Ever wondered how to stop dogs barking? This short article will tell you how, and two different solutions.
Stop Dogs Barking
If there’s one thing I know from living in Asia as a digital nomad it’s that people do little to control the stray animal population with neutering, animal adoption services, or animal control. That means you’ve got a choir of barking dogs and cats in heat around you at all hours of the day and night. Which can make sleep, concentration, or work virtually impossible.
Solution? A dog whistle. Or more specifically, a 15,000 Hz – 20,000 Hz tone on a free MP3 or MP4 file will stop dogs barking, almost instantly. Or a standalone device you place outside your home that automatically turns on when it detects a stray animal.
In this article I’ll show you how to stop dogs barking for free with an MP3 file over a laptop or Bluetooth speaker, or with a motion detector device that you put outside your home which emits ultrasonic sounds when it senses an animal nearby.
Both solutions are very effective, however I’d recommend a standalone device because it’s less annoying to operate and is fully automatic.
Related: How to Become a House Sitter
1. Stop Stray Dogs from Barking with a Free MP3/MP4
I love dogs and grew up with them my whole life –well-behaved dogs in a Canadian suburb. Stray dogs are also incredibly loveable and often better behaved than those in captivity (read: owned). I’ve only met one dog that ever made me feel threatened in all my years on the road, so for me, it’s important to use a solution that doesn’t cause harm.
I used to use a dog whistle app to stop dogs barking, but few work when the lock screen is activated or allow you to use them over a Bluetooth connected speaker through your smartphone. And on Android, dog whistle apps to stop dogs barking are often rife with malware.
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The Free Solution
For testing purposes, I suggest you try both a 15,000 Hz tone and a 20,000 Hz tone on YouTube first to see which one works better for you. I tend to alternate between the two depending on the dog, as every dog is different.
After that, you could rip and download an audio MP4 of either tone using a service like YouTubNow and create a playlist on your smartphone for quick access –set it to loop, and you’re good to go.
To avoid any possible issue with copyright infringement I won’t share an MP3 here, although it is my understanding that these frequencies are not subject to copyright. I am not suggesting anyone break any laws in their respective countries.
These tones will both stop dogs barking and fighting cats (or those trying to do the dirty in your ceiling when you’re trying to sleep). These tones are an annoyance at best and they’ll usually just leave the area.
2. Stop Dogs Barking with a Cheap Motion-Activated Device
I mostly live in the Philippines these days, and on my last trip to Canada I bought several motion-detecting ultrasonic devices to ward off stray barking dogs.
They work automatically and are solar powered, which is a huge help. I don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night and run a YouTube clip or queue up my dog whistle MP3 on a Bluetooth speaker anymore.
I strongly recommend you pick up either of these to stop dogs barking.
These are the best ones I tested, the first one is a handheld device and the following devices are solar powered for outdoor use;
Additional Notes
The 15,000 Hz tone to stop dogs barking may be audible by adults, the 20,000 Hz tone probably won’t be so the latter is probably more discreet. Both tones can be heard by young children and teenagers.
Article update: If there are babies present, I suggest you avoid using either tone or keep them away from them. In these cases, I find a 60hz tone works amazingly well and it won’t be detectable to most humans. Try it out for yourself, it may actually work better.
These tones won’t cause physical harm, however some may cause distress to a baby and that’s not the intended use of this information. Our ears lose sensitivity over time which is why adults often won’t be able to hear these tones and a child or teenager might.
I’ve found that these tones will usually stop dogs barking within 30 – 60 seconds and they work most of the time. The only time they don’t is when a barking dog is tied to a pole on a short leash and can’t leave (which is incredibly cruel on the part of the dog owner and sadly common in Southeast Asia). In these cases, relocate –the dog’s already got problems.
I hope this solution helps you sleep better or get more done during the day! Did this travel tip work for you? Let me know in the comments.
Related: While you’re here, why not learn how to get an online job?
These frequencies are used on us, too! (Bonus reading)
Hey! Still reading? Now that you know what a dog whistle sounds like (harder to hear the older you are), did you know that your devices –laptops, smart phone, smart TV (any thing “smart”, really) –are talking to each other using a similar sound frequency? That’s right. You’re not going crazy, you hear it sometimes if it catches your ear the right way.
Here’s a few news sources that have reported on it:
- Your Phone Is Listening—Literally Listening—to Your TV – The Atlantic
- Beware of ads that use inaudible sound to link your phone, TV, tablet, and PC – Ars Technica
- How to Block the Ultrasonic Signals You Didn’t Know Were Tracking You – Wired
These signals aren’t just linking your profile to your own devices, it’s linking your profile to those around you. Sitting next to a terrorist in a bar unbeknownst to you? How about visiting your mistress 3 times per week? They know. And yet, no one seems to mind.
Some say it’s making the bees screwed up, others blame it for making babies cry due to their sensitive ears.
What do you think?
