Barking Dog

[jimlongley]

If someone told me they looked over my fence and saw my dog barking, I would want to know: a) If they were in the Guinness Book for their height, or b) why they were climbing on my fence. Eight foot fences do that.

My dogs bark at just about any disturbance that they detect, and since their hearing is much better than mine, they bark a lot, but so do most of the dogs in the neighborhood. The other night the dogs went berserk because a neighbor is in the process of tearing up a floor in his house and the thumps were just barely audible in our house. Other bumps in the night and such tend to elicit the same response. On garbage day, if someone is home the doggy door stays closed, and for the last few months we have had new sewer and water lines being placed in our quiet little neighborhood, so we have been alerting on construction equipment.

A few years ago a neighbor kid was harassing our dogs. He would walk along the fence and tap and rattle the slats and the dogs would respond. I caught him at it a couple of times, but never physically caught him. I called the police and they couldn't figure out who it was despite my telling them, and they told me there wasn't much they could do, that the alley is a public thoroughfare and he could walk there on the way home from school even if it was out of his direct route. Then came the days when he kicked holes in the fence (it WAS and old fence) and they went and had a talk with his parents and nothing more has occurred since. Of course we also put up a new fence to replace the aging decrepit one.

We still get the occasional noisy kid that seems to be doing it on purpose, and there is a neighbor who insists on allowing his unleashed dog to use the part of my yard outside the fence as its own personal potty, both of which generate responses from my dogs.

But my dogs are doing what dogs do, responding to stimuli, and my argument with the cop would be that he generated the bark by approaching the fence, and he might want to see what your neighbor is doing to make your normally quiet and shy dog respond.

Our dogs are in their crates at night, except for the two that sleep in our bedroom, but during the day and evening they roam in and out at will.

[SewTexas]

Im sure your dog was barking plenty before someone called the police. Ive had it happen were I live, neighbor's dog barking nonstop all hours of the night and the owner either not knowing (asleep) or act like they know nothing about it. Or they say "my dog don't bark just to be barking, if it barks then its for a good reason". We had a neighbor who was forced to put a bark shock collar on his dog or get rid of it due to the constant all night barking. Every obnoxious dog owner seems to have the same story, my dog don't bark. Im not saying this is the case with you OP, just saying you may not hear what your dog does while your asleep.

unless every dog in the neighborhood was barking and she was answering, I tend to doubt his was barking at all, he's already said his dog doesn't like the dark. "She goes out, does her business then comes back in" why would she have stayed out? It's much more likely that the neighbor called in, what we call in the homeschool community, an "anonymous tip".

So you are willing to ignore the fact the the LEO, an uninterested third party, told the OP he heard the dog barking? Really?

The dog was barking because someone came up to the fence at night. That is exactly what a dog is supposed to do. Have you ever had a dog?

thank you ^ I probably would have been the one to smart off to the LEO and told him that, too

[rotor]

Let's assume someone called the police for a barking dog. The LEO came up to your fence and heard your dog barking. There is not much doubt here that it was your dog and since the LEO was called in ( we assume) your dog was barking before the LEO got there. So, you are the guilty party here. Second, you have a bad relationship with a neighbor and he may or may not have been the one making the complaint (perhaps one of your "friends" did). Get your dog under better control. These are the type of cases where major problems develop or you find your dog suddenly "ill". I have three dogs and my neighbor has two. If they are all out at the same time they run up and down the fence barking. I have to physically get them under control. Not nice to have a neighbor with a barking dog all the time. You need to fix this. Sometimes it takes a bark collar. Or, do like I do and go out with the dog when they do their business and keep them from barking.

[03Lightningrocks]

Im sure your dog was barking plenty before someone called the police. Ive had it happen were I live, neighbor's dog barking nonstop all hours of the night and the owner either not knowing (asleep) or act like they know nothing about it. Or they say "my dog don't bark just to be barking, if it barks then its for a good reason". We had a neighbor who was forced to put a bark shock collar on his dog or get rid of it due to the constant all night barking. Every obnoxious dog owner seems to have the same story, my dog don't bark. Im not saying this is the case with you OP, just saying you may not hear what your dog does while your asleep.

unless every dog in the neighborhood was barking and she was answering, I tend to doubt his was barking at all, he's already said his dog doesn't like the dark. "She goes out, does her business then comes back in" why would she have stayed out? It's much more likely that the neighbor called in, what we call in the homeschool community, an "anonymous tip".

So you are willing to ignore the fact the the LEO, an uninterested third party, told the OP he heard the dog barking? Really?

The dog was barking because someone came up to the fence at night. That is exactly what a dog is supposed to do. Have you ever had a dog?

Funny JMRA, that was exactly my thought. I wish I could claim great minds think alike but in this instance that would include 98% of the population.

