The neighbours dog is left outside to bark for up to 20 minutes at a time. They leave it at home when they go for a walk themselves, and usually pay for someone to walk it a few times a week (they come to collect it in a mini van with loud music on and lots of dogs barking at once so we know how often).
If our cat is outside in our garden first and they let the dog in their garden, the dog will bark and my cat runs in to our house. I've been keeping our cat indoors to make sure there is no trigger. The dog barks every time they put it outside. It barks till it's howling and howling. I feel so sorry for the dog. Is this some form of training or punishment? Is there anything I can do? I'm also autistic and get distressed by erratic unpredictable and repetitive noise so I don't know if I'm oversensitive? It wakes me up, stops me working and my SEN child from homeschooling. White noise, headphones and ear plugs don't work. There is no particular time of day, just every time it's alone outside. Would it be crazy to try and calm the dog by talking to it, as it doesn't bark when it's not alone? Is there any outdoor thing that would calm the dog? The thought of how upset the dog is is upsetting in itself, could it sound worse than it is?
I only ever lived with one older dog and he never did this and my other neighbours dogs don't do this, but is this normal or a phase?