis for his or any reasonable reviewer’s disbelief. The Examiner’s report simply ignores the behaviors and their meaning, and their lack of supporting evidence. That means he ignored their incredibility. Ignore the evidence against them, and recommend for the convenience of the city a finding that respondent hasn’t violated the terms of her order to comply and dismiss the current complaint. IOW, since we were so incorrigibly stupid as to keep asking the City to protect us all these months nay years they’d been resisting, we were being told again our protection was a “bluff” being “sold out” by the City by a violator willing to pay for attorneys.
What will the City do to defend the still extant Order to Comply? Will the City ever schedule a revocation hearing again? And why would we or anyone in any semblance of a right mind want to jeopardize it relying on this City “enforcement”? Are there legal means for complainants’ to crowbar City into enforcement?
Sincerely, Sandy Soden in L.A., CA, USA | | Monday, March 3rd, 2008 | 3:13 pm
[mod_2]
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Barking Backyard Beagles This posting was emailed to forum@barkingdogs.net: Hi, I'm really ticked off by the neighbors who called the cops several times and they came to my house giving us warning about our dogs. I have two beagles and I keep them in the backyard from 9AM to 5PM cuz we all have to go to work and we can't keep them inside the garage all day cuz they will need to pee and poop. So anyways, my backyard fence is next to the sidewalk and by 3:15PM everyday, the kids go home from school and they start playing basketball, skateboarding... next to my fence and my two beagles bark at them cuz they're strangers. That's the basic instinct of the dogs : bark at strangers. If anyone of us were home that time, we would let the dogs in the garage. So the dogs bark until the kids stop playing. Sometimes, my dogs will stop barking if they sense the kids are harmless. So the cops later showed up at my house and told me that the neighbors complained that my dogs continuously barked and intimidated them. They said my dogs barked from 9AM-5PM which is not true. We, humans, communicate by talking. Dogs communicate by barking. Without barking, dogs wouldn't dogs, would they? So once the neighbors hear my dogs bark, they immediately call the cops. So please let me know what rights do I have regarding my dogs? We're Asians, and the neighbors are mostly white. So there's a hate thing involved here cuz the next door has a dog which barks all the time, but I never see a cop coming to their house. Why come to our house? I wanna know if I can press charges against the cops or any neighbors who make false statement/report? The cops only listen to the neighbors without any proof and will give us a citation if my dogs bark again. Please help! This posting is part of the Forum section of barkingdogs.net | | Thursday, February 28th, 2008 | 3:32 pm
[pastilla]
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Long Odds, But Not Impossible
Q. What are the chances that, in the same lifetime, one person could have not one, but TWO, crabby-old-lady-on-a-walker-neighbors with aggressive, insanely-barking German Shepherds??????????????????
A. Obviously greater than I assumed, as it has happened to me. Another old witch has moved in down the street with a dog that barks at the drop of a hat, or the wind blowing, or a feather falling in a house 200 yards away! And it's another German shepherd! And another "outdoor" pet.
I give up. | | Saturday, February 16th, 2008 | 12:00 pm
[pastilla]
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One Barking Dog Story I want to start off by saying that I like dogs. When I had a dog, of course it barked. Dogs bark. Period. But if it was outside, I'd call it in when it started barking. That's what people did. We never left dogs outside when we were at work or at school. It was just the way it was. Maybe people on farms left their dogs out, but in typical neighborhoods with close-packed houses and small lots, it was common courtesy to bring your dog in when it barked. In the 10 years I've lived in rural northern California, I've learned that many people do not follow these guidelines. The Golden Rule is no longer "Do unto others" but "What doesn't bother me; shouldn't bother you." Consequently, I've lived through three different dog-barking related situations, all extremely problematic and stressful, with dog owners who can't seem to understand that it's torture to listen to someone else's dog barking at all hours of the day and night. Here's my first story . . . perhaps another day I will write about #2 and #3. ( Read more... ) | 10:50 am
[mod_2]
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The Other Side of the Fence This posting was emailed to forum@barkingdogs.net: I am a dog owner who has been taken to court by my neighbor. She claims that our two dogs bark for prolonged periods of time every day and that she is disturbed by it. However, she is gone for most of each day at her place of business which is several blocks away. We ended up in court where she lied and the judge chose to believe her even though we had witnesses stating that our dogs were observed at different times of the day and they were not barking. One of the witnesses is the animal control officer! We also had statements from all other neighbors stating that they didn’t have a problem with our dogs at all. We live in Montana and the law has been changed here that now makes it quite easy for anyone to file a complaint against their neighbor for barking dogs. It used to be that there had to be at least 3 people filing but now it just takes one troublemaker. It seems to me that anyone who owns a dog is now fair game for anyone else who has it out for them. I guess dog owners are at the mercy of the courts and at the mercy of vindictive neighbors. Just thought you should know that most dog owners just want to live in peace and enjoy our four legged friends. What happened to good neighbors? Went the way of good manners and everything else good in this country. This posting is part of the Forum section of barkingdogs.net | | Thursday, February 14th, 2008 | 11:41 am
[pebri39]
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An untried strategy ..
