Dogs barking and neighbours complaining...

[Piffy]

Got home from work at 6:30pm on Monday to find that our two dogs (mini schnauzers) had managed to wedge the dog flap shut while they were outside - no harm done (though they were a bit cold) except I had only been home ten minutes when one of the neighbours was on the doorstep!

Apparently she gets home at 4pm and for the last few nights they have been barking 'nonstop' and she is very annoyed. I told her they had been locked out by accident but she said it happens all the time so it wasn't that. She was very unsympathetic. I was surprised as they are not very 'woofy' dogs, not like my mum's terriers, they bark at cats and other dogs if they pass the house, but not at every noise. In fact when we are in they hardly bark at all, even in the garden.

I left them in the house today but feel so mean, we have a massive secure garden and they love running around in it, it's so boring being inside all day. They are only one year old and I don't want to condemn them to house arrest forever.

Does anyone have any ideas? Also does anyone know what the consequences could be if they carry on barking - could she report them and would they be at risk?

Feeling very sad about the whole thing

Message withdrawn

You say that they hardly bark at all when you are in, but perhaps they bark a lot when you are out? Are you out all day? I kind of assumed when you have dogs someone is in during the day, unlike cats when it doesn't really matter

If my neighbours dogs bark a lot (and she has 3) I phone her up to let her know because I worry that something untoward is happening, and if push comes to shove I go round there and sort them out for her. Usually find it is something really stupid like someone's cat is sitting in the garden winding them up!

have to agree with Pruni.. it's soooooo annoying listening to a dog barking constantly... my mums next door neighbours dog is the same, despite having full run of the garden etc etc

they tried leaving the radio on which helped a bit for a while but now it has started up again.

i think that she COULD report it but no idea what would happen

Yes we're out for about 6 hours a day, my DH used to work from home but his company changed it, so now he leaves for work at about 10:00am and I get home about 6-6:30pm. We each work from home one day a week so they are on their own 3 days. We trained them to use the dog flap so they could still run around outside, and as they are two from same litter they have always preferred each other's company to anything else, so they don't pine too much.

I agree it is an absolute pain when there is a noisy dog/child/teenager (!) next door, but it did seem weird as we have never experienced them barking much. Also I have no idea how to go about stopping them barking, short of keeping them in the house.

I've been on both sides of this type of situation! Years ago we had neighbours who had a Jack Russell that barked nonstop. To our great relief, they moved - and were replaced by people with an entire flock of yappy dachsunds.

A couple of years ago, we were on the other end of the barking dogs problem. Our neighbour called to say our dog was waking them up at night. I was somewhat mystified as we never heard heard her barking at night. But with some detective work I discovered she was sticking her head out of the cat flap and barking and that's what our neighbours could hear! A new catflap solved the problem.

Maybe you could check out what your dogs are up to by coming back to your street but not going into your house. Or perhaps your neighbour might let you sit in her house to hear what's going on? If they really are barking then I think you'll need to keep them indoors, maybe with special 'indoor' toys while you're at work - they can run round outdoors when you're home, instead.

you can get a collar for your dog to stop barking. i think there is about 3 differnet kinds, one sends a noise when the dog barks that only the dog can hear and it puts them off barking. another that gives the dog a wee electrical shock and another that sprays something from the collar on the dogs face. i have heard that the electric shock one is very effective and doesnt take long to work but its about £70. you can get the noise emitte done for about £30 i think. there is quite a few on ebay.