15 comments
So glad to have read your article although it has been after hours of similar research.. i’ve got some real problem neighbors with three dogs living below me Most interesting to note that you are in the philippines and so am i , formerly from toronto ontario canada. Have you found anywhere in the philippines to purchase the items you describe? I am in angeles pampanga
Ha! That’s cool. I’ve not yet purchased one of these, I just put my Bluetooth speaker outside and use an old smartphone to play the tone on repeat. Have you checked Shopee? That website is magical.
Thanks for stopping by Allan! I guess we’re neighbors. Tagay!
Thanks for this! After a year of insomnia, seeking a solution. This is possibly one part of: figure out how to use IFTTT and an old Amazon Echo to detect barks from just over the other side of a brick boundary wall where my neighbors have a dog run for their three lil perpetually mad outdoor terriers, and trigger a recording of this soundbite to play whenever barking is detected. They stopped barking when I manually played it from the Echo speaker just now. They’re still not barking and it’s been at least two minutes. Wow. Wow.
–Homeowner sans laptop but with smartphone, in a totally-uninsulated-but-lovable shack on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places–where little can be modified, and the neighbors are nice folks and acknowledge their dogs are absolutely unwieldy… and this little town’s culture favors outdoor barky dogs, so best adapt to these little beasts within 10′ of my bed & FWIW my cat has free roam and struts atop the brick wall and taunts them, so we’re all at some degree of fault here 😂
Somehow, my last home in the densest neighborhood of our country’s second-densest city immediately next to a freeway and Level 1 trauma center hospital w/ helicopter landing pad posed no noise issues. Perhaps I’m used to city-noise, and perhaps the freeway inserted welcomed white noise. Perhaps this Amazon Echo will play a white noise soundtrack the rest of the time, because dogs (and distant coyote howls) aside it is otherwise eerily quiet in the desert.
I like the IFTTT angle, a very industrious and logical way to go about it.
And maybe the secret is more noise, as in a variety. Dogs on their own are brutal, where I am as well. Yet I never notice the roosters on the other side of our fence.
If you’re on Android there’s a nice app called Noice on the FDroid app store (free, open source). It’s a soothing white noise generator with cafe noises, or the ocean, or rain, or whatever. Sometimes I use it to fall asleep.
For those where the frequencies above don’t work, maybe it is not the dogs we must quell, but our ability to hear them. It is one of the mysteries of the universe.
Neighbor has annoying barking dogs in fenced yard that bark for no reason or anytime we move around our house. Bought a well known sonic device for dog barking. Set it 40 feet or less from dogs. Used for 3.5 weeks with no change. Whenever it detected noise it’s green indicator light came on. I tried it once on our cats to test and cats ran from it. However, did absolutely nothing on their two dogs. Returned it. Important to note that there’s about 20-25 feet from end of our drive to chain link fence where dogs located that I can’t “shrink.”
I find that these suggestions only work on dogs that aren’t chained up. If they’re on a short chain, they’re sad, and there’s no frequency on earth that will quiet their tortured souls. In Asia, some people have dogs inhumanely chained up on a short chain outside for home security and they bark 24/7.
Big sad.
If the frequency examples above don’t work for you, experiment between 12,000 HZ and 25,000 HZ. There’s a clip on YouTube for every frequency. Once you find one that works, download the audio file and get a speaker with a MicroSD card –play it on loop outside your home and it should keep dogs from barking right outside your window when you’re trying to sleep. Just be sure to keep it away from babies and chained doggehs.
Thanks. This is a great tip. I literally woke up to a pack of howling dogs where I live in India and searched for help. I’m going to try the tone next time.
No matter where I go, the tone above makes dogs stop barking –unless they’re tied up– it doesn’t help when there’s animal cruelty going on which is sadly very common in Asia.
Good luck and thanks for your comment.
Thanks there’s packing barkaholic dogs at the beach at night Playa Gigante Nicaragua
Happy you dig, Buck. Works even better with a Bluetooth speaker 😉
Never expected to see such a useful tip or tool! My experience of dogs hasn’t been as positive as yours so main need is to feel a bit more confident when I feel threatened. Doesn’t happen very often but there is one dog on my current commute here in Malaysia that puts me on edge. We will be leaving here in a month so curious to see if Bali dogs leave me reaching for this now bookmarked post! Thanks for sharing Mike (and reply Chris).
Glad you found it useful. Just be careful, in rare situations it may aggravate a dog –as I learned once on a late night walk to a 7-Eleven. But that’s 1 out of probably over 1,000. In just about every case, the dogs slowly walk away from the offending sound, not towards it. Maybe try it out on your own once or twice, it takes about 60 seconds before dogs start to take notice and walk away (which is just enough time to keep 20 feet between you and the dog when walking on foot).
You seem to know a lot about dogs I am intrigued.
I’ve tried some of these — one issue is that your speaker has to be *very* powerful to overcome the distance. A barking dog next door may hear it, but one even 50 meters away may not.
If you want to try it, however, there are some free apps on the official app stores available offline as well.
Excellent point Chris. For myself, my Oppo F3 has a great speaker for this –whereas my old iPhone 5S was slightly less effective. With just my phone, I can make the neighbors dog stop barking early in the morning.
I like using an MP3 much more than an app because it’s great to use with a Bluetooth speaker which solves the speaker output issue.