Bark Bark Bark

[StillandSilent]

I'm having trouble with Argon. He has always been a quiet, well behaved little gentleman, despite his DA. He has been a happy apartment dog for 3 years.

Ranch apartments, I'm in 8. The new people in 6 have a pit mix that barks constantly. And I mean constantly. This dog never goes outside, has no attnetion paid to him, and is pretty miserable, so he makes up for it by standing in the window and barking. Argon wants to bark back, but we've been pretty sucessful with 'no bark'.

Now the people across the street got a puppy that stays out in the fenced front yard all the time. You guys can guess where this is going. Pit and Lab pup spend all day every day barking at each other.

Argon is going nuts. He's still pretty good when I'm at home, but according to another neighbor, he has started barking at them when I am not present. He has also scratched my window.

He is now confined to the kitchen when I am not home, to prevent him being able to look out and damage things, which seems to be working alright. Is there anything else I can do? I'm single, so if I'm not home to correct him or head of his barking, no one is.

 

[stardogs]

Contact management or animal control about the neighbor dogs on a day that you're home.

For now: Get doggie earmuffs (they make them for dogs that ride in planes lol)? Cotton balls in his ears? Leave the TV or radio on to drown out the barking?

 

[ihartgonzo]

I would try to talk to them. It's one thing if a dog barks here and there, I don't care at all. But CONSTANT barking? That's so rude in a house, much less an apartment. And their owners sound crappy, hopefully talking to them and offering advice will help them and their dogs!

I'd phrase it like, "Aww what a cute dog! *insert small talk* A neighbor who isn't a big dog fan has been complaining about him barking. I've found that taking long walks and exercising them before you leave helps a lot! Try crating him or babygating him into a restricted area so he can't look out the window and bark. It helps a lot to give him a stuffed kong, or some bones and chews to keep him busy." I did this with a neighbor at my last apartment, whose Corgi barked non-stop and got my dogs barking. I didn't want to jump to complaining to management, as some people are totally clueless and will just dump their dog rather than deal with it. But if you don't have the chance to make any contact with those neighbors, I'd go ahead and complain.

For Argon, like any barky dog, up his exercise, do lots of CC/DS & training sessions and leave him with delicious snacks!!! An exhausted dog is much less likely to bark than a wound up dog. It should help for now, so he doesn't form the same bad habits as your neighbor dogs.

 

[Nikole Fairview]

You Should Do Something About It

Yeah, you should talk to management about the dogs first. Do that before calling authorities. No one wants to deal with the police and have reports filed on them, so you want to give them a chance to fix what's going on before it gets to that level. I would say talk to them directly first, but people are so crazy these days. If talking to them doesn't work and you have to talk to management and then the authorities, they'll know you are the complainer which could put you in danger.