Neighbor’s Dog Barking? 3 Best Ways To Remedy the Situation

A dog that barks incessantly will drive you crazy!  Nobody wants to listen to that noise all day long.  Plus, it is not very good for the dog, and is an indication that there is a problem—whether it be boredom, neglect or trouble.  You may be wondering what the best way to solve this annoying problem is.  The good news is, there are several things you can do to try and remedy the situation.  Here are five things you can do to try and get the barking to stop:

    1. Leave an anonymous note for the owner.   If the dog is only barking when the owner is gone, that owner may have no idea that it is occurring.  Most responsible pet owners would want to know about the problem—after all, they probably wouldn’t want to listen if it was your dog barking all day, either.  Plus, they would want to know that something was wrong with their pet!  Sending a polite, anonymous note that informs them of the situation may be an easy solution.  Give them about a week, and see if the problem improves.
    2. If the problem does not stop within a reasonable time after your polite and anonymous attempts, you may want to have a copy of the local ordinances sent to your neighbor.  If you belong to a homeowners’ group, they may help you take care of this.  If you are in an apartment, contact your landlord for help getting this done.  Letting them know that they are in violation of certain codes may push them a little harder to solve the problem.  Most cities, towns and municipalities have regulations regarding noise and nuisance—and a barking dog falls into both of these categories.
    3. If notifying the neighbor doesn’t work, notify animal control.  They will pay a visit to the owner and initiate an investigation into the situation.  Particularly if there is any issue of neglect, the problem will be solved by the animal being removed from the property.

These are the best and easiest ways for you to solve the problem, and ones that will be most likely to keep the neighborhood peace.  One thing you should never do is confront the dog yourself.  You hould never approach the dog when the owner is not there.  Additionally, while there are certain personal protection products that are on the market, such as canine pepper spray, these products are intended to be used only when you are aggressively approached or attacked by a dog—they are not designed for stopping a dog from barking and should not be used in this abusive manner. 

Most normal people do not want to have any ongoing problems with their neighbors, including problems about noise and barking dogs.  If problems persist, you can take contact an attorney and take further legal action, but hopefully your pet-owning neighbor is civic minded enough to take care of the problem as soon as they find out about it and spare you both the hassle of a lawsuit.