[kel116]

Yesterday I bought a outdoor kennel for Bella my 1.5 yr old lab.
I thought I would do a slow introduction to the kennel with her so we spent a half hour in the kennel after it was set up yesterday with no problems. Bella goes to work with me every day so after work today (4;30 pm) I put her in the kennel and hid around the corner where she can't see me. She barked for 10 minutes then settled down and was quiet.
After 30 minutes I brought her back in the house.

:behindsofa:

There it was a message light on my phone was blinking, hmmppff....... OK I check my message and its my next door neighbor telling me to shut my dog up.....

Oh come on I says to myself and I did a Very Very stupid thing yep thats right I Called him.......
Lets say for brevity his response was that he didn't feel he should have to listen to a dog bark all night. my response was don't be an @ss and the dog only barked for 10 minutes (he said 15 minutes OK sure why not) I asked him in the nicest way possible to quit being an @ss but if he insisted our noise bylaw starts at 10m so he better get used to barking dog.

Now I know I could/should have handled that exchange better :fish: but they are arrogant and they burn my butt.
So am I out of line with letting Bella cry out her insecurity for 15 minutes at
4:30 in the afternoon?

Should I apologize to my neighbor and move ? some days it doesn't pay to get up lol

 

[sscott87]

Depending on the relationship with the neighbor, perhaps apologize for being a prick about it. Or perhaps don't. But middle of the afternoon? 10-15 minutes of barking? Does your Bella bark often? I'm guessing no. So he sounds like he's just an annoying neighbor and I wouldn't worry too much about it currently.

 

[Abbylynn]

About 10 years back I had a rescue who has some SA and I would put her in the attached garage for a bit when it was too hot or storming to really let her out in the yard. I had a distant neighbor complain about her barking. Like Bella ... she only barked short term.

Animal control showed up at my house and assessed the situation ... they said that they were going to return to the neighbors and explain that "Dogs have opinions and voices too" ... gotta love 'em!

 

[JulieK1967]

I think it really depends. If I'd had a bad night of insomnia & was trying to catch a nap in the afternoon & my neighbor's dog was barking for 10-15 minutes & then that person called me as a$$ when I complained about it, I'd be pissy, too. Of course, the neighbor could just be a jerk. It's hard to tell without hearing their side of the story. I don't personally believe in annoying other people to train my dog. I would suggest starting off much more slowly with a minute or two at a time and build up her tolerance for the kennel instead of letting her bark it out like that in an unfamiliar place.

 

[winniec777]

Sometimes it's good to get a little more info before flying off the handle, e.g. some people work nights and sleep during the day - a barking dog would be a nuisance. Even if the guy is being a jerk, there's always the safety of your dog to consider. Nasty neighbors have been known to poison a dog or two if things escalate with the owner. Better to make nice and do what you can to reduce the barking. Have you tried using crate training techniques with the kennel? Google Susan Garrett's "Crate Games" - good tips for getting your dog used to confinement.

http://susangarrettdogagility.com/tag/crate-games/

http://youtu.be/L8HNO79bZMY

 

[georgiapeach]

Sorry, but I HATE barking dogs! I don't allow mine to bark outside for any length of time without me doing something about it. Inside, assuming it's a single dwelling house, is a different story, since there's a barrier there (but in an apartment, I'd still be irritated to hear it through the walls).

Sounds like both of you could have handled the exchange a little better though. As your neighbor, I wouldn't have complained unless it was a repeated thing.

 

[Vicky88]

Well i don't let Holly bark outside no matter what time of the day, she comes in if she starts, some other owners round here do not do the same, so there dogs bark and this starts Holly off, but i still bring her inside, i only do this because i do not want someone moaning about her, but i personally don't have problems with other dogs barking during the day, i do have a problem when they bark really late at night, and i am talking like midnight, if i'm lucky i am asleep by then, and early in the morning too, my neighbour has a Shih Tzu called Gizmo, quiet as anything on a walk, i would take him home, until you hear him in the garden, was about 7am which i class as early, and his owner did nothing while he barked for 10 minutes, luckily i was up as was looking after my nephews, and half of the time he barks at nothing aswell, any bit of noise and he is barking, i would never let Holly bark for that long, my auntie has a BC and it is the same, it annoys me when Poppy comes round here, and they often don't try and shut her up, because people probably think it is Holly, and it is often late at night that they are here aswell, i often try and shut her up myself, but i'm not one of those people that could stand up and tell them to shut there flipping dog up!, or go get the dog in myself, because frankly they think the sun shines from this dogs backside, Holly often gets pushed aside round this dog, which annoys but that's another story in it's self, so i would probably get in so much trouble for telling this angel of a dog off!.

 

[deege39]

Yeah, I hate repetitive barkers too. Days and weeks on end, anything that sets them off and they bark for a good 10-15 minutes. Yeah it gets old... To you, training your dog, 10-15 minutes isn't that long of a time- that's great even, but to someone who, [like other's have said, has another side to the story or is just a jerk], 10-15 minutes is a loooooong time, that can be said for anything that is a nuisance.

If this has been the first time you've had reason to let your dog bark that long, than yeah- I think the other guy could have handled himself a little better. I would still suggest calling and apologizing, and explaining your situation, and give him a chance to apologize back and maybe explain himself. Let him know you'll try to keep your training sessions brief......

Honestly though... I would have done the same thing in your shoes. "10-15minutes? C'mon!" But I have been on the other-side, with dogs that bark 10-15 minute intervals all day and have made those phone-calls before. lol

::Edit:: Having two dogs myself in an apartment complex I am all the time being mindful of when/how long my dogs bark. I'm a little OC about it, but I usually cut them off at 5 barks. And if I don't think they have a reason to bark, I don't. I've lived in the same complex for almost three years and haven't had a single complaint, and I've had a lot of neighbors come and go...... Wait a minute. I wonder if there's some indirect correlation between the two. lmao!!

