nasty neighbors against my dog

Keep the dog inside the house where he belongs?

he is big and i have a crawling baby, he is outside to not leave so much hair. what else do you suggest since we have tried having him inside and that did not work, do you have any dogs inside that are a large breed or suggest anything else?

Prizm - I will start out and say that I am an animal lover, but not everyone is. And although you understand and some of your other neighbors understand that your dog is still young with a lot of energy, your other neighbors want some peace and quiet that they are used to.

My question is - are they complaining about the barking at night? Is he outside at night? If it is during the day and only when a cat goes by the trash men come by, then they have no reason to complain - but you may want to bring him and put him some where in your house where it is less likely he will bark at the trash men. If he is barking a lot at night, I really cannot blame your neighbors. I would bring him indoors and put him some where that he is less likely to bark.

I would also continue talking nicely with the neighbors and let them know you are working on the problem. Also, ask them specifically is it barking at night? What specifically is the barking problem, etc. It is reasonable that a dog will bark, but it also reasonable that neighbors are not consistently woken with barking.

You can't simply chain the dog in the back yard, fence him in or kennel him. He's going to be bored and he's going to bark with or without provocation.

Keep him in the house; take him for long walks twice a day--before you go to work and when you come home from work. Go out with him when he does his bathroom duty. He's a member of your family and you need to treat him as such. Talk to him; keep him occupied; buy him toys; play with him; walk him; take him for drives, etc.

If the dog has nothing to do but sit outside and bark all day, he's going to bark all day and disturb your neighbors.

Do a Google search on "bark stop".

Have you tried to kennel him - basically keep him in a big kennel. My brother also has a boxer and they trained him to sleep in the kennel. Do you have a basement? Or could you keep him in the kitchen?

I can understand the frustration your neighbors could have if your dog is kept outside. I once stayed at a relative's house where they had a neighbor that kept their dog outside. He barked most of night and I hardly got any sleep. Maybe the barking doesn't bother other neighbors depending where their bedrooms face or how deep of a sleeper they are - but for the others it could be a nightmare if they are kept up or woken up even once during the night.

Hair problem? Try frequent baths, daily brushing (grooming), and daily vacuuming. You can't relegate a member of your family to living outdoors in isolation and loneliness because it's too inconvenient or too much work to have him inside with the family. If you can't treat your dog like a member of the family, find him a new home.

I agree with Debra. If you don't want a dog that sheds too much (and is there really that much fur on a boxer?), then you should research your pet more before getting one. It is a member of the family so if you want a dog that does not shed, then make sure before you adopt one, the breed does not shed much.

And with a baby, I would hope you never leave the baby and dog alone (even the most loving dog has been heard to have hurt a baby). If you are concerned about the fur hurting the baby don't - one of my cats has the most beatiful thick fur in the world and sheds like crazy. It never harmed her - you may have to vaccum a little more.

I can't understand how having a dog in the house at night would effect a baby any way. We had two cats when my baby was born and we simply put netting made to prevent animals from entering the crib or you could simply close the baby's door.

You should have though of all this before getting yourself into a Boxer. Great family pet but they need to be raised around the kids or they will get jealous.

I hate that people just buy dogs because they like the way the look or whatever before doing their homework on the breed. Boxers are so active and need, absolutly NEED family attention. He is barking because he is lonely and wants to be with you. Not outside.

This is just sad in my opinion that the dog is suffering because the owners didn't know what they were getting into

this dog was bought before i had the baby, he is always taken to the groomer each week, he has a box of toys in an outside, he is inside at times but since the cat is inside he tries to play with it and of course we cannot have that since he will end up hurting it. as for the kennel, he does also have one , we tried that but it lead to more barking in and out of the house and lots of aggresion. he is constantly taken for rides,but not walks so thanks debra law for that tip, that is helpful. the dog is better taken care of than the owners really , he is just for some reason easy since he is still considered a pup. i keep getting told by the vet that it is the breed, could that be true or is it an excuse they are giving me?

wel debra law thanks for all of the great tips. linkat thanks for letting me know that you have already had your dogs inside with your kids, i felt weird since this is my first but this was reassuring. as for bella well, thanks for thinking bad of me but it just helps out on giving me an idea of what kind of person you are, a caring mujer (woman) about animals. as for cjhsa, thanks on the bark stop but i will only use this if the frequent walks and toys do not work, and i will use the noise one since they state it as being "humane."

