10 Tips to Decrease Dog Barking
Got a Barking Dog in your HOA?
It is a common problem amongst HOA’s – barking dogs. Wether it be your dog, or your neighbors, please share these tips about how to quiet your furry best friend.
According to experts, there are reasons why a dog barks: boredom, changes to the dog’s lifestyle, hostile neighbors, lack of shade, possible health issues, or children teasing the dog, can all affect the dog’s mental health and cause it to bark in excess.
Owners and Homeowner Associations have used some of the following techniques:
10 Suggestions for Limiting Dog Barking
- Insert a dog door and a “dog-proofed” section of the house that provides dog toys and enticements. Give the dog an option to come inside rather than bark at irritants outside.
- Ask a dog professional to speak at your HOA Board meeting.
- The complaining party could offer to walk the dog, while the dog owner is away at work.
- Owners can limit the dog’s stimulation by restricting line of sight; cover the area at the bottom of fence or gate.
- Doggy Day Care 2 – 3 times a week helps prevent doggy boredom!
- Owners can work with a professional dog trainer.
- Citronella anti-bark collars claim to be pain-free for the dog, and inexpensive for the owner.
- Anti-Bark shock collars have proven helpful for many dog owners.
- “Bark Free” systems responds to a barking dog up to 50 feet away by emitting high pitched tones that humans can’t hear, but the dog can!
- The ultimate extreme: Debarking Surgery. This procedure is still considered very controversial, results are sometimes unsatisfactory, and veterinarians seldom suggest this as a solution.
I’ve used an anonymous letter asking the homeowner to restrict their dog barking incessantly at all hours. Especially at night and early mornings. We couldn’t enjoy our backyard because the dog would bark. The letters only help for a short time. Calling the police non-emergency phone to report the owner has NEVER worked. They are bombarded by barking dogs and it becomes a very low priority. There was recently (Nov 2018) an elderly man whose neighbor’s put bull attacked and severely injured his dog when it got loose. The man retaliated by entering their home when the neighbors were at work and shot and killed the pit bull. He then buried it in a remote desert location. This is what can happen when dogs are involved. It can escalate to this level if they are not restrained. There now is an injured dog, a dead dog, felony charges against the elderly man, and this neighbor is disrupted over a neighbor who could not or would not restrain their family pet. Please be a responsible dog owner and don’t let it escalate.