The best strategy I can think of for a neighbour to combat local
barking is to build one's own "dog".
It doesn't matter what your dog looks like as long as it:
1. Picks up the local din and replays it directly to the offender,
ideally from a place where he can't attack it.
2. Inserts a short time delay before doing so. This time delay is to
prevent the acoustic feedback which would otherwise put the whole
system into intolerable screech mode. (Hmmm, that's not such a bad
idea when you think about it!)
3. Replays the din at a volume nearly equal to that of the offender's
dog.
4. Is powered up 24 hours.
My reasoning is simple:
(a) The offender can't logically complain about a noise he has
already condoned.
(b) The authorities can't complain to you about a din that doesn't
occur when the offender's din does not occur. If authority wants to
ticket you then it must logically ticket him, too.
(c) If the authorities complain that your din is electrically
generated and therefore controllable, you can merely point out that
noise is Noise howsoever generated and that there are comparable laws
against biologically generated noise as well.
The whole setup is automatic. Noise for Noise and peace for peace.
The offender himself determines what happens. He'd have to be super-
thick not to work out what's going on.
The dog will probably be infuriated at the din generated by your own
"dog". It will probably go berserk with rage. Its owner will also be
infuriated that his dog should be tormented this way.
Due to the dog's head bone structure it might not detect that it's
hearing itself. It might think it's hearing another dog and bark
crazily at this defiant territorial intrusion.
That's at first. I reckon the dog's intelligence, far superior to
that of its bonehead owner, will soon wise up that if it keeps quiet
then it receives quiet.
You can tell any investigating authority that you felt so sorry for
the dog barking distressfully that you devised this scheme to train
it, and that you are actually being kind to the dog in doing so.
Implementation of this strategy may require the services of an
electronics technician. He will need to design or buy a digital time-
delay signal processor.
You will require a whopping great loudspeaker (eg 12") with a
powerful audio amplifier to run it.
The loudspeaker could be bought separately and mounted in the centre
of a piece of thick wood, say 3/4 inch, to form what is called a
baffle board. The idea behind a baffle board is to make the sound
path between the speaker cone's vibrating front face to that at the
back as long as practicable. A piece of wood say 6 x 6 feet would be
fine. If this is considered too large then any really powerful
speaker cabinet from a hi-fi system should also do. What you need is
the power to run it.
I figure the authorities won't know what the hell to do.
Ideally they will do nothing and the owner will get the message that
he's well in the wrong. It's a case of shaming the fool by what the
psychologists call "mirroring" that is, by holding a form of mirror
to the offender's own behaviour so that he can see for himself what a
dickhead prat he really is.
I have found that imitating a child's tantrum soon brings the kiddy
to a similar realisation.
