Barking dog isn’t music to everyone’s ears

Kim Rothlis was shocked when she opened a recent Comstock Village Homeowners Association newsletter and read about a proposed change to the neighborhood’s covenants.

Someone in the Rockrimmon neighborhood on Colorado Springs’ northwest side wanted to make it illegal for dog owners to leave their pets outside alone. Ever.

Not in a fenced backyard. Not during the day. Not to trot down the drive to fetch The Gazette each morning.

If a dog is accompanied by its owner, some Comstock residents explained, it is less likely to bark.

“I thought: ‘Omigosh, this is just crazy,’” Rothlis said. “They put it up for a vote.”

Rothlis called the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region to check on rules about animals.

“They said dogs have to be leashed,” she said. “But there’s no rule you have to be outside every minute, in the rain and snow, at all hours of the day and night, with your dog.”

Rothlis viewed the covenant proposal, which was opposed by the association’s board, as an attempt to make Comstock “a very dogunfriendly neighborhood.”

But such a rule would bring relief to Wayne Smith, who lives in unincorporated Security, south of Colorado Springs.

Smith is frustrated that his neighbors on Holly Drive leave their dogs outside constantly.

All 12 dogs, that is.

The neighbors on either side of Smith have three dogs each, he said. Across the back fence, one neighbor has two dogs while directly behind him is a neighbor with four dogs.

“Try being surrounded by 12 barking dogs,” Smith said in an e-mail. “It is a real nuisance. And it’s all legal.

“There’s nothing like investing $240,000 into that dream house and having a glass of wine with your ear plugs in. Needless to say, ‘Ain’t America great?’”

Barking dogs are a problem across the region. The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region received 2,139 complaints in 2006, or about six a day. That’s up from 1,800 in 2002.

Experts say dogs bark out of fear, boredom or loneliness.

Whatever the reason, complaints result in a written notice from the agency followed by a formal warning if problems persist, said Ann Davenport, Humane Society spokeswoman.

The agency recommends giving a barking dog extra attention.

Hire a dog walker. Provide toys or other distractions, such as a second dog for companionship.

Other possible solutions include training, barking-dog collars, or high-tech devices that emit an ultrasonic sound to silence barking. There even is a surgical option to trim the vocal cords of nuisance dogs.

In the complaint process, the next step is a summons — if the complainant has video proof of ongoing nuisance barking or a supporting complaint from a neighbor — and a possible fine ranging from $50 to $500.

“It’s a significant problem,” Davenport said. “We’ve gotten videos of dogs barking for two straight hours. You really feel for the neighbors.”

But the process of getting a dog declared a nuisance can take months.

That’s why some resort to covenants to control neighbors’ dogs.

Moving to Comstock will not provide relief, however.

In balloting last week by the neighborhood, the idea of dog owners accompanying their pets outdoors at all times was rejected.

With about 400 of Comstock’s 600 or so residents voting, the proposal received about 50 votes, said the HOA’s administrator, Patt Webb.

“It failed miserably,” said Jim Doukas, Comstock HOA board president. “It was very restrictive. That’s why the board recommended against it.”

Comstock officials realize barking dogs are a problem, given the 50 votes the covenant received.

“It’s a huge issue, no doubt,” said Webb, the administrator. But the board prefers to let the humane society handle it.

“Loose dogs and barking dogs are a city ordinance issue and outside the covenants,” she said.

“So it already has an enforcement provision.”

Tell me about your neighborhood: 636-0193 or bill.vogrin@gazette.com

TO FILE A COMPLAINT

To lodge a complaint about a barking dog, call the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region at 473-1741, ext. 0.