Animals have no idea what "humane" means. They'll always love the person the most that feeds them and lets them get away with the most crap. I would also suggest that a collar that emits a light shock to stop barking is more humane than the neighbor feeding the dog anti-freeze.

We have two medium-large dogs that are kept inside at night... even when we had a cat. Even when our children were young, our dogs were allowed inside at night. My dogs know precisely when to bark... when someone enters the house or property. They also know they must stop barking when told to be quiet. This isn't taught by hitting them but by thanking them for the alert and saying that's enough. You must be firm and consistent and fair.

It irks me to be wakened and kept awake when one of the neighbors' dogs barks its fool head off all night while my dogs are lying quietly. One barking dog can disturb the peace for a quarter mile in every direction. Any dog can be taught but you have to be willing to be a responsible owner. When a dog, especially a young dog, is barking at night it is because the dog is frightened and lonesome. Consider what your child would do if you left him outside all night.

IMO, if your dog barks for more than a few seconds, then your neighbors have a real gripe and you ought to be doing something about it. It isn't fair to have an animal that is a community nuisance.

My business partner has a doberman and a cocker spaniel and sometimes she dogsits my corgi.... and she has a young granddaughter whom she babysits a lot. The dogs are cool with the baby, now two; they are kept both inside and outside in the daytime, and inside at night. And they have a very tidy house.

The corgi is a threat to the tidy house, as he really needs a bit of a combout every day, especially in the two shedding seasons. (I see this as a great job for her husband, who frets about dog hair.) Luckily they don't dogsit my Pacco very often.


Edit to say I hope littleK checks in to this thread - she has a lovely Boxer, older now.

The more the dog and cat are together, the more they will get along. Also the cat will go some place the dog can't get to it. My friend had a dog and her (at the time) future husband had two cats. When they moved together, the dog would chase the cats up the drapes, and it was crazy for several days. Then one day they just stopped. Now they have a mutual respect for one another.

Listen to Piffka - also like I said before speak with your neighbors and apologize. Let them know you are trying some new techniques with your dog and are actively looking for a solution and then really try to resolve this issue with some of the suggestions Piffka gave you. If they don't work, talk with some dog trainers. Your neighbors are more likely to be nice about it, if they really feel you are trying to resolve the problem.

Boxers never grow up. They are always going to be puppies at heart.

If you decide to get rid of the dog, do a Google search on "boxer rescue".

Prizm, I have a boxer myself (see avatar) and I have to say I am saddened to hear that you keep yours outside. I've not read everyword of this thread yet, but I think I have the gist of it.

If you gave your dog half a chance you'd very likely find that s/he is a natural pal to both child and cat. If you continue to seperate the dog from the other two, s/he'll never get the chance to show you. Poor dog. Poor kid, even. I have loads of neices, nephews and small cousins who have found joy in my dog.


All I can say about the barking issue is that you should bring the dog inside - at least at night. Boxers shouldn't shed much. They are very pack-oriented so your dog should be with you when ever possible.

Great news!!!
we recently were given a huge pillow/doggie mattress put in the house. we had our dog see the vet and he was given a special comb for short haired dogs so the shedding is not a problem aymore. hair sticks to this comb it is great. bandit (my dog) has slept inside for 2 nights and it ha been awesome. the only problem is just the kid getting licked all over his face when he is done eating. the neighbor's husband called me to ask if i got rid of my dog and i just said no we have him inside at night and out side in the day since he likes to go in his kiddie pool. the cat pretty much ignores him and keeps to himself but he is doing great at night. only a few barks since the cat likes to sneek up and bother him.