Best wishes,
Peter Bright
Quiet Tasmania
Australia
www.quietas.net | | Friday, February 8th, 2008 | 9:41 am
[mod_2]
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Advice for working with the District Attorney This posting was emailed to forum@barkingdogs.net by: Merrill Gerber Southern California We visited two friends last night who happen to be retired district attorneys. We described at length our two dog cases in which the courts failed us -- and they actually had some specific advice. They said that if the police have enough evidence and go so far as to file the complaints with the DA, the injured parties should make an appointment to see the head DA. Our friends said that for a DA to see a real face behind the legal-eze terms of "incident" and "the subjects" is to humanize the situation and give him some sense of the real urgency and importance of the case. They also said that judges "roll their eyes" when a DA wants to file a case about barking dogs. Judges absolutely have no interest/time/respect for such cases. This posting is part of the Forum section of barkingdogs.net | | Thursday, January 17th, 2008 | 6:03 pm
[mod_2]
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Law Enforcers are Law Breakers in California This posting was emailed to forum@barkingdogs.net by: Jing Lincoln, California I posted to this forum in 2005. I couldn't find that post anymore. (Note from moderator - this is being reposted, with updates... the dog has continued to bark all this time.) Our neighbor on the right side, the guy has a dog, named Storm. He is a big dog. Very violent. Barks at very high volume. The dog used to work as police dog. Retired because it had some protein digestion problem. Has too much energy. It has been barking bad for the past three years. We have done everything. I know we have put up with this for too long. The guy works for police, his wife is a lawyer - we know this because he threatened my husband: "Do you know what my wife does? She is an attorney!" Anyway, the new situation is, during the crazy wind last week, the guy's fence fell down. So starting this week he kept the dogs in his small fenced side patio, which is right underneath our master bedroom window. I am on maternity leave, so I am at home everyday with one month old baby. The dogs are bored. Storm barked all morning, about two hours nonstop, the day before yesterday. We left a short note on a post-it, on their door, asking them to do something about it. They returned a printed letter in the noon, saying nothing can be done about it. Fence down, dogs had to kept inside the locked patio. They get bored, they bark. The shock collar we bought for them - we paid $80 for that collar, Storm has got used to the collar. So in the evening, my husband dropped by their house. His wife answered. My husband said this is a serious matter, they cannot just leave it barking like that. The whole conversation was polite and short, less than 2 minutes. His wife said she understood, but not much can be done. Blah blah.My husband came home. A couple minutes later, the guy came and pounded on our door. When my husband answered, he said in an angry tone, that "How are you? ..I would appreciate it if you did not harass my wife!" And blah blah blah. "..I got your note...I returned your note..." His wife told him to go back home, holding their daughter, standing outside their door. The guy didn't listen. Then his wife came over and dragged him home. The next day they kept the dogs inside the garage. Today they let the dogs out again. And Storm has been barking from 10:59 AM nonstop to now, which is 2:17PM. We ran out of one videotape. I called HOA. She said all they can do is send a letter. If more than one complaint, maybe go further. The other house is empty. The next house, I talked to the owner back in Sept. He is bothered too. He said he talked to the owner last year too. Animal control sent one officer over when last time I called, which is about 2 years ago. The officer said "dogs will be dogs" to me in the callback later. I think the guy works for police, they somehow bonded. Still I called animal control again today. They will send one officer out again. But since last time was more than 6 months ago. So this will be treated as a new claim. I am ready to take this to court. But since the guy's wife is attorney, I need one good attorney. Does anyone have any recommendation/suggestions? This posting is part of the Forum section of barkingdogs.net | 3:13 pm
[c_959] |
Has anyone tried hypnosis?
For most of my life, barking did not bother me at all. I was one of those people able to tune it out and not even notice it. I have lived in my current house for five years. Then about a year ago, I started noticing the extremely LOUD, constant, obnoxious bark of the lab two doors down. This particular dog is so loud, I can hear it inside my house with the windows shut over the blaring TV or radio. Finally, after months of enduring this dog's constant barking, I knocked on their door and alerted them to the problem. For a few months the barking was kept under control, however by this point something in my mind had "clicked", and I became aware of other dogs barking as well. Now I noticed the constant barking of the roughly 10 dogs in my immediate vicinity - it never stops!
Late this summer, the house with the lab moved its cage, and the barking got worse than ever. I researched the laws of my city and found an ordinance stating:
"No person shall unreasonably make, continue, or cause to be made or continued, any noise disturbance. (Noncommercial public speaking and public assembly activities conducted on any public space or public right-of-way shall be exempt from the operation of this article.) The following acts, and the causing thereof, are declared to be in violation of this article:
.........Owning, possessing or harboring any animal or bird which frequently or for continued duration, howls, barks, meows, squawks, or makes other sounds which create a noise disturbance across a residential real property boundary or within a noise sensitive zone."
