View Single Post
Naderfan
Queen of Confrontation
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ohio
 
2008-08-14, 09:12

Well, here's my experience from having puppies of mine own. The first couple nights, they cried/barked constantly because it was a new place and they'd been taken away from their litter and didn't know what was going on. Of course, I didn't leave them outside all night - I kept them in so that I was the one dealing with the noise and tried to comfort them as best I can. Now my dogs rarely bark, unless something is going on (people walking through our backyard, another dog starts barking and won't stop). If it's in the evening/night, and I hear them start barking outside (we have a fenced in yard), I immediately bring them in so they don't drive anyone else nuts.

I guess the real problem is the neighbors, not the dog. The dog probably doesn't know what's going on and doesn't feel safe/secure, so it barks trying to get someone to respond. It's terrible (in my opinion) that they're just leaving it outside all night. I feel so bad for the poor thing!

As for what you yourself can do, I think you're pretty limited. There is a chance that the dog will just give up and realize that no one's going to come take care of him and stop barking. But otherwise, I think the only thing you can do, aside from just living with it, is go and mention to your neighbors that their dog is barking at all hours of the night. Maybe tell them that you're worried about the dog (rather than just annoyed as hell that you can't sleep) in order to keep them from acting as though you're just a pain-in-the-ass neighbor trying to tell them what they can and can't do on their property (I've dealt with redneck-type neighbors too). Then, if after talking to them doesn't work, maybe talk to some of your other neighbors and see if they're also being bothered by it and see if they have any ideas.

Good luck.
  quote