[03Lightningrocks]

Let's assume someone called the police for a barking dog. The LEO came up to your fence and heard your dog barking. There is not much doubt here that it was your dog and since the LEO was called in ( we assume) your dog was barking before the LEO got there. So, you are the guilty party here. Second, you have a bad relationship with a neighbor and he may or may not have been the one making the complaint (perhaps one of your "friends" did). Get your dog under better control. These are the type of cases where major problems develop or you find your dog suddenly "ill". I have three dogs and my neighbor has two. If they are all out at the same time they run up and down the fence barking. I have to physically get them under control. Not nice to have a neighbor with a barking dog all the time. You need to fix this. Sometimes it takes a bark collar. Or, do like I do and go out with the dog when they do their business and keep them from barking.

I have a "bad neighbor" situation. Not only does his dog bark non stop at all hours of night, he can't afford the house he lives in so when he needs repairs done, we get to experience a level of "ghetto decor" that is hard to describe. I have not called the cops on him yet and probably won't. But I have knocked real hard on his door at all hours and asked him as nicely as I could to put his dog in the house. He acts like a jerk about it but I try to maintain my composure. He and I have had words more than once but I have the Jedi Warrior edge on him. LOL... Actually, he thinks I am crazy.

[sjfcontrol]

Let's assume someone called the police for a barking dog. The LEO came up to your fence and heard your dog barking. There is not much doubt here that it was your dog and since the LEO was called in ( we assume) your dog was barking before the LEO got there. So, you are the guilty party here. Second, you have a bad relationship with a neighbor and he may or may not have been the one making the complaint (perhaps one of your "friends" did). Get your dog under better control. These are the type of cases where major problems develop or you find your dog suddenly "ill". I have three dogs and my neighbor has two. If they are all out at the same time they run up and down the fence barking. I have to physically get them under control. Not nice to have a neighbor with a barking dog all the time. You need to fix this. Sometimes it takes a bark collar. Or, do like I do and go out with the dog when they do their business and keep them from barking.

I have a "bad neighbor" situation. Not only does his dog bark non stop at all hours of night, he can't afford the house he lives in so when he needs repairs done, we get to experience a level of "ghetto decor" that is hard to describe. I have not called the cops on him yet and probably won't. But I have knocked real hard on his door at all hours and asked him as nicely as I could to put his dog in the house. He acts like a jerk about it but I try to maintain my composure. He and I have had words more than once but I have the Jedi Warrior edge on him. LOL... Actually, he thinks I am crazy.

“If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.”


― Sun Tzu

[tbrown]

I want to know if the dog was barking when he drove up or only after the prowler looked over the fence.

[texanjoker]

Im sure your dog was barking plenty before someone called the police. Ive had it happen were I live, neighbor's dog barking nonstop all hours of the night and the owner either not knowing (asleep) or act like they know nothing about it. Or they say "my dog don't bark just to be barking, if it barks then its for a good reason". We had a neighbor who was forced to put a bark shock collar on his dog or get rid of it due to the constant all night barking. Every obnoxious dog owner seems to have the same story, my dog don't bark. Im not saying this is the case with you OP, just saying you may not hear what your dog does while your asleep.

unless every dog in the neighborhood was barking and she was answering, I tend to doubt his was barking at all, he's already said his dog doesn't like the dark. "She goes out, does her business then comes back in" why would she have stayed out? It's much more likely that the neighbor called in, what we call in the homeschool community, an "anonymous tip".

So you are willing to ignore the fact the the LEO, an uninterested third party, told the OP he heard the dog barking? Really?

The dog was barking because someone came up to the fence at night. That is exactly what a dog is supposed to do. Have you ever had a dog?

thank you ^ I probably would have been the one to smart off to the LEO and told him that, too

Then he would probably advise you that he responded on a barking dog call; heard barking dog bark so he verified where the barking dog was by looking over the fence as sounds the case here. I really doubt any leo is going to look over a fence without hearing a dog bark first. To further assist you in understanding he would give you a coupon to appear at the local court for said barking dog.

[SewTexas]

Im sure your dog was barking plenty before someone called the police. Ive had it happen were I live, neighbor's dog barking nonstop all hours of the night and the owner either not knowing (asleep) or act like they know nothing about it. Or they say "my dog don't bark just to be barking, if it barks then its for a good reason". We had a neighbor who was forced to put a bark shock collar on his dog or get rid of it due to the constant all night barking. Every obnoxious dog owner seems to have the same story, my dog don't bark. Im not saying this is the case with you OP, just saying you may not hear what your dog does while your asleep.

unless every dog in the neighborhood was barking and she was answering, I tend to doubt his was barking at all, he's already said his dog doesn't like the dark. "She goes out, does her business then comes back in" why would she have stayed out? It's much more likely that the neighbor called in, what we call in the homeschool community, an "anonymous tip".

