Needing to vent & get support

[CalistogaPyr]

Well, the bully neighbor strikes again.  I guess yesterday Bo was barking a lot & we got a nasty phone call about our "stupid dog".  My husband spoke with the neighbor & eventually smoothed things out, but it still left me feeling frustrated & sad.  Appearantly there have been wild pigs & deer (not to mention other dogs) running around our property lately, which would certainly explain her increased barking.  She's been doing much better up until yesterday & I just chalked it up to a bad day.  It's hard having a dog that barks to warn & have neighbors that don't understand that.  No matter how we try to explain the breed, they only see her as a "problem".  Our other dog, Floyd, doesn't bark at all, so no one has complaints about him, so that makes me feel even worse!!  Today we left them both in teh house (we have a large home, so there's lots of space) & figured we'd take our chances with accidents & chewed shoes, but that certainly isn't the way I want to keep them.  We are considering converting our garage into a "puppy play area" with Astroturf, toys, & piped in music so that they would have a place to play and not have to be outside where they might disturb the neighbors while we're gone to work.  However, that's going to take us a few days to get that project up & running, so I'm left with the temporary solution of keeping them in the house while we're gone.  Fortunately my husband gets home earlier than I do, so at least they're not in there for too long.  I guess that's why I'm so frustrated by the neighbor because it's not like I'm not doing something to try to remedy the problem, but he seems to not recognize that & continues to harass us regardless.
Anyway, I  guess I just needed to vent & get support from other Pyr owners who understand the breed and some of the challenges that the breed brings with them.  There aren't a lot of Pyr owners in my area, so I'm a bit isolated.
Thanks for listening!
Jenn, Bo & Floyd

[Nina]

I'm really sorry abput ypur neighbor. We had people complain about Dilbert, but eventually they stopped as we are not the only dogs owners in the area. And some people even came up to us and thanked us for our barking dogs because it makes them feel safe. It keeps the "hoodlums" away.


Nina

[Jessdryden]

I'm sorry about your "grumpy" neighbors.  That sucks!

Jessica

P.S.--Adorable photo!

[my3dogs]

I'm so sorry about your neighbors who just don't understand.

I do have to say......that pic is so adorable.
Who could complain about either of those sweeties?
I know....only one barks...but they are both soooooo cute!

[CalistogaPyr]

Thanks!  The photo of the two of them was taken during the New Year's flood (we live in the Napa area), but you couldn't tell by the looks on their faces!  Bo loves the rain, Floyd doesn't, but will be in teh rain if it means being with Bo! 
I know, the neighbor thing sucks and it makes me feel terrible because I just want people to like my dogs!  I don't want to be "that lady with the noisy dogs"!!
Jenn

[Scootergirl]

awwww! Poor Bo. I can't stand people who don't understand that dogs will bark. He'll be glad when Bo starts barking if someone tries to break into his house, won't he. Maybe just tell him Bo only barks if something is out of the ordinary so he'd do best to check it out instead of complain (worded nicer than that, of course).

Where I live, barking out of control is only against the law after dark. Do you know what your local ordinances are?

[Gypsy Jazmine]

1st off that pic gave me my 1st real smile today!...Thanks!...2nd, I am sorry that you are dealing with this...I go to all of my neighbors periodically & ask if my dogs are bothering them in any way...Only once did I get a beat around the bush type of yes...I told her I would keep a closer ear out for my dogs barking...I've had neighbors tell me that the dogs make them feel safer...It's too bad your neighbor won't see the pluses to gaurdian neighbor dogs.

[tanimara]

Some folks just like to gripe and are never satisfied no matter how hard you try to please them.

