What to Do About Your Neighbor's Barking Dog

At first you may think it's temporary. After all, how can the owners themselves stand it? If you're new in the neighborhood, you'll probably try to bear it at first because you don't want to "rock the boat" upon first moving into the area. And if the people with the dog have just moved in, you'll probably try to bear it because you figure maybe the dog is adjusting.

But after a couple of weeks, that irritating, obnoxious barking will start to drive you crazy. It will wreck your sleep, disturb your meals, prevent you from working at home and ruin family gatherings. The barking can come from outside or inside the neighbor's house-it doesn't matter.

And still, you will probably try anything than the most effective thing you can do: start a formal complaint against your neighbor. You will try ear plugs, white noise machines, turning up the TV and even opening your door or window and swearing at the dog.

How do I know this? I've been though it with not one dog, but two-two Giant Pyrenees who live next door to me. They moved in two years ago into our quiet neighborhood. I rent; they own the house next door. And unfortunately they own these two dogs big enough to ride on who would bark for 20 out of 24 hours-when their owners were home and when the owners would leave.

After six months of trying everything, I finally took the steps to get the dogs to shut up. It was uncomfortable, even scary and absolutely frustrating. But it finally worked (now watch them start again as I write this).

Here are the steps to take:

1. Start keeping detailed records of when the dogs bark. It sounds like a pain, but this is the thing that will ultimately serve as part of the proof you'll need to stop the barking. Write down the date, the time, how long the barking went on.

2. If you rent, complain to your landlord. It is in the landlord's best interests to have that dog stop barking. If it bothers you, it will bother any other renter-and your landlord (unless he or she is an idiot)-knows this.

3. If you're a home owner, call your city hall or local police and find out the noise regulations of your town or city. They do exist. They may be hard to enforce, but they do exist. If your landlord is ineffective or afraid, as mine was, then you will have to take matters into your own hands-or move. In my town, dog barking is considered to be an annoyance if it continues for 30 minutes-day or night.

4. Approach your neighbor. Be friendly. Your neighbor knows his dog is barking, but he will probably feign surprise, say that you're the first to complain, say that he's tried and nothing will stop the dog. It really doesn't matter what your neighbor says; what matters is that you made the attempt to talk to your neighbor about the problem. Write it down-because this is another part of your history of attempts to stop the barking.

5. Call the police when the dogs are barking. And again, write the time down. Don't worry that the barking will stop just when the police drive by. They know the story. They may even tell you that they have been getting complaints from other neighbors.

6. At some point, you will be referred to--or hear from--your local animal control officer. She will be on your side-if you can tell her from your records when and how long the dog has been barking. The more details you have, the better your case will be-and the sooner the barking will stop. The officer will contact the neighbor and tell him about the complaints and suggest ways to stop the barking. But the officer will also inform the neighbor that if the complaints keep coming in and are verified (with your records), legal action will be taken: fines, more fines and then finally, if necessary, a court order to take the dogs away.

7. Keep writing down the incidents and keep calling the officer with your complaints.

It may take months-as it did in my case-but it finally worked (hopefully). There were times I was afraid, times I felt I was bothering the officer (who did encourage me to keep calling her) and times I felt it would never stop. I also felt very uncomfortable when my neighbor and I stopped talking to each other.

But keep up the complaints, keep writing down the incidents and talk to other neighbors who are also suffering. In the end, your rights will be enforced and one day, you will realize that, finally, you have silence of the dogs.