 

[Amaryllis]

Personally, barking dogs don't bother me. If my neighbor's dog isn't constantly barking, I wonder if it's dead. (they're good owners, he just likes to bark. This is his third home due to the barking, which is a shame, because he's a great dog.)

But- we don't know your neighbor's issue. Migraines, hyperacusis, night work, just a bad day?

In the future, do what I do: warn your neighbors in advance. After I got kabota, I visited my neighbors, told them I adopted a new dog and requested that they tell me if they have any problems. I got a few free dog biscuits, a chew toy and no complaints so far. It pays to be polite.

 

[hanksimon]

I'm mixed. My dog is a pre-doorbell and a burglar alarm. He doesn't bark for the fun of it, he barks when there's something new.

He doesn't bark at the trash collectors or the mail carriers. But he does bark at the meter readers. My next door neighbor is putting on a new roof, and my dog will go bark at them for 5 min., then go to sleep during all the banging.

It may be annoying (no neighbors have complained), but no strangers walk through the neighborhood without everyone being alerted...

 

[titiaamor]

We live on a street with at least 2 dogs at each house. Everyone has some sort of secure fence. And not one dog barks without reason! (amazing, now that I think about it!) Many dogs come roaming through at some point during the night- and they often get everyone on the street going, one by one. You can tell where the roamers pause by who is barking.

But to your issue- often people complain about barking b/c they assume the dog is suffering in some way. Maybe your neighbor was worried for your dog? I try to warn my neighbors when we're going to have ay kind of disruptions- live music, dog barking a lot due to training, a late night, noisy construction,etc.

I also noticed you said you wanted 'to take it slow' but what you described was fast, IMO. I 2nd the Crate Games by Susan Garrett.

 

[Kayota]

Well i don't let Holly bark outside no matter what time of the day, she comes in if she starts, some other owners round here do not do the same, so there dogs bark and this starts Holly off, but i still bring her inside, i only do this because i do not want someone moaning about her, but i personally don't have problems with other dogs barking during the day, i do have a problem when they bark really late at night, and i am talking like midnight, if i'm lucky i am asleep by then, and early in the morning too, my neighbour has a Shih Tzu called Gizmo, quiet as anything on a walk, i would take him home, until you hear him in the garden, was about 7am which i class as early, and his owner did nothing while he barked for 10 minutes, luckily i was up as was looking after my nephews, and half of the time he barks at nothing aswell, any bit of noise and he is barking, i would never let Holly bark for that long, my auntie has a BC and it is the same, it annoys me when Poppy comes round here, and they often don't try and shut her up, because people probably think it is Holly, and it is often late at night that they are here aswell, i often try and shut her up myself, but i'm not one of those people that could stand up and tell them to shut there flipping dog up!, or go get the dog in myself, because frankly they think the sun shines from this dogs backside, Holly often gets pushed aside round this dog, which annoys but that's another story in it's self, so i would probably get in so much trouble for telling this angel of a dog off!.

This is the longest run-on sentence I have ever seen... I'm really, really, really sorry, but could I please ask you to use proper punctuation in your posts? All the commas and the lack of periods makes it extremely difficult to read...

 

[InkedMarie]

To some people, ten min of non stop barking seems like "all night". You have to be very careful when dealing with neighbors; you don't want to find something that your dogs got into that can hurt them

 

[grab]

I don't let my dogs bark. It's not their job to alert me to every person who walks down the street. Unless someone is coming into my yard, I don't care who is in the neighborhood. Any barking when they're out on a potty run earns them an automatic calling in.

 

[kel116]

My neighbor works at the same place I do so I know he had just come home same as myself and was not sleeping etc., I will admit that I really should have let him know I was training her beforehand.( REALLY ???) Honestly after having a couple of days to think about it I still think he was an @ss but I should not have been one as well. I won't lose too much sleep over the neighbour's feelings, but I do try hard to be a responsible owner. The only reason I even bought the outdoor kennel is because one night a week I have a golf night, and thought she would enjoy being outside for a few hours while I golf. Bella (dog) is with me at work all day and in the house with me after work she only barks when she wants in the house or out of the house. I think that is why I am/was so mad the darn dog is just so quiet. She is crate trained and I have started to field train her, I said I was starting slowly with the Kennel training and I guess to me Fast would have been no prior crate training and put her in a kennel and leaving right away. I know her barking was just her expressing her dissatisfaction in not being invited in the house. (After all it is her house not mine)
I would like to thank everyone for their replies and would love to hear anymore idea’s on kennel training so we have a less stressful transition for Bella.
Thanks Kelly..

 

[ManyRoses]

Sounds like he was being a bit of an ass, but as you have admitted that you didn't handle it well, maybe a conversation and an apology is in order? Just to smooth things over - you are neighbors, after all.

I would also talk to him and explain that you are starting outdoor crate training, so you may have a little barking occasionally over the next few weeks, but that you will make sure that you are training during the day, and that it won't be going on for too long. He may be worried that the dog will be barking all the time, which would be a problem. Hopefully, you can make him understand that this is just a brief issue while learning something new.

Luckily, I live in a very dog-friendly complex, but even so, when we got the pup, I went over to my neighbor and just said hi. I explained that we have a new puppy, and we are going to do lots of training, but there may be some noise (barking, whining, etc) while she learns crate training and how to be left alone in the house. They were really understanding, and thanked me for coming to them BEFORE there was a problem.

 

[Nev Allen]

Susan Garret's "Crate Games" is the go, and your dog does not need to bark at all if you do it right.