Jackie

[CalistogaPyr]

I know, you can't please everyone all the time.  I guess it just frustrates me and makes me anxious to think that there's someone who has a beef with my dog.  This guy is, how do I say this politely, unsophisticate d.  Even though we explained to him that Bo doesn't bark for no reason, he doesn't seem to get it.  When we first moved in, he complained to me(in a threatening way "you'd better shut that do up or I will") that she was waking him up with her barking.  We then kept her inside during the night & only let her out once the sun was up (and trained her to shhhh when we told her to), so like I said before, it's not like we're just letting her sit outside all night & bark at the mouse farts!!  ARrgh.  I guess this guy will just have to get over himself or I will have to get over the fact that he doesn't like my dog!!
I think that the noise ordinance in our area is between 10 am & 8 am.  Most of her barking goes on in the afternoons (according to the neighbor).  Go figure.
Jenn

[Teamshredit]

First of all I have to say the photo of Bo with Floyd is so cool! He looks like a person 

I can relate to the stress that goes with having a protector. So much energy is expended on keeping "dog-haters" appeased and it wears on you. We got lucky and just moved into a neighborhood FULL of noisy dogs, but have been evicted a couple of times due to Luke's barking. We ended up buying a house just so we could stay in one place. It's been a rough road but he is so worth it!!!

I work at a gallery and take the dogs to work with me. I like to keep the front doors open, but there are alot of dogs barking in parked cars and walking by. I've discovered that confining them to the back room and keeping a fan going all day on "high" has worked really well. For one it drowns out any outside noise, and secondly it lulls them to sleep for most of the day.
I even keep the back door open for them, with a gate, and Luke hasn't barked in a long time.

Would you feel badly if you kept them in one room for awhile? Even until the garage is up and running. I know it's tougher for big dogs.....wee wee pads only hold the first minute of pee 
Good luck!

[Newf Lover]

Neighbors barking dogs can be annoying but I try to understand.  One of our neighbors dogs, all of the sudden, would not shut up.  It barked and barked and barked and barked, pretty much non-stop all day.  It got really annoying!  We come to find out, the wife was having a baby and they just left the dog to fend for itself for almost a week.  We were so pissed that we were going to call animal control, but they were really apologetic and we didn't want to cause problems for the new parents.  We let it slide this time but I still think that was unnacceptable to leave a dog alone for so long, even if you give it a ton of food to survive on.  Hopefully your neighbors will be understanding too and your issue can be remedied.  BTW - we need to get Bo and Drake together one of these weekends when we're up in St. Helena.  That would be fun!  Maybe at the end of this month?

[greek4]

I live in a duplex and my neighbors are an older couple that work 2nd shift.
The other day my neighbor came to give me some neighborhood paperwork and we had a conversation like this.

"Your dog barks everynight when I get home, I hope that doesn't wake you up, since it is so late." neighbor
"I'm sorry, please let me know if they are ever barking and it bothers you." me
"I have never heard them bark for more than a couple seconds and they have never barked without cause." neighbor.
"They are pretty good but if they do ever bother you, just let me know." me
"I like having them near, so that if something is wrong they will let us all know" neighbor
"Thanks." me.

I'm lucky that my neighbor is nice.

[Anky]

Araby barks if she's left outside.  So we have a rule, she doesn't go out before 9 AM or after 10 PM on a weekday.  It's annoying, and I feel really bad about it, but short of barking control collars (Which I personally feel are uneccesary) it's the best we can do.

[Kiahpyr]

I can so relate. I have asked my neighbors if Kiah's barking has bothered them and one neighbor said no that he can't hear her. Maybe it's 'cause she has such a low bark. It totally doesn't match her either. My other neighbor's dog barks at everything, so it doesn't bother him. We don't have neighbors on all sides of us, so that's nice.

However, Kiah has been going outside and instantly barking. It's like she's telling the world that she's outside. She used to only bark when she saw or heard something. I think the neighbor's dog has corrupted her. I was so proud that she was only barking when she was suppose to. Now I don't know what to do either. Luckily most of the people in my area have dogs. Good luck with your neighbor. Remember you can't please everyone.

[nostaw]

I'm sorry to hear about the neighbour trouble, from the sound of it you have got one of those people you get from time to time. If the barking is not continuous I can't see what the problem is. I think some times people will find anything to complain about. If it was not your dogs, the complaint would probably be about car doors slamming, the colour of your curtains, or you've got a better car than theirs.

My dogs bark if anybody is about, or if they hear a challenging bark from one of the other dogs in the neighbourhood. they stop after about 10 seconds. I only challenge their behaviour (usually by trying to shout louder than they bark) if it went on much longer. They seem to have got the message. I now only have to say their name and praise them when they stop and that is not often.

You have my wholehearted support and as they say in Yorkshire, "Don't let the buggers grind you down."

Andy, Bell & Hovis