dogs + fences = barking

Think about it. Neighborhoods with covenants against fences don’t have outdoor barking dogs. Is that because dogs only bark when they’re behind fences? No. It’s because the owners can’t leave their dogs outside unattended to bark and run around like crazy whenever anything touches them off.

The only neighbors I have with barking dogs are those who have fenced yards. So the solution is simple: get rid of the fences. You can’t stop people from being inconsiderate, obnoxious neighbors, and you certainly can’t stop dogs from barking (without correction anyway, which goes along with the inconsiderate neighbors), so you’d might as well remove the physical device that allows the barking to continue unabated.

Or else make a law saying dogs are not to be left outdoors unattended, whether that is in a fenced area, on a leash, or off-leash.

It must be something instinctual about dogs, but they seem to be much more prone to barking if there is a barrier between them and what’s making them bark. This can be fences, windows, doors, a leash, what have you. But confine a dog and you will make him much more defensive and bark-prone.

This is just my observation.