I wrote to the Metrolina Dog Reporter in Indian Trail, thinking she might have some suggestion. Here's what she said (my comments are in pink, if you couldn't guess...),
Dear Ms. X (No, not telling you my name),
"Assuming you have tried to make friends with the dog next door, Yes, and I used to be friends with my neighbors, too. it sounds like you have been extremely patient with a dog that has not been properly socialized. Really. It could also be that the dog senses your feelings of frustration and is misinterpreting that as a threat. Yeah, that's why he starts jumping around and wagging his tail when I approach the fence. The dog can't tell me, his neighbor who used to give him treats, play with him, and pet his head over the fence, from an intruder, so I doubt he can distinguish much else. He treats me the same way he did before I became hostile.
"Your e-mail does not mention anything about calling the police or the sheriff's department to help you handle this situation only animal control. Yes, I've called the police and they sent out the animal control guy. In Union County, Animal Control is, as you may know, under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff's Dept. so if I call Eddy guess who they will send out. So whether I call the police, the sheriff's dept., or animal control the only person I'll see is an animal control officer, and probably the same one that always shows up. And when the animal control guy came out a few weeks ago, all the neighbors came out into the yard so the dog wasn't barking. There are nuisance ordinances that cover barking dogs. A visit from a city policeman or deputy sheriff is sometimes necessary when it comes to such inconsiderate neighbors as you describe. Yes, we do have animal control (nuisance) ordinances, which date back to the days when animal control was under the jurisdiction of the health dept. (until 5-6 years ago), but it does no go to have the ordinances if they aren't enforced, which they aren't around here, at least not in my experience. And by they way, they do kill animals in a gas chamber in Union County, so this will be the likely outcome for any animals confiscated by animal control. Isn't Indian Trail in Union County? Last time I checked, it was.
"Keeping a small squirt bottle filled with water handy will be easier than dragging around a garden hose or you may want to try buying a small can of Direct Stop at Petsmart. Direct Stop is a cintronella spray that dogs find very offensive but it will not harm their eyes. And people have insinuated that I'm mean for using the ultrasonic device. Somehow I find it hard to believe that citronella is kinder. It makes my eyes and skin burn when I use it on just my skin as an insect repellant. So try squirting the dog in the face and telling it "NO" with either water or Direct Stop whenever it barks at you and this may help curb the its behavior. Right. Well, she does have a somewhat simple grasp on the classical conditioning concept, or she's just putting it in simple terms because she thinks I'm an idiot. Anyway, I did this thing with the squirt bottle, way back, and the dog just laughed at the squirt, then went on his merry barking way... "hahaha...rahrahrahrahrahrah..."
"I did this with my own dogs when they kept barking at my neighbor's new cat. I also squirted the cat because it was coming right up to our fence and taunting my dogs. Yeah, my neighbor's tried to blame my cat, too. Not sure what the excuse was when the cat wasn't around. My cat used to "hunt" in the shrubs near the fence, but he can't stand the barking either so he doesn't go over there any more. But the dog still barks...whether the cat is outside or not. My two dogs and the neighbor's cat eventually learned to change their behavior because they did not like getting squirted in the face with water every day. Refer to the above. Hence the more effective hose which got his attention after 3-4 uses. I understand that training the neighbor's dog is not your responsibility but a month of your time conditioning the dog to stop its obnoxious behavior is better than putting up with four more years of aggravation. A month of my time??? I have been working on trying to "condition" this dog not to bark at least at me since they got it as a puppy, and then I realized one day that when the neighbors are in the yard and the dog starts barking they give him treats and attention to distract him, which, as anyone with any insight into classical conditioning knows, is just reinforcing the undesired behavior and therefore counterproductive to anything I do. I was willing to pay for dog training, but the 3 trainers I consulted with told me the same thing - waste of money...training won't work if the owners don't participate and reinforce the training (duh). Let's see, I've been outside at least 8 times today to quiet the dog. Actually, I just came in and he's out there barking again. I actually set off my car alarm once hoping to attract his people's attention because I was tired of getting up to shut their dog up. I thought perhaps I could "condition" the humans to get up and tend to the barking when they hear "Pavlov's bell ringing"...but I supposed if I let it (the car alarm) go on too long they'll call the cops and the cops will rush right out to put an end to the noise nuisance...even though it hasn't been going on anywhere near 4 years. Go figure. (At this point, you probably want to squirt your neighbors in the face, too, but I do NOT recommend it). Really. I said I was going crazy, not stupid.
Good Luck!
Deborah Parkhill Mullis
Gee. Thanks Deborah...so much for the Metrolina Dog Reporter. I think Deborah needs to go back to school...or maybe she has never lived next to a barking dog and thus does not realize the damage it can do to one's life both emotionally and physically.
Well, then...anyone else want to insult my intelligence?
P.S. I was making some progress with the ultrasonic handheld device along with rewards when the dog sat quietly watching me while I was in the yard. But I've also had to run outside early in the morning in my pajamas to make the dog stop barking, sometimes 3-4 times before he stops, and no sign of his people (yes, they are home), and the dog wakes me up barking in the middle of the night so I've had to move my bedroom, first across the hall upstairs, and now I'm sleeping in the living room, the room farthest away...but he still wakes me up.
I've had a couple "dog people" scoff because I'm using the ultrasonic device. I guess they think it's inhumane... however I find it to be very inhumane and abusive to drive a human crazy and to disrupt one's whole life by allowing this barking to continue. and no one seems to care about the people, just the dog...except for other people who have been driven mad by barking dogs and insensitive, rude neighbors.
