Barking Dogs ~ Why?

[smokeydeadlegs]

Why are the rights of dogs and dog owners put before those who make the laws and have to live by them ?

Why are there no laws in place for dog owners regarding the noise and frequency of their dogs barking as with noise emulating from property caused by humans ?
The guidlines are so vague and ineffectual that they are in many cases ignored by the councils.
Surely this should be a good enough reason for the renewal of the dog licence and the right to keep dog/s ?

Why should we be affraid to report those responsible for allowing their dogs to cause so much misery for those unfortunate enough to live beside them ???

Why has nothing been done to stem this blight on society that can and does bring so much misery to the lives of so many ?

HOW MANY ARE AFFECTED BY THIS PROBLEM OR HAVE BEEN AT SOME TIME IN THE PAST (ONLY WHERE IT HAS A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE) ?

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ?

[Beth]

I am a dog owner....

And yes I agree that owners need to be responsible for their pets and I am all in favor of bringing back the dog licence! :yes:
maybe that would stop some of these nasties from having pets and abusing them and others around them


my ex NFH had a dog thathowled and howled and ....well you get the picture :( and it caused distress to that dog, me, my husband and my dog, also to the other people who lived in the street, and behind in the next street,

it had a domino effect of starting neighbouring dogs barking and whining due to the ditressing noise it made.

not nice at all, and this may sound awaful but I hope the little fellow wasnt around too long as he had a cr*p life :cry:

[coppernob]

My Mum is having this problem with a new neighbour but she is on speaking terms and they are trying to come to a solution between them selves. Have to agree about the dog license, I think all people who want to own any type of pet should go to pet care classes first and get some sort of certificate before they are allowed to own one.CN

[Beth]

I have added you a poll in so we can see the results of your question more easily :)

[Planet 24]

Quick answer is I hate Doggy :lol:

Seriously though - where I am now there are dogs both sides - one 'lives' in a cage at the top of their garden. Barks a lot but doesn't bother me too much as it away at the top but I can't understand people who have dogs just to leave them like that.

We always had dogs when I was growing up and so did the OH, but we have no intention of having one now, been put off I suppose, which is a shame really.

[er 59]

Ive got a dog i dont let him bark he may get as far as three woofs but thats about it i stop him and if he tries to carry on he is bought indoors
having said that other dogs around me seem to bark for ages and it really gets on my nerves my ex nfh's dog used to bark constantly when she went out it drove me doolally :(

[Beth]

I put my hands up and will tell you that if any dodgey looking sorts appear on our street then yes i do let her bark ;) it does the trick ;)

but she know that if she barks and doesnt stop at other times and she is out side its a case of "XX do you want to go in the house?" and it always works :D she is very smart fora mutt :yes:

[smokeydeadlegs]

Hi guy's thanks you for responding, some very interesting responses.

As you probably all agree it really is not the dogs fault but the owners, there are very few dogs that are untrainable.
I have always had Shepherds and they are in the group of dogs MOST likely to bark, the last Shepherd I had, died of very old age at 14 years, she was a dream, originally a rescue and rather aggressive to put it mildly but with perserverance and the assistance of 2 police dog handler friends she became almost a pussy cat, well, I could not quite get her to miaow. She barked on command and stopped on command with only 2 quiet words "Watch" & "Quiet". I agree with you Beth, Benzoe and ER 59 dogs are a brilliant deterrent for any unwanted visitors but you have all shown how easy it really is to control your dogs as responsible owners, good on ya.
You are right coppernob, folk should have to earn the right to own a dog and be able to show that they can responsibly control it and if they fail the dog should be removed, by force if necessary and the owners fined heavyily to boot, we can but dream. Your example Planet 24 is typical, that poor dog sounds as tho' it's life is little more than torture and really should be removed and the owners fined heavily, if the dog does not have water or adequate shelter from either inclement weather or to much heat the RSPCA most definitely would be interested and would act.

It is time the Authorities took seriously the scourge of dogs, childrens and adults bad behaviour way more seriously than they do at present.
What do we do, how do we make them listen, we ultimately put them in their cushy little jobs in the first place, it is our right to expect action from them, they have the powers why are they so reluctant to use them ???

The one thing that I find difficult to understand is how folks behaviour and total disregard towards their neighbours around them is allowed to go unchecked, where is the sanity in the authorities allowing folk to carry on getting away with this, it is likened to a festering wound, the longer it goes unchecked the worse it becomes until it bursts, we only need to look at some of the cases here on NFHib also the types of crimes that are escalating particullarly in the inner cities but that is another subject.

You certainly have had a rough deal GEG far worse than most, but your story typifies the problems out there, it really makes you wonder nationwide how serious the problem really is, but fortunately all dogs are not bad and thankfully there are good and responsible dog owners.

Thanks for including the poll Beth 100% to date, speaks volumes.

[kebea41]

We own a dog and she is often with us daily when we do go out we always ask the neighbours if she has been barking because we do understand that a barking dog puts a big strain on anyone.
The laws for having animals has become too soft in my eyes and even tho today some new laws have been brought in to me it will not stop the abuse an animal suffers from being in a humans hands.

