To ask what you deem as excessive barking?

[TikTackToes]

I’m a worrier
DDog is a 17 month old Shih Poo and generally well behaved but also can be a pain at times. Our neighbours are lovely and say they hear her bark occasionally but it doesn’t bother them and I shouldn’t worry ... but I do! Whenever she barks now , I can’t relax ! Would you deem this as excessive barking?

Low barking at toys when playing; usually gruffs but she can get loud. We distract her or remove the toy so it’s not constant. I don’t allow her to do it for more than a minute.

She will bark for attention. I find this very annoying as it’s loud and irritating ! Again, I distract to stop her .

Barks one long warning bark at the postie for less than a minute. Every day .

She has access to a garden and will occasionally bark at passersby but I’m immediately out to call her in.

Very rarely barks at all between 7pm and 6:30am (I try to keep her completely quiet before 8am but she will gruff at times).

I never leave her to bark and usually an episode would last less than a minute. She may occasionally bark when left if I go out but she soon settles and this is less than ten minutes.

I can’t relax worrying about whether her barking is a nuisance or not .

AIBU?

Wish my neighbours were as considerate as you! Their yappity dog never shuts up and they never call it in or tell it to be quiet, it can be out yapping at 7am & 10:30pm and any time in between. We can’t even hang our washing out without it coming right up to the fence (6ft) and barking for the whole time we’re hanging.

The other side has a dog that will do a short half a min of barking if someone walks past, maybe a minute or two if someone has a dog walking past, and that doesn’t bother me in the slightest. What you’ve described wouldn’t bother me because you are not just letting your dog bark and bark. Honestly if they’ve said it doesn’t bother them then take them at their word. You sound like a considerate neighbour.

You sound like a responsible owner, who is aware of their dog and their barking.

Your dog doesn’t sound bad. Mine does a single Woof for attention (for me to open the back door or because he wants a treat). He will bark a few times a day at the postie, a cat in the garden, visitors... it’s a minute or two max. He used to bark whenever my next door neighbor went in her garden so I couldn’t let him out unsupervised (I always stopped him immediately and took him in when he barked at her next door) but he’s stopped now.

He does the odd crazy barkathon for 5 minutes because the window cleaner is attacking the house or something.

I don’t think he woofs much or is a pain and he seems to be normal for other dogs I know.

I can cope with the odd bit of barking during the day but not at 7am or 11pm like our neighbours’ dog 😡 if they need to go out for a wee at those kind of times then please, please go out with them or leave the door open and don’t wait for them to yap to be let back in!

@LadyCatStark Ddog is usually passed out asleep from around 8pm until 6:30am so she very rarely barks then. We do leave the door open so she doesn’t have to bark to get in.

I think I’m worried about morning barking and if we’re waking our neighbours. I do try to keep her quiet by giving her stuffed toys with food and giving her lots of attention but I feel like I’m on edge until a reasonable time . Maybe 8am on a weekend.

More than a minute.

That level of barking sounds acceptable and you sound considerate. My neighbour puts their German Shepherd out at 6.30am and it barks constantly for at least an hour every single morning. They are selfish twats.

A few barks a few times a day is ok. It annoys me more if it's outside, if it's in the night or if they are obviously not doing anything to stop it!
I would try and check if the barking is a problem when you are not in.

I wish my neighbours were even half as considerate as this! I think it sounds fine.

You can stop her barking while playing. Stop playing as soon as she barks and walk off. She'll soon learn not to vocalise.

It doesn't sound like she's a nuisance. As people have said above, from a neighbour perspective it makes the world of difference if you act when the dog barks to stop it barking. No one expects dogs to be mute. People know they bark. But prompt action on your part to get her to be quiet says you're a considerate neighbour. People tolerate that. My dogs can bark when I'm not home. If I'm home they're quiet as mice as I hate barking. So my neighbours are very tolerant of the occasional noise when I'm not home. I check in with them regularly to make sure there's no issues with noise.

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