I also found this quote on the animal control's website:
"Any dog that barks, howls, or whines in an excessive fashion can be considered as a public nuisance and should be reported to the Animal Control Department."
I spoke with the animal control officer about the top five noisiest houses, and she agreed to visit the worst two - the dogs I can hear anywhere inside my house. However, all she could do was talk to them - she could not issue a ticket. Again, the lab's barking was somewhat kept under control, while the other house's loud dog continued to bark at every animal/person/leaf it saw.
With the exception of my two nextdoor neighbors it seems like every other dog around me is completely out of control. I occasionally hear other bothered neighbors yelling at dogs, but nobody seems concerned enough to do anything else. I am going crazy.
I was wondering if it is possible to go back to the "barking doesn't bother me" state of mind I once had. I have been thinking about going to a hypnotist, but wanted to know if anyone else has tried that or any other mind "conditioning".
Another idea I have is to burn a CD with an hour of barking, then listen to that (with headphones) at work repeatedly. I'm thinking that would either dull my mind to the barking, or make me even more sensitive.
Has anyone tried anything similar? | 12:21 pm
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An open letter to the Australian press This posting was emailed to forum@barkingdogs.net by: Matthew Ridgeway Australia Licenses may help in dog barking issues, but it needs to be introduced. Not much said about dog barking though and as this council has its lion share of complaints, council needs to abandon its current methods of approach on dog barking and adopt a more agressive stand on dog barking. It is time to stop calling complainants of dog barking "Whingers" and step up and enforce the state laws as they are written. One complaint should initiate COUNCIL RANGERS to begin investigations, not the complaintnat keeping diaries ets. Complainants contacting the dog owner directly is very risky and damages the community. I know this from personal experience as fact! The consiliatory approach to dog barking does not work, as is with human nature, people will try and get away with as much as they can before they modify their own behaviour. If we did not punish theives, we would not be able to hold on to any possessions ever. The same with dog barking, if we do not show some strenght in law enforcement, dog barking issues in our communities can and do continue on for years. The council has no problem in issuing parking tickets, why does the council not see the revenue from barking dogs as just as valuable to council revenue needs. All it need is for council rangers to back up dog barking complaints with some video evidence and issue an on the spot fine. I am sure this is achievable and complient with state legislation. As for video evidence not being admissable, this is untrue. All dog owners know that dog barking is discouraged in our communities. Some say, "dogs bark, get used to it". I say to these dog owners, there are laws about dog barking, and in my home I like to live in peace and not to be disturbed by dog barking, so get used to that idea. If you buy a dog knowing fully well that barking can create a disturbance in a neighbourhood, then it is only that dog owner that allows their dog to bark that is doing wrong, not the innocent victim of the barking. Dog barking disturbs sleep, television viewing or listening to the radio, breaks concentration in studies or work, is not a pleasent sound and is generally not appreciated, even by most dog owners of their own dogs. What is the harm of going out to your dog as it is barking and educating it not to do so. Is it so difficult to accept your responsibility? You need to respond to your dogs barking in a timely manner. You just can not simply ignor it and expect your neighbours to be gracious for the barking disturbances. You are fooling yourself if you do. If it is just inconvenient for you to discipline your dog, then maybe you should reconsider dog ownership as being appropriate for you. Furthermore, if you take vindictive action against your complaining neighbour, you are just a bully. You will put much more effort to bully you neighbour than you would if you just attended to you dog. The balance of effort weighs heavily in favour of proper dog control rahter than the burdensome actions of raging war against your neighbour, which in the end is very costly to one or the other or even both. As we know, a man recently in Australia was shot just for asking for some people in his street to keep quiet. This is insane behaviour and I see it happening more and more, and dog owners are some of the ones instigating neighbourhood wars. Grow up and accept your responsibility in dog ownership. Control your dogs as is required by law and be done with it! Steve Beardon is one highly dedicated councillor that I knwo actually listens to and acts on resident needs. He may not agree with all my views on this issue, but I am sure that he knows dog barking is a most contentious issue in our community and needs to be adressed in a much better way. Perhaps licensing will have the desired effect on barking, I don't know, but for goodness sake, I hope it does. I also hope it significantly reduces the numbers of dogs at refuges and pounds being subjected to lethal injections as well as eliminate dog attacks all together. Child proof and secure enclosures for dogs would be a good choice for all dog owners to consider, especially when the parents of a young family are not in a position momentarily to supervise the interactions of their children and their dogs. The new code of practice includes details dog enclosures too, which is fantastic, The death of a child is a horrible burden to bear, and it is a burden I share as I know these deaths are mostly preventable. Pool fences were introduced to kerb back yard drownings of children, consider this idea for your dog by way of an appropriate dog enclosure and regular dog training. It is time that dog owners and governments at all levels stepped up to their responsibiliries on the keeping of dogs in our communities, and that includes dog barking, which council knows is one of the highest complained about issue brought to council. I am not asking people to get rid of their dogs, but as a victim of dog barking, I know a complacent attitude towards dog ownership is gaining momentum and must be stopped now. Matthew Ridgeway PO Box 194 Hampton Park Victoria 3976 Australia This posting is part of the Forum section of barkingdogs.net | | Wednesday, January 16th, 2008 | 12:18 am
[nefarious2242]
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New neighbors barking Mutt!