The licence should be brought back and they should bring the old dog wardens back to check on each household who have animals to see if they have a dog licence if the owner does not have a licence then they should be fined and the fine money should go to treat unwanted and abuse animals this way they can be helped.

We love our little dog she is a big part of the family and i cannot understand why people abuse their animals, why have them if you really do not want them.

BRING BACK THE DOG LICENCE , and make a law where every one had to have their animals micro chipped :)

Kebea

[Planet 24]

Things might change for animals with the new Animal Welfare Act coming into force this month see here (http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=animalwelfareact)

[sp54]

A former next door neighbour [who was as nutty as a fruitcake and couldn't look after herself, never mind a dog] was given a puppy once and she would leave it outside tied up in all weathers barking the whole time until late at night. This was before this site was around, but as I am at home all day, it drove me to distraction, and had me in tears very often. Once it had grown a bit it was allowed the run of the garden, but was a large dog and never given any other exercise :(

The nice tenants next door have a cute little Yorkie who we hardly ever hear, because they are responsible dog owners.

[smokeydeadlegs]

BRING BACK THE DOG LICENCE , and make a law where every one had to have their animals micro chipped[/b]

I agree, some very valid points kebea, the dog licence and microchipping would resolve a lot of issues providing the authorities ensured it was policed. I would take it a stage further and make sure the licence was not too cheap, for those on low incomes providing they could show the animal would be well looked after they could give a reduction, it is way too easy to pick up a dog or any other animal come to that and there are far too many folk who really do not give a dam* and really should not have them in the first place. As in the quotes below from Green Eyed Girl I recon' we will all agree with those comments, there would be far less problems with dogs and far less would be badly treated in the long term, you must be made of tough stuff GEG, I have seen grown men quake in their boots when shepherds bound up to them. I have had 2 and they really are brilliant dogs in the right hands, predictable, loyal and an excellent nature, my other half used to work in the RSPCA kennels and like you she was not afraid, I have seen her on many occassions just walk into Rottweilers cages, them snarling on one side and her snarling right back at them, don't know who I was most afraid of.


Maybe a fine for not having the dog microchipped, or having a dog Licence would mean confiscation of the animal.[/b]


The most important one is the owner should be responsible for the animals welfare, care and behaviour at all times.[/b]

Certainly sp54 nowadays the RSPCA would intervene in the situation that you were forced to endure, she really should not have been allowed to have a dog under those circumstances as it appears that she was not even able to look after herself properly let alone an animal and as GEG mentioned, I wonder what happened to the animal.

An interesting point Planet 24, the RSPCA normally do not mess around and I believe that they will carry this through, thanks for the link.

That was very unfortunate Benzoe was your son Ok ? I think in circumstances like that unless you have some miracle cure that in most cases you would be forced to have the dog put to sleep, it is just way too risky but obviously you sorted the problem, well done.

At the end of it all if a dog licence was re-introduced and micro-chipping made a condition of owning a dog if it was done right it would be self funding, well unless our pal Gordy got his grubby little mits on it.

[smiths2006]

i think some dog owners think more of their dogs then people, like the ones who let them po in your gardens, take them for a walk then let them go back into your garden. these type should not be aloud to keep animals.

[Omega]

I love dogs but I cannot understand why people who own dogs leave them to bark continuously. Our neighbour had a very old dog that was disabled, we believe also blind and kept in a run by the side of their house; all year round. The dog barked day in day out 24 hours a day. No one took any notice of it apart from feeding etc. Last year I was so incensed about that poor animal I contacted the local dogwarden and they notified the RSPCA. We went on holiday and when we came back we were struck by how quiet it was - we understand that the dog was put out of its suffering & misery. Very sad but in the end it was literally howling all day, whether in pain or lonely we will never know.

Now some 6 months later, they have another dog, this time it is a small one, but they still do the same - they let it bark and bark (or yap really) until they can be bothered to let it indoors. I have managed to let it go over my head, but it winds hubby up. I know dogs bark or yap but they can also be trained. These owners are not interested in training it! So goodness knows what the summer will bring, hopefully a peaceful time but I won't hold my breath!

[Planet 24]

Some dog owners think more of their dogs than their kids but then they don't think much of their kids in the first place.

It's even-stevens as to who gets shut out in the rain :(

[dollyshell]

A family who live in one of the flats above ours have a mad dog that charges down the stairs barking when it's time for walkies! I can barking sometimes in the mornings but I think the dog actually belongs to another neighbour. Years ago when I was a little girl living at home we lived next door to a fierce dog that was shut away in a back garden, the poor thing. To get to our back garden we would have to go along a path, and the dog would be looking out of the gate and bark whenever it saw us coming. Me and my sister used to dare each other to run past it cos we were terrified!
:o

[Toots]

I thought I would add some comments to this…

My poor dog who is almost 4 has been tormented for years by kids on the estate… now it’s got so bad because we are being hounded at the back of the house I can’t even let him use his own garden.

