How can I stop my Springer from barking at the neighbour?

I am finding this is a difficult thing to over-come.

My neighbour attached to me is no problem and my dog does not bark at her when she is in the garden. However my other neighbour is a horrid man and my springer seems to thing so too because as soon as he comes out of his house to either go to his car or bin our boy will stick his hair up and growl and bark at him.

We have told him to be quite and don't let him out as often as we used to (no longer use doggie door) but Harley just doesn't like the neighbour.


I have been wondering whether to use a muzzle as punishment for him????

I wish to stop this dead as I want to bring up a good dog (we have brother and sister ESS which are 19 months old).

I do not however want to stop his baarking completely and don't mind it when he barks at the window cleaner as he is just protecting his home.

I am not able to approach my neighbour who Harley barks at as we are not speaking as the man has had a complaint from the local authority about his collies constant barking and he is accusing me of it.

In the summer (also when I have more money) we are going to higher our fences to the legal height of 6ft, therefore hopefully our dog won't be able to see the neighbour as much. Also the neighbour after receiving his complaint seemed to aggrivate our dog more by going to his bin several times an hour and banging it and whistling....thus annoying our dog even more.

Any ideas what I can do????

Don't punish him as he won't associate that with the behaviour. You need to reward him for the correct behaviour Are you sure your not just noticing it more? I would try and get your neighbours cooperation to get your dog used to them by them rewarding and giving treats when he is quiet.

Luchi went through a stage of barking at neighbours. For her the remedy was quite simple because she is a greedy guts.

When she barked I would show her a tasty treat, and say quiet (not loudly). she stops barking because there is food, I give her the treat.

Eventually she thinks the word quiet means here is a tasty treat and would just stop barking and walk over to see what I had.

I now just have to stand at the door, say quiet, and she will come over and follow me to the kitchen for her treat.

In the process of phasing out a treat every time, but she responds very well.

Think it also had a secondary effect because she hardly ever barks at anything now, even when next doors dog is barking, Probably feeding her when she stopped barking was also reinforcing her to be quiet. It worked for her this way because she is very food motivated, but I expect toys and a game would work just as well.

Some dogs enjoy a good bark though which can be self reinforcing. The trade has to be something better.

Thanks for that.

Harley likes his food but likes his toys even better, so we have a few sqeaky bits from his toys in the kitchen so if we want him in quick or if we want him to stop his barking then we sqeak them and he comes running and then we reward him with a small chew.

Its just very strange that its only that one neighbour he doesn't like, he never barks when I open the door to strange visitors either but his sister will.

We are wondering if the man has annoyed him and he just doesn't like him anymore.

Wether you like the man or not, he has a right to be in his garden - and whistle and empty his bins - without your dog barking at him.
Get your dog in every time he barks. Your dog will soon cotton on.

Meg is the same,
She only has to hear our neighbour and she raises her hackles,growls and barks, he is the only person she does it to.

I haven't corrected the behaviour and have no intention of doing so,they show us no respect whatsoever,I have also caught him shouting at her,before I got outside he had got into his van and driven off
I feel she is picking up negative vibes from him and our first conversation was about our dangerous dogs

Good advice has been given about correcting the barking though

Thanks Sal for the understanding, you might have the same silly neighbour then!

I am trying to be a responsible dog owner but our dog also has the right to be in his own garden and I have a right to sit in my own garden without hearing the mans dog barking and without fear that the man will have a go at me.

This man has verbally abused me at the school, accused me of reporting his dog to the council which I have not done (although it has barked uncontrollably when they have gone out for over 6 yrs now, been left outside without shelter in the rain and wind also). It seems strange that on the day that they received the letter that he insisted on going to his bin over 10 times in one hour, look over our fence whilst doing so. He has also been seen looking through a lower part of our fence and making the dogs bark. He has also shouted at our dog.

I do wonder if Harley is feeling the vibes that we do not like this man as he doesn't bark at our other neighbour.

I have tried shouting him in, keeping the dog door closed and only letting him out for a wee, being out there with him, whistling him, trying to bribe him with food.

it does seem as if your dog is picking up on the general atmosphere?
as you are both complaining about each others dogs for the same reasons (barking and upsetting the neighbour), you may have issues in common?
can you draw a truce and sit down and thrash out your misunderstanding and try to come to some sort of accomadation?

also, is your dog confused by mixed messages if you try to stop him barking at your neighbour yet encourage him to bark at the window cleaner?

I don't really see that our dogs have anything in common. My dogs are 19 months old and bark to protect our property as you can tell the reaction of him with his hair up and his stance.

My neighbours dog is bored crazy, it is a collie which doesn't get walked and is shut in a small garden, I am afraid I don't even think the dog is aware of its own barking as it a monotinous bark and it does it everytime the neighbour goes out, this has been happening since they moved in 6 yrs ago.

I wish to be a responsible owner as our last ESS never barked like this and my dogs sister does not bark either (maybe its a boy thing).

I have spoken to the neighbour once in the school yard and asked nicely if it is possible to keep the dog in if they are going to be out for long as in the summer I am unable to have my doors and windows open, this mad the man wild and shouted abuse at me and has thus accused me of reporting him for which I did not, but I do know who it was.

I do wonder if the man has annoyed our dog just to be childish and thus Harley hates the guts of him.

As for the window cleaner...I DO NOT encourage him, but I will not tell him off just reassure him that we know the man as I wish for Harley to bark at anyone who ever tries to gain access to our property or land. He barked once at a man up a telegraph pole outside our house so I reassured him and took him outside to see what the man was doing.

I have tried to be grown up about the neighbours dog barking and approach him and not send him annon letters like some neighbours have but unfortunately this man does not want a conversation.

if it were me, i would just ignore his barking dog, as it seems there is nothing you can do about that situation, and if you act on it anyway, it will just give him the ammunition he needs to "prove" his suspicions you reported him. which ups the tension level, which may make your dog worse around him.
so, from that POV, i would just focus on what i can control, that being how my dog feels around this man.

so preempt as many situtions as you can whereby your dog sees/hears/encounters your neighbour and go all silly and cheery with your dog, play a game, do tug of war, ply him with treats, speak silly.