I hope I am welcome here because I am a dog owner of a 8 year old 130 lb. Rottweiler. But can't stand a barking (yapping) mutt!
I have a new neighbor who took 1/12 months to move in but yet kept her 2 barking terrors there the whole time , coming by every couple of days to check on them.I like most of you have to be quiet if I do anything outside or the barking starts.My son went to jump on the trampoline and came in shaking his head, he couldn't stand the barking either.They have officially moved in and have placed a dog fence kennel thing as close to my fence/pool and the furthest from their house.They stay inside a good bit too.I guess when they get tired of them inside they put them in the kennel. OMG! I'm not looking forward to summer!
This is all new to me and I haven't had to deal with it for too long (yet to come ), but the thing that gets me is how can I control such a huge animal when ppl can't shut up a 2 lb. dog?My dog doesn't bark at all! I will see him (my dog)getting close to the fence where the lil barking mutts are yapping at him and I will tap on the window and bless his fat heart he puts his head down and goes and lays down on the other side of the yard. He thinks he is getting in trouble! So one day I let him go all the way to the fence (secretly wishing he would inhale them) and leaned down sniffed the tiny creatures, the whole time being yapped at , he Looked up turned to the side , lifted his leg.....AND PISSED RIGHT IN THEIR FACES!!!! LMAO! and just walked off and never went back over there. So when fluffy and Fido goes inside I hope the owners love and kiss all over them!
I do have a question about the barking device thing ...will it affect my dog? He doesn't bark but will it hurt his ears when they bark?
Thank you so much for letting me vent, I'm sure it will be getting worse. | | Saturday, January 12th, 2008 | 4:48 pm
[hangten63] |
Barking dogs Glad we have support here! Here is our story on barking dogs..we had lived in our home for 5 years before a new neighbor ( a former female cop) moves in with 3 dashhounds. Their barking starts up and we went over their politely to tell her they were barking too much. she gave us the excuse that she would TRY but they have to get used to their new environment. So it stopped but then it came back on again and we talked to her again and she out a small fence to block out them coming towards the side of our house. Then she gets a female roomate and she has a dog! great. Now all 4 of the dogs are barking because they don't get along. They weren't home so my husband leaves a note on the door again about the dogs. She in turns calls the police on him because he trepassed on her property and she said she felt "threatened" by the note. geesh, my husband woulddn't hurt a flea. She had signs of No trepassing" on her side that she shares with us, but it didn't say no trepassing on her driveway area where he left the note. Anyway, we knew the sherriff and told him this would not be an issue is she would control her dogs. AND we wouldn't go over to her house anymore to tell her about her dogs. So we installed one of those bark free devices and she calls the sheriff on us because she thought it was a camera. We again talked to the sheriff and they were nice with us and we explained that it was not a camera. They saw it and went back to talk to the neighbor again telling her it was NOT a camera. We've kept records of documented barking from her dogs and we've called Animal Control on her. It is sad it had to come to this and we tried to be nice to ber but like the several other posts have said somewhere there is a lapse in her mind that dogs come first over human.
