How to have a good dog in your backyard
If you have a neighbor whose dog barks, sorry, there really isn't much that you can do. I have just such a neighbor in this quiet neighborhood, and when I speak to him, nicely, his dog quiets down right away. But it starts right back up again very soon. He's a day sleeper, and he tells me that he literally doesn't hear his own dog barking in his backyard. I know that he has tried to teach the dog not to bark so much, including a training collar, but it sounds like it has been a failure. I hope that he keeps trying, because he can be successful.
You can successfully combine a beautiful backyard with a dog. If you have a nurturing personality for plants, that can be applied just as well to your dog. The first thing to know is that you can exert some control. If you throw up your hands and say, "well, I guess dogs just bark, or dig", you might as well say that all you can grow in your backyard is weeds. Dogs do bark occasionally, and weeds do grow in your garden, but you can keep both of these things to a minimum.
The worst thing that you can do when your dog starts barking uncontrollably is to start shouting yourself. Dogs don't understand the words you are using, they just hear your voice joining in. The more agitated your voice becomes, the more your dog hears you saying, "Bark, bark, bark!" Dogs want to please you, but they must understand what you want. If you want quiet, be quiet. If you want a watch dog, encourage barking only when strangers approach. A dog that barks all the time is like a burglar alarm that goes off for no reason, pretty useless in calling your attention to danger.
By the way, the dog that I live with, a dachshund, is a breed that was bred specifically to dig and to bark very loudly. She was very, very difficult to train, but we did it, with love, encouragement, and patience. Just like growing a garden. And the reward is pure joy.
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