How to Be Mindful With a Barking Dog

Dogs can be trained not to bark. I need tips on how to be mindful about my annoyance with the owners of the barking dogs.

Thank you Joanne Ometz for explaining why dogs bark, how to not let it frustrate us especially with neighbor dogs at least until we calm down and make a plan to address it with them out of concern for the wellbeing of their dog/s. And hopefully the dogs and all the neighbors will reap the benefits.

But what can one do about a NEIGHBOR'S dog who sits at an open window every evening and all day on week ends, barking shrilly and anxiously at every passing dog? (And there are many in my neighborhood)

My dogs bark a lot. They seem to enjoy it. They don't seem stressed when they're barking. They seem to like to hear themselves bark. Sometimes they're communicating with unseen other dogs in the neighborhood who are also barking. Or they're protecting their territory when a stranger arrives until they feel confident that he or she means no harm. That usually takes just seconds. If I lived in town, their barking would be a problem. Out here on the outskirts, it isn't.

5 barking dogs. Next door. FIVE dogs! Who bark at everything, at nothing, at me every time I make a move. My dog is silent. After initially trying to reason with them, he now ignores them. Unfortunately I am only human. I can't seem to rise above the fact that ... I really hate those dogs.

I thank the author, David Gelles, for this article. I don't own a pet of any kind, not even a fish or a turtle. I'm allergic to cat and dog dander plus I don't want the responsibility. I read this one article on pets, nonetheless, because I realized that the author's objective was to free me from frustration when the environment provided lots of it which was beyond my control. I knew from the outset that it would be helpful with irritants other than dogs barking - and in NYC there are lots of substitutes to choose from, including jack-hammers. In the future I intend to focus my attention on the plight of the man employing the jack hammer, and how irritating using it may be. I hope I can focus on the necessity for digging up the street. I hope I can think of the good that will come from fixing the street of completing the project. ( I hope I won't become irritated with the person - usually male - who is going to make millions on another "luxury" high rise. I'll need another form of meditation for that one. )

I've been reading the "Mindful" essay titles for a while now. Not the actual essays, though. We of the bucolic hinterlands have had the benefit of mindfulness advice since about the 1830s. "How to Have a Mindful Picnic on the Prairie," is a classic (with the fabulous line: "Mind now, not to sit on a snake"). I figure the these essays are for city folk dealing with all the anxiety and stresses living squished together can bring.

But the "Mindful with a Barking Dog" grabbed my attention. The other essays dealt with experiences one chooses but can, ostensibly, improve by embracing the moment. For example, "How to be mindful when cleaning a bathroom" (probably should have read that one--the only thing on my mind is to finish up asap), or how to be mindful while drinking a cup of coffee (nailed that years ago, but if one can't relax while drinking coffee, perhaps switching to decal or at least half-calf would help). But being mindful when one is subjected to unpleasantness outside your control? Wow! Does that opens up the possibilities! I heartily encourage this shift and even have a few ideas for more essays:
How to be Mindful when
...the child next to you (not your own) is throwing a screaming fit;
...your friend is explaining the brilliance of his/her child;
...your neighbor is playing really bad, really loud music past your bedtime;
...your partner is snoring;
...kids these days won't get off your lawn
So many possibilities! And I promise I would read them all!

I was told that the number one reason for taking a dog to the pound was barking. Also, as is pointed out, barking is a result of stress but it is also a result of alarm If the dog begins to bark and then keeps it up the dog will create it own alam and stress. There are plenty of ways to reduce or stop barking. We owe it to our pals to find a way.

I try to find a modicum of tranquility when my neighbor's dog has been barking for hours and hours and hours by envisioning tying said neighbor to a chair and forcing her to listen to a recording of her dog barking for hours and hours and hours. And hours.
Helps a tiny bit.

This is nonsense. Dogs need direction. They need someone who leads. Not yelling or hitting but, they want someone to lead. Also, they want stability.
A barking dog is a nuisance and illegal. It is the dog owners responsibility to train and maintain your dog. Dogs that bark are lacking all of that and are injuring themselves with constant barking. It is a form of stress and the owner is directly responsible.

Just keep repeating to yourself - "Tranquilizer darts . . . tranquilizer darts."

Dogs bark to communicate. An incessantly barking dog is communicating its utter anxiety and unhappiness, which people understand. This is why dog barking is so irritating--much like a baby crying is. Why publish an article like this that normalizes derelict dog owners to abuse their pets in this way? There's way too much bad behavior of dog owners at the expense of neighbors as it is.

Maybe your next article in this series should be: "How to be mindful about all the mindfulness articles clogging the NYT". Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).

My neighbor's dogs are constantly barking....day & night. It bothers me because I can hear the unhappiness and frustration in their voices. They are chronically unhappy dogs, who live their lives at the end of chains. I feel sad for them.

I accept that some injustices are beyond my control, but why own a dog if you don't care about its happiness?

Up Next --->"How to be mindful with a totally ridiculous NYT story about mindfulness".

... this barking will soon pass? 8, 9, 10 hours of barking is not soon enough.

While I am a daily meditator and agree with what is written in this piece, I was reminded of the wonderful poem by Billy Collins: "Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House:" http://billycollins1.blogspot.com/p/gun.html