So my question is can she sue us for having an anti barking device that is on our property though it is aimed towards her backyeard?
Thanks to everyone out there who understands what we are going through! | | Monday, December 17th, 2007 | 5:54 pm
[frizz_ease]
 |
It's nice to find this group!
So I'm not alone! You know what is funny about folks with barking dogs? When you complain, they feel soooooo vilified!
Here is my story. I have lived in my neighborhood for over 8 years. There are LOTS of dog owners here and I have not had ONE problem with anyone! Then my new neighbor moves in. Within a couple of months a fence goes up and then a few days later 7 dogs are running around their backyard. Yes, SEVEN DOGS! We are talking about a small neighborhood where each property has about 20 feet between each house. After three days of CONTINUOUS barking, my husband goes over and talks to the owners. They are apologetic and say they will not leave the dogs outside. So then they leave the seven dogs inside with all the windows open. I go over to politely share the dog ordinances with them. They aren't home so I put a copy of the local dog ordinance on their door with my name and number and tell them I am not a complainer but they must keep their dogs quiet. Well now the neighbors abide by the letter of the law (no continuous barking of more than 10 minutes). BUT at least 10-15 times a day the dogs are outside barking for five plus minutes...I go to sleep with the barking and I wake up with the barking. Here is the wild thing! The neighbor is pissy with us...they ignore us, won't talk to us, yell out their windows to "keep the damn noise down" if we even close our car doors in the driveway. They really think WE are the problem! They feel vilified!
I'm reading the previous post and I guess some dog owners feel I just don't have a life. But the fact is I work from home and make sure my family respects others we live around. I just demand the same respect in return. Why is this so much to ask? | | Thursday, November 29th, 2007 | 9:07 pm
[apass10] |
Just something to consider...
I understand that there are some really bad dog owners in this world. I understand that there are some ignorant, inconsiderate people in this world too, but I also know that there are some "bored-with-life, will complain about anything" people out there as well. We have two wonderful rescued dogs who have done nothing but bring joy to our lives and everyone around us. The neighborhood children love and adore them. They have a wonderful set-up here in our house, and a dog door that allows them access to and from the back yard. There is a large park that backs up to our home, (and unforntunately lately has been a place that has been vandalized and defamed.) Last weekend we went out for a few hours, and put the dogs downstairs in the walk-out basement, which allows them their own dog door. When we returned we found that the neighbors on the other side of the park, some 200 yards away called the police on our barking dogs. 911, yes, 911. The next day we also found out that the shelter at our park had been spray-painted with racist messages, windows and lights shattered with bricks, feces spread all over the shelter, etc.
So my question to you is: are ALL barking dogs bad? My dogs don't bark because they are in dyer need of attention. They do not bark due to lack of love and affection. They do not bark because they are hungry and neglected. They go on hour longs runs nearly daily, they go on mile-long walks daily, they have access to a beautifully furnished basement, a dog door that leads out to a gorgeous yard,and are slathered with love and attention...but none of that is even taken into consideration by some people.
My dogs bark because they see or hear someone/something who doesn't belong; They bark when they are being protective of us and our neighborhood.
