Dog Silencers?

[OhZark Biddies]

... Neighbor is correct, dogs will eventually become habituated to the chickens....

I think this depends on the breed and the individual dog.

I have a neighbor down the road who has an Australian Shepherd that stays in the house with him, when he lets it out in the morning, it runs down and barks incessantly at his horses for an hour or so... this has been going on for over a year.

Luckily, there is some distance between myself and that neighbor, but it's still something I do not like listening to on a nice peaceful still morning.

 

[The Moonshiner]

We have aussies, chickens and horses. Ours very seldom barked at the horses or birds. Mostly just two of them and only when they wanted to herd them.
I think it has a little to do with the breed. More so with the individual dog and the most to do with how bored or desperate they are for something to occupy themselves with.

 

[PirateGirl]

Following to hear other's solutions. My neighbor's dog barks virtually 24/7 since the day we moved in 2 years ago, before we even had chickens. Sometimes the bark echos back off the neighbors' houses, and then the dog barks at it's own echo The dog owner is hard of hearing and has hearing aids and sometimes I suspect she genuinely doesn't realize how loud and obnoxious her dog is, other times I'm sure she just doesn't care. I've finally trained the dog not to poop in my yard, but haven't figure out the barking thing.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

We have aussies, chickens and horses. Ours very seldom barked at the horses or birds. Mostly just two of them and only when they wanted to herd them.
I think it has a little to do with the breed. More so with the individual dog and the most to do with how bored or desperate they are for something to occupy themselves with.

Yep.

This dog is very sharp, but his owner isn't. I think it would only take a few minutes to break the bad habit, if his owner was inclined, but he isn't. He's a nice enough guy, just not inclined to spend time dealing with that issue. But he's supposed to be moving soon, so hopefully the new neighbors will have a dog that I don't have to listen to on those nice calm mornings!

But I think you're correct in that this behavior stems from the dog's baked in herding instinct, and the fact that he is kept inside watching John Wayne movies on TV for much of his day!

This might be the case with the OP's neighbor dog too, and maybe just a bit of time working with the dog to let it know that barking isn't allowed, would resolve the issue. Again it probably depends on the breed and individual. If it's a chihuahua good luck!

 

[llombardo]

Following to hear other's solutions. My neighbor's dog barks virtually 24/7 since the day we moved in 2 years ago, before we even had chickens. Sometimes the bark echos back off the neighbors' houses, and then the dog barks at it's own echo The dog owner is hard of hearing and has hearing aids and sometimes I suspect she genuinely doesn't realize how loud and obnoxious her dog is, other times I'm sure she just doesn't care. I've finally trained the dog not to poop in my yard, but haven't figure out the barking thing.

That's a hard one. I have 7 dogs. They never bark in the yard unless they are playing and bark at each other. My neighbors tell me all the time that they would never even know the dogs were there if I didn't walk them. So far they are not barking at the chickens either. Now if I'm in the yard and I leave them inside, there are a couple that will let me know I forgot them inside...lol