A barking dog can sour the most convivial of neighbourly relationships, can’t it? You may not be surprised to hear that we’ve received many calls over the years seeking help for exactly that problem.

Unfortunately for the customer, the barking dog exemplifies a key limitation of sound masking: proximity and loudness. Especially when said dog is right next to the bedroom.

Actually, I have personal experience with just this problem. After many sleepless nights, I did end up having “the talk” with my neighbours. But more on that later.

The 90dBA bark

Despite the above limitation, it is possible to mask a barking dog. But the masking must be set above the hearing loss levels (around 90dBA). Not going to happen!

Yet, studies have attempted to use technology to mask the dog’s bark. Here is one example for you:

And a link to that article. You can see that the “artificial noise” peaks out at around 90dBA. Hearing loss begins to occur at 85dBA with prolonged exposure. The “artificial noise” is set at the level for which you’d need hearing protection.

Other acoustic treatments

Sometimes the best way to fix a noise problem is at the source. If the dog lives next door, then a friendly chat with your neighbour can make a change. Like my neighbour, they might not know their dog is barking. In fact, my neighbour has hearing loss and turned her hearing aids off overnight. No wonder she had no idea! A bit more training, and little Coco stopped barking. Problem solved.

However, if the behaviour of the dog cannot be controlled, sound proofing the area in which the dog is located can help reduce the impact of the noise.

In the case of a dog kennel, sound proofing the building should reduce the impact of the dog’s barks. In a domestic setting, keeping the dog inside is usually the best option.

Failing that, sadly, sometimes the only solution is earplugs!