I understand SOME of the people of which you speak on here, but there seems to be a mass generalization being laid out across this message board. Not all dogs who bark are bad - and not all neighbors who gripe/whine/complain about them are good. | 10:02 am
[serena_m07] |
What would you do? Hello everyone,
Since discovering this great site several months ago I am so relieved to know I am not alone. I've read some pretty horrific stories from many who've posted here, people who are made to suffer at the hands of cruel and inconsiderate dog owners and I feel for each and every one. It is so unfortunate there are too many dog owner out there abusing the privilege of having pets by not caring for their animals and socializing them properly. Besides wishing to vent my frustration about suffering with a neighbor's barking dog, I also have a question about possible abuse/neglect. I've been Online researching when is the cold too cold for a dog to be out and I'm getting conflicting arguments. For me, if it's too cold for a person to be out, than no "pet" should either. Since the young couple in their early twenties moved in next door last December, some serious questions have been raised in my mind about their care of their "noisy" dog. So...if you've got the time I could use some feedback here. Thanks in advance for listening. Currently the young couple next door have a black lab (possibly 2-yrs.old) and for the past nine months it was mostly an indoor dog, that is until late October, just as the weather here in Northeast Michigan began to get colder. Here in November, a few nights have dipped down in the twenties and teens. For the past 9 months she's been predominately an "indoor" dog, but is now tethered in their backyard (which is approx. 100 feet from my house) and left outside for long periods of time (well over 24 hours, off and on). But there is little consistency here. Often she'll be inside the house for two days straight then next out for 24 hours in below freezing temperatures. This female black lab has always been extremely aggressive (their description is "protective") and when not barking savagely, will nearly choke herself tugging her collar lunging at people (and neighbors) walking down our gravel road or bordering their property line. I have learned one possible reason for the dog's recent banishment, the kids have a 10-month-old baby and the Lab was caught taking a nip at their child. I certainly don't fault them for trying to protect their baby...but at the expense of the family pet? And who's to say that months or years from now, even when the child is older, that the Lab can ever be trusted without some kind of humane discipline? They don't even bring the dog in when the baby is away at daycare, which is most of the time. For a former indoor dog to be tied outside and left alone out in the cold for hours on end, it must seem a punishment she has no idea why she deserves. I will admit they have taken her in for an hour or so some days to feed her, do take water out to her, and there is a shabby shelter available. However, the so-called 'dog house' has no insulation, no floor, there are wide cracks between the wooden slats....and I've yet to see her inside it for long. And another horrific side effect of this... the eerie wolf-like howling this dog creates when earnestly begging to get back inside, particularly in the early evening. I've spoken with them about it with no results and have now resorted to yelling "shut-up" out my window to quiet the dog for awhile. I hate this but they do nothing but ignore her! Thanks to them I must now wear earplugs in my own home, day and night, to escape the noise, and forget watching television or listening to music without the volume cranked up. Our houses are close here and although their dog is in their backyard it is as if she's in mine, too. I have already discussed this in earnest with a good neighbor who is a huge animal advocate and she did call Animal Control once. A truck did come by and checked things out a couple of weeks ago, but we've not heard anything of it yet....and nothing has changed. I was told by the kids that they "didn't care if Animal Control was called, anyway." I have a feeling they'll do nothing. Or perhaps it really doesn't matter unless there is physical evidence, scars or something on the dog, or the pair were running a puppy mill in the backyard? Don't know the ordinances for my neighborhood as of yet, this is a rural/resort area, so my guess is they're pretty lax. Would anyone out there treat their beloved pet this way even for a day? Is this unkind behavior or am I overreacting here and should I just put in my earplugs and mind my own business? It's true, I don't like their dog barking --- despise it would be more accurate --- but what's worse is hearing the crying and whining and moaning when she's left in the cold rain or snowstorms and me knowing her 'owner' is tucked away warm and comfy sleeping inside the house.
So...that's the story. Should this matter be pursued further? Would be interested to hear what you guys think. Again, I definitely feel for all those who have posted on this site and anyone who is victimized by those dog owners that have no respect for others rights to peace of mind and enjoying precious quiet in their own homes. Anyway, thanks again for your time.... Current Mood:  confused | | Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 | 1:21 pm
[lorenac] |