Most of last year he was tormented with sticks poked through the fence and just general abuse through the garden.

This year I have forked out £100 for additional fencing to keep him safe and to stop kids poking him with sticks, whilst it works he still goes out in the garden running backwards and forwards along the fencing barking at these kids.

I’ve begged the housing to put additional fencing up to stop these mindless morons of kids from gaining access to the private land at the back of the houses but they won’t pay for it.

So what do I do, keep my dog in to stop him barking and to stop him annoying my other neighbours…. In the past I have done, but I refuse to do it this year… from now on he can sit out there and bark all day and night, it’s his garden if the kids would ******** off and mither someone else my dog would happily sit in his garden quietly.

I am just waiting for a letter about the dog barking… god help the person who sends it!

[Toots]

Just to add I never leave my dog out without being around... I am not that cruel, my dog is my child!

I don't enjoy seeing him get distressed from the torment he gets and I have constantly worried in the past about him barking for the sake of my good neighbours but I have pretty much tried everything over the years and I am not prepared to spend another year with a very large garden that I cannot use!

[Dave S]

Interesting poll, I read all the comments and was interested to see Toots comments, you see I am a dog owner and my NFH decided to collude with near neighbours so he would make my dog bark by making noises against my fence by tapping it with a beanpole whilst hiding by his back door, throwing water against my fence in the dark, watering the fence up and down with my dog following the water etc.
All this was to make my dog bark so that other neighbour was able to report me to the council dog warden as having a noisy and nuisance dog.
It took a while for the warden to put the complaint down to malicious neighbours.

They didn't realise that Border Collies have been bred to not bark as they would scare off the sheep and cattle they were supposed to be herding, this instinct still exists today in domestic Borders.

Unfortunately I cannot vote Yes and No in the poll. :rolleyes:

[Shan]

:mad:
Hi, Whilst I am not an avid dog lover I would never hurt any animal and hate to hear of cruelty cases. We have neighbours on one side of us with a huge alsatian. It barks a lot, the owners NEVER take it out for a walk, our gardens arent very big so the poor thing gets hardly any excercise. What I dont understand is why have a large dog if you cant be bothered to take it out for walks? The neighbours garden is full of dog mess and in the warm weather we get so many flies and a terrible smell.

The neighbours on the other side have 3 small dogs. They yap and yap day and night. The owners will open their back door at 3 am and let the dogs out, shut the door and the dogs then yap till they are allowed in.

I often wonder what both my neighbours would say if I ********ped in my garden, made terrifically loud noises alternated with yapping noises and yapped at 3am?

I dont make excessive noise so why do I have to put up with other peoples? I wish the RSPCA could remove these dogs from inconsiderate owners and also hand out huge fines and bar them from ever owning another dog.

Sorry for the moan.

[Crazy Dog]

Spent most of yesterday vaguely tolerating a yapping dog that just didn't stop all day.

I almost couldn't hear myself battering the plaster off the walls of the bathroom I'm refitting.:rolleyes:<_<

[Crazy Dog]

I think my particular yapping dog is an attention seeker. If the owners are away it barks until they come back. They're both retired and don't leave it on its own very often so it's not a big problem.

Part of the solution for an attention seeking dog is to wait until it's quiet before going in. Another point is to not greet it until it's been calm and quiet for at least five minutes. It'll soon get the message ("If I'm noisy I'll be ignored. If I'm quiet the rest of my pack will love me.")

[Toots]

It's such a wonderful warm day today and I have choosen to keep my dog in for several hours because if I let him out he will bark and all the kids that have decided to play at the side of my house...

Ermmmm is that fair... I eventually let him out at 4pm and he barked non stop for 30 minutes until I brought him in.

During the week he will happily sit outside and wander in and out and not a peep out of him unless someone approches the house like a postman etc...

I hate these kids living around here, can someone tell me why they don't f**k off and play outside there own houses... oh I forgot they can't mummy's sunbathing and does not want to be disturbed!

[smcneil]

My NFH had a rotweiller (not sure how you spell that- sorry) and it was huge. The youngest of the sons would encourage it to jump the fences in the garden, whilst it was doing this it would kick it and eventually over time the fence got wrecked. The used to keep it in doors while they went out on a bender and it would bark for hours on end.

It was a really big dog, and although I actually like dogs this one scared the hell out of me. When they were actually in the house you could hear them goading the poor animal and it was barking and growling and all sorts. They would then run it the length of the bedroom (which was above my bedroom) at all hours of the night and it would make a terrible racket.

I spoke to the letting agent of the property and made a compaint about the dog. They told me that the NFH were actually in breech of the tenency agreement as they were not allowed pets. As time went on I still submitted complaints about it because it was driving me mad. Then one night around 10pm the police turned up and took the dog away, and the dog was destroyed. I later found out that it had bitten someone in the street and that was why it was destroyed.

They now have a pitbull terrier!!!!!!:mellow: