By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
Everybody has a barking dog story.
Maybe you had a neighbor once who left their terrier outside all day while they went to work. Maybe you had a neighbor once whose Chihuahua loved to serenade the neighborhood from their balcony in your apartment complex. Or maybe—and it's just as likely—you own a dog that annoys all your neighbors with its constant barking, but for some reason you choose to ignore it.
Whatever your barking dog story, if you're on the receiving end of an excessively barking dog you've probably thought a fair amount about how to fix the annoyance. Because you're not psychotic, you hopefully decided against throwing dog treats laced with sleeping pills over your neighbor's fence in an attempt to get some shuteye. It's OK to consider it, but it is absolutely not OK to drug your neighbor's dog! (Just a piece of helpful advice from your friendly neighborhood reporter.)
Perhaps you tried to address your barking concerns with the owner of the dog. Maybe when you talked to them they were apologetic and didn't realize you were disturbed. To remedy the problem, maybe they decided to take the dog out for a long walk each morning, tiring him out enough that he slept most of the day, or maybe they bought a bark-control collar. If this is the case, then congratulations! You live among people who are considerate of their neighbors.
However, it seems that often reality is not so easy. Barking dogs often create tension between neighbors, which can lead to discontent and a lack of cooperation throughout the neighborhood. If you have a problem with your neighbor's dog, make sure you address it in a straightforward and humble manner. Don't assume you know anything about this dog or your neighbor's situation.
On the other hand, if you're the dog owner, be patient and understanding. Realize that you live in a city and sound carries. Be willing to take action to control your dog's barking.
All of this sounds simple, but as evidenced from years of dog barking complaints in our local communities, it's clearly not. Barking dogs have been a contentious issue in Medical Lake for years, and they're not the only community with a problem.
I recently spoke to a couple of Cheney folks who had issues with barking dogs in their neighborhood. With the proposed changes to Cheney's noise ordinance, they wanted to know if the city could get tougher on controlling barking dogs.
They said that they've reported excessive barking to the police, but that the response didn't change anything.
The folks I talked to are retired, so they hear dogs barking during the day as well as at night. Barking dogs are included in the list in public disturbance noises in the noise ordinance, and frequent, repetitive, or prolonged barking at any time of day or night is considered a violation.
The ordinance in Cheney doesn't seem to be the issue here. It could be that the folks I talked to didn't report the disturbance regularly enough for the dog owner to be ticketed or it could be that the ordinance relating to barking dogs has more bark than bite (dog pun intended). Either way, I think a little communication between neighbors could go a long way to improving the dog barking problem in our communities.
That, or everybody just adopt an indoor cat.
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