So you are willing to ignore the fact the the LEO, an uninterested third party, told the OP he heard the dog barking? Really?

The dog was barking because someone came up to the fence at night. That is exactly what a dog is supposed to do. Have you ever had a dog?

thank you ^ I probably would have been the one to smart off to the LEO and told him that, too

Then he would probably advise you that he responded on a barking dog call; heard barking dog bark so he verified where the barking dog was by looking over the fence as sounds the case here. I really doubt any leo is going to look over a fence without hearing a dog bark first. To further assist you in understanding he would give you a coupon to appear at the local court for said barking dog.

that's quite possible. but....like tbrown, I'd like to know, did he hear the dog and look over the fence? or did he look over the fence to see if there was a dog, and then hear the dog? two, completely different scenarios, both resulting in a barking dog, barking neighbor dogs, and angry neighbors.

[WildBill]

Someone called the police about a barking dog and they came out to investigate. What is the issue we are trying to decide?

[gringo pistolero]

Someone called the police about a barking dog and they came out to investigate. What is the issue we are trying to decide?

If the human residents are not home and the canine resident goes outside into his fenced yard, “what rights do the Police have to enter my fenced in backyard to "solve this barking problem"'”?

[sjfcontrol]

Hypothetical question. Suppose instead of looking over the fence to " trigger" the barking dog, he "chirped" his siren to alert the dog (along with all the other dogs in a three-block radius). He wouldn't have to enter the property to do this. Could he then claim to have witnessed the barking dog an issue a ticket?

Could an officer go from neighborhood to neighborhood, chirping his siren, then ticketing any household with a barking dog?

Discuss...

[WildBill]

Hypothetical question. Suppose instead of looking over the fence to " trigger" the barking dog, he "chirped" his siren to alert the dog (along with all the other dogs in a three-block radius). He wouldn't have to enter the property to do this. Could he then claim to have witnessed the barking dog an issue a ticket?

Could an officer go from neighborhood to neighborhood, chirping his siren, then ticketing any household with a barking dog?

Discuss...

I think that would be entrapment.

[RPBrown]

I am on both sides of the fence here.
1) I have 4 dogs. One is a barker but only barks at movement, any movement. Leaves blowing by, birds flying etc. She is still a work in progress but does bark. When she does, I can hear it even if I am asleep. I will go get her in and close the doggie door as not to upset my neighbors, all but 1 I have known for 15+ years. They all also have dogs that bark from time to time and none complain about the other.
2)If my other three dogs bark at something, there is an issue and I am grabbing a gun. They will bark if there is someone at the gate or looking over the gate (have to be pretty tall to look over a 6' gate). If someone were to come inside the gate without one of my family or either of my next door neighbors, I don't know what would happen but I would bet it wouldn't be pretty. That's why I have them, to help protect my family and property as well as the loyalty and companionship they provide. I also have no trespassing signs as well as guard dog warning signs on every gate to my back yard. If a LEO needs to enter my back yard at night, he should probably think about getting me up first.
3) I also have a new neighbor that moved in behind me and yes it is a rental. He has kids and a small dog that barks whenever it is outside and this causes mine that was mentioned above to bark so I bring her in while they are outside. The neighborly thing to do. But, if his dog is barking continuously, I would expect the same treatment.
4) Perhaps you should try and get to know the neighbor before condemning him. I understand about the race car but he probably felt pretty intimidated with a group of you going to his house to confront him.

[howdy]

I am on both sides of the fence here.
1) I have 4 dogs. One is a barker but only barks at movement, any movement. Leaves blowing by, birds flying etc. She is still a work in progress but does bark. When she does, I can hear it even if I am asleep. I will go get her in and close the doggie door as not to upset my neighbors, all but 1 I have known for 15+ years. They all also have dogs that bark from time to time and none complain about the other.
2)If my other three dogs bark at something, there is an issue and I am grabbing a gun. They will bark if there is someone at the gate or looking over the gate (have to be pretty tall to look over a 6' gate). If someone were to come inside the gate without one of my family or either of my next door neighbors, I don't know what would happen but I would bet it wouldn't be pretty. That's why I have them, to help protect my family and property as well as the loyalty and companionship they provide. I also have no trespassing signs as well as guard dog warning signs on every gate to my back yard. If a LEO needs to enter my back yard at night, he should probably think about getting me up first.
3) I also have a new neighbor that moved in behind me and yes it is a rental. He has kids and a small dog that barks whenever it is outside and this causes mine that was mentioned above to bark so I bring her in while they are outside. The neighborly thing to do. But, if his dog is barking continuously, I would expect the same treatment.
4) Perhaps you should try and get to know the neighbor before condemning him. I understand about the race car but he probably felt pretty intimidated with a group of you going to his house to confront him.

I am the OP and this is probably the best advise I've received. It might be tough to swallow my pride but I will try this approach.