For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 18, 2021

By the looks of it, reasoning with the owner is a waste of time!

Seriously, Mr. Bullard?

True, dogs don’t know barking annoys the humans, that they sleep at night, can’t read rules, etc, but the owner does have responsibility to TRAIN their dogs. I know some dogs simply couldn’t be trained and perhaps this dog is one of those. Possibly this is a rescue dog that the owner adopted when it was an older dog with bad habits. Etc. What I’ve learned after 30 years as a human parent to many dogs, almost all of which were adopted as grown adults, they CAN be taught. The old saying, "You couldn’t teach an old dog new tricks: is WRONG. My 8 years old chihuahua who was potty trained on puppy pads because her previous owner lived in an apartment learned to go potty outside. She also ate only fancy wet brands and I switched her to dry food – she went hungry for a couple of days before she accepted dry food – she learned eating is better than going without and wait for her fancy food. Now, a barking dog. I had a rescue who barked incessantly at everything when outside. I realized he was in a noise overload, all pumped up,, chasing all the noises. So I used the water hose for every bark he yipped that was not essential. He got the message. He now only barks when he hears someone at the front door, at the gate, someone he doesn’t know, etc. My next-door neighbor was thankful after suffering a couple of months like Phil and Georgia here. The neighbor on my other side didn’t care – they have 3 dogs that bark. With rescues, it is often people are adopting dogs whose bad habits don’t become apparent until arriving at their new homes. Too often, owners are at loss how to remedy their bad habits and simply let it go. Research or hire a dog trainer.

Just mix up some poisoned hamburger!

Our City has a barking Dog Ordinance , Bark more than 15mins , 3 complaints $50 fine after that it goes up $25. A complaint, that usually takes care of it !

Call the ASPCA, the poor thing is being abused.

Water ballons might do the trick…

That’s insensitive

Paperwork does not always help. Stricter action is nessesary, an anti bark collar!

If the dog is that close, maybe try water pistols. Give the dog a squirt every time it barks. Hopefully the beast will realize that a bark = a wet face. And no barking = no water being squirted in its face. (If you need a bit more range. They do make “Supper Soaker” water rifles.) And if Mr. Bullard complains. It will leave less evidence than a water balloon would.

Dogs are social animals. They want your attention. They WANT to please their people. But tying them up in the back yard is not right. They want to live with you. Unless he’s a guard dog (in which case, he needs training) bring this poor guy in at night. If you want a pet, it’s your duty to care for him (or her.) If you’re not willing to do that, then don’t get a pet.

go and collect for dog school, and figure out the reason for his barking

Oh, there is another barf hidden in the barks in panel 4. Appears to be on purpose instead of accidental. I wonder if the storyline coming up will explain this Easter egg.

I had that problem once. My slingshot and a few peach pits fixed it. By the third night all I had to do is open my door to make him stop.

It looks like Phil and George’s window is very close to the neighbor’s yard… Maybe a nice Super-Soaker would do the trick!

Seriously though…. A dog will bark like that when they are being neglected too much.

I looked it up and your options depend on where you live. Even filing a complaint with police or animal control often yields little to no results, especially if the dog owner is really irresponsible.

Oh well, ear plugs and exhaustion usually works for me. Poor dog probably just needs a friend. He’s all alone, imprisoned in the back yard slowly going insane. Pretty sad if you think about it.

Put a half a sleeping pill in the treat

Isn’t there an SPCA in Canada that they could have given the petition to? I’m sure that they would have seen results very quickly!

All neighbors chip in and buy a good quality bark collar, guaranteed it will do the trick.

Do Canadian cities not have barking dog laws?

As Judge Marilyn Milian on The People’s Court always says in dog bite cases, “We don’t punish the dog for doing what dogs do. We punish the humans for not controlling them.”

Time to get the splat ball gun out. What color would the dog look best decorated in?

The neighbor is a lowlife that abuses his dog.

The missing part is talking about what the dog is doing on constant barking.

Mr Bullard is quite the wise a$$

What did Phil think getting a signed petition would accomplish? If he already talked to the owner a petition signed by more neighbors would not have any effect. The owner is well aware that his dog is annoying the neighbors.

Mike Bullard had quite the media platform at that time. No doubt any such dissent was curtailed at the onset.

It’s really not that hard:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=stop+any+dog+from+barking&ia=web

I doubt he could read, either!

People are more concerned about the welfare of some filthy dog rather than that of humans.

Just call your local City Animal Human sociaty the neighbor won’t do nothing to his dog. I moved in neighborhoods that we lived next door to a dog. Whenever he/she sees me they begain barking and Growling. When I was little I have fears of dogs. Loose oned. I run by I should’nt. That don’t work move.

Coincidentally, a rerun of King of Queens I saw last night had a similar situation. Doug couldn’t get up the nerve to straighten out the clueless neighbors; it fell to Carrie to go full NYC on them.

Time for a rope, pitchforks night time visit to owner

The petition should have been given to the neighborhood representative on a city council, or the Mayor or a city manager. (Maybe they don’t have any of those in Canada, though?)

I could have told Johnny Q that he was going to get a bucket load of nasty responses! Sorry Johnny, I wasn’t fast enough!

I salute Lynn Johnston for shining light on nuisance barking. Uncontrolled barking dogs have caused me my share of sleep deprivation in the past. It’s no fun.