To think that barking dogs is the norm now?

I've got three, they don't bark, very rarely they do a one off woof. But otherwise do not bark, even when they are playing if it starts to get a little noisy they are straight in. I'm very aware we have neighbours

Yup OP.
Who can possibly think it’s ok to leave your dog barking at the window at midnight? Is it so difficult to close the blinds? Particularly when you’re not even in the same fecking room as them???

Contact your local dog warden they should come by and check it out.

If the dog has food water shelter rspca won't do anything trust me

I don't think most people mind the odd dog bark but it's when it's constant and also the time of day/night.

As an owner its your responsibility to train your dog and get help if need be.

If you're at work all day with noone looking after it I think it's cruel.

No dog should be outside constantly barking theres no excuse for it just watch dog whisperer, he always says it's the owners fault and he's correct.

It's the norm here. Don't know whether to report to the council as noise nuisance, rspca as cruelty, or the vet.

The dog next door, when it's not generally constantly yapping (why don't the owners shut the thing up?) howls as if in great pain whenever the neighbours go out.

At first I was concerned for the poor thing but a year down the line it's just a rotten nuisance.

The neighbours stay out overnight often and the dog howls until they get back. They both go out to work full time - why get a dog in those circumstances?

If you're a sociopath it could, yes.

OP I was just thinking today that it's absolutely normal now to hear at least one or two dogs barking at any given point in the day. It's annoying. Too many dogs, too many moron owners.

WhatNoRaisins
I honestly think there must have been a middle ground we all missed on leaving them alone etc. was talking to my friend and she was saying her parents were exhausted after minding her dog for two nights, they said he was so clingy. They used to always have dogs, never trained them but they were so obedient, in and then out a lot too. Both her and her dh wfh and always have him with them.

Everyone I know is the same, we all rush home to get back to the dogs, spend so much time with them but then there’s times I just leave him out and he goes to sleep quicker than if I was there (when he’ll jump up if I so much as stretch). I think we’re making them too dependent and they’ve forgotten how to enjoy being dogs!!!

I don't understand blaming lockdown. People could always go to parks and bring their dogs.
Some dogs are just barkers or anxious. Training might work on some but not all. My friend's family has taken wonderful care of their dog since puppyhood - no trauma; but he's still a barker. You can blame owners or that there's more dogs than ever but I think blaming lockdown is overblown.

There are 2 morbidly obese women who live across from me who have a horrid yappy dog that does not shut up.

It's post lockdown so they can't use that excuse.

They let it out in the front garden very often which allows it to greet people, delivery drivers, tradesmen, passers by with its horrid, high pitched yap which goes on and on and on. The owners think it's hilarious, the visitors are trying their best to get away, neighbours are tearing their hair out.

That dog doesn't get walked by those women, ever. They have a dog walker come once per week that allows it to escape for an hour. Poor thing. Ghastly owners, that's the issue.

I think it’s become the norm to be antisocial in every way, unfortunately. Lots of people endlessly burning stuff in their gardens, house parties until the early hours of the morning, DIY morning until night with no consideration for others, people generally being rude ANd endlessly barking dogs. It seems to be out of fashion to be considerate to anyone anymore, and then people take the ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ attitude. That’s what it’s like where I live anyway. I hate the way society has become.

Did dogs cope better though? I'm sure when I was a child in the 90s no one used doggie daycare for example. Did dogs always used to be so anxious?

There seems to be an uptake of "anxious/reactive/aggressive/people-unfriendly etc etc" dogs of late! It's like the new SEN of the dog world!
Back in the day people just had dogs. Trained them accordingly etc. With the uptake in "rescues" you don't know what you're getting like you do if you raise your own dog from a puppy.

YANBU. It annoys the crap out of me! Especially because we don't let our own dog do it! We always make him come in if he barks. I was woken up at 5 am yesterday morning by next door's yappy dogs. They're infuriating.

I don't think I'm anti-dog. I get that for a lot of people caring for a dog is very beneficial for their mental health and for those with an active outdoor lifestyle they make great companions.

Just think that there are too many people who have bought them without really thinking it through and treating them like kids is weird.

WhatNoRaisins
As a whole I think many people's standards have got much lower when it comes to having a dog in the last 10 years.
God I don’t think so- I’m an 80s child and definitely years ago dogs were just really left to it!!

I used to give out about dogs barking but I honestly think sometimes it’s just that people have a barky/ yappy dog- we have loads of dogs around here and I feel for the neighbours who don’t have dogs, but the barkers aren’t necessarily the same ones that are just left outside. Our dog never barks and it makes me think after talking to other owners that it’s just breed dependent so some people are just unlucky in that way!

Lots of new owners in last few years who didn't think getting a dog through....
Not only barking but also breed and trainig.
We git yapper after ckvid which I assumue was bought during covid. I feel sorry for the dog but yes so annoying. Ours were trained and shushed when needed.

They stand around chatting with their dogs barking their heads off next to them - can they not hear them?

I live near a tourist hotspot and the number of dogs who haven't been trained to walk on leads is astonishing. And then given to the children to manage who are oblivious to the dogs' needs, cause a nuisance for everyone round them, getting tangled in pavement furniture, tripping people up. It's horrible.

And things like clothes shops. It makes me think of that Mitchell and Webb Scooby Doo sketch because it's not even that long ago that it wouldn't occur to most people to bring dogs to these places.

Our dog barks about once a month - and then it's a single bark, the big soft hound. Next door's yip if they are let into the garden, but only for a few minutes each day. I don't think it's normal to have dogs barking a lot.

I think it is that so many more dimwits got dogs, without knowing how to care for them, during lockdown. I am now surrounded by barking dogs. They are rarely walked. They have no basic training. Their owners expect them to understand English, spoken in long sentences and using silly voices. So on the odd occasion they leave their prisons, they are a menace on the street.

Neighbours 2 doors down have a yappy dog if it’s outside. they just seem to be oblivious. Newer mind polite notes through the door I stuck my head out of the window and shouted “Shut Up”

I think the difference between dogs and children is that, in the main, parents think they are parenting their children. Where there are issues it is generally lack of efficacy rather than effort.

Quite a few dog owners don't even try to train their dogs. "Small dogs bark" was a comment on a similar thread recently. Well, they don't have to bark and should be trained not to. Of course this is a huge generalisation, but it is based on what I see a lot (which is completely untrained dogs, and owners who don't have a clue).

It definitely doesn’t make your uptight - you’re absolutely right. It’s so unhygienic!

It's becoming much worse, and has done so for the last ten years

I don't care if it makes me uptight, not a fan of dogs in cafes and restaurants. Don't mind the odd quirky dogs allowed established but not dogs allowed bloody everywhere.