Questions Hi. Does anyone know exactly what the law states for Walker County Georgia regarding barking dogs nuisance or where I can find this information? My family and I asked our local animal control and were told this... We have to have another neighbor complain also, a warning is then issued to the owner/s. However, we cannot call and complain a second time if the warning doesn't help. We would have to take the owner/s to court and then the animal control guy said, "the thing is, when this happens here, the judge always throws those cases out." I wonder how we could find out how true all of that is. I don't think our local law enforcement would be something we could rely on for a clear explanation of what exactly the ordinance is. I can't find it anywhere on the internet at any government sites. Catoosa County has a wonderful listing and I wish ours did also. You get a lot of run-around trying to find out things in our area. I also think the animal control guy knows the owner, who is a police officer... we all live in the same neighborhood..so... sigh. There's no trust at all. These people have five dogs that are just there in the yard all the time... they don't pet them or play with them... they just "have dogs". We've tried the warning but it only gave us a little peace. The lady of the house got irate and thinks we're picking on her because "she has the only dogs in the neighborhood that bark"...she doesn't understand uncontrolled barking. Other owners in our neighborhood do a pretty good job of keeping their dogs from bothering others and the ones that don't do so good at least try. We so appreciate even if someone just tries to control their dogs! It shows they at least care some. We can't afford a lawyer to take the matter to court and from the sounds of it, it wouldn't do any good. We tried filming the chaos and letting them see us film it and that gave us about two weeks' peace. We've learned that if they are outside and the dogs are barking for just too long, we can either ask or yell for them to please shut the animals up...and the animals are put up...but if they're not outside to complain to, you just have to listen to it. We run our huge air conditioner in the house to help drown the barking out some. And we've found if we situate fans just right we can almost block it all out. It's been a more relaxing summer this year, but we've hit freezing temps twice in the past few weeks. Does anyone know where someone can find a really loud heater? Or something that has the equivalent of that white noise that won't produce cold air? :) Sometimes the barking is just so intolerable we have to run the ac anyways. The fan on the ac just isn't as loud as running the ac on it. We get out of the house a lot...but... it would be so nice to be able to rest at home. Rain, sleet, snow... it doesn't matter. They bark at cats, people, squirrels, noises down the road.... they're such pitiful little dogs that are so bored. There's no making friends with them either. We managed to do that with the dogs on the other side of us, but not with these. Does anyone have any suggestions or does anyone have any answers to the above mentioned questions? It's been two years now and it's just gotten so awful. If we could move we'd definitely do that but we can't now. Moving away from here is a long way down the road. I'd like to also say it's comforting to come here and read other problems... we don't have many friends or family that can relate at all to this problem. They have problems like neighbors who play really loud music which the law will tend to for them and they have. But you can't call them about incessant barking during all hours of the day and night. It's so crazy! I think that even if you could call the police about it, in our case it may not matter since the guy is a police officer. I hate to be cynical, but ... something tells me it most likely wouldn't do any good. Current Mood:  gloomy | | Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 | 5:52 pm
[mod_2]
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Sheriff won't respond This posting was emailed to forum@barkingdogs.net by: Chris Nielsen Long Beach Peninsula, Pacific County, Washington My best friend is miserable because of his neighbor's barking dogs. Here is the twist in his situation: If he calls 9-1-1, the sheriff (he is in an unincorporated area), the dispatcher refuses to send an officer. The explanation is that our local sheriff's office will not respond to barking dog complaints. The sheriff's office via its dispatcher will tell people calling to report barking dogs that they need to contact the county's code enforcement officer, who at the most will send a warning letter, and then never follow up. I did a little homework and found out that where we live, Pacific County, Washington, does have a very rarely enforced Nuisance Ordinance. It is very vague and does not specifically discuss barking dogs. When the code enforcement officer here is asked about this ordinance he claims it is so vague it cannot be used to cite someone for pretty much any noise ordinance, including barking dogs. After calling the sheriff and this code enforcement officer about a dozen times my friend has all but given up and is thinking about moving. What do you think about this situation? Is it time to get an attorney? Can a law enforcement agency pick and choose which laws or ordinances it will enforce? This posting is part of the Forum section of http://barkingdogs.net | | Saturday, October 27th, 2007 | 3:31 pm
[pastilla]
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Dog Away on Vacation
It's been a weird couple of weeks.
The chronically barking dog across the street appears to be away on vacation. Everything has been quiet.
Had some work to do outside both last and this weekend; it's so strange to be outside with no constant noise to deal with. It's like living in a "normal" neighborhood again.
Weirdest thing is though, I have heard that dog barking for so many years now, my brain almost doesn't know how to handle it. Since he is a bark-for-3-minutes-stop-for-1-minute-bark-for-4-minutes type dog (6-12 hours daily), I still can't relax because even in the silence I keep waiting for the sound to start up again. It's like someone has been hitting me with a stick for three years (with short breaks) . . . and has suddenly taken a long break. It's as if I can still feel the stick, and am just waiting for the beating to begin again.
I guess part of my reluctance to relax is that I'm waiting for the moment when he returns.
But for now, I will try to enjoy it. |
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