While we certainly love our furry friends, we don’t always love the amount of noise they make. Whether it’s your own dog or your neighbor’s dog, a barking dog can be a pretty big nuisance. If you can’t sleep, relax, or focus due to barking dogs, check out these ways to soundproof your home against barking.
Absorption Panels for Dog Barking Noise
Dogs love being outside, and when they’re not outside they like to look out windows and pretend they are outside. When most dogs see other animals like squirrels or other dogs, or even the mail man out the window they usually start to bark. When a dog barks inside, that sound is so loud and intense that it can reverberate off the walls and floors in your house and create a bad echo.
The echo and reverberation from the sound of barking can be treated with acoustic absorption panels, or if the echo is not severe, you can likely treat it by placing more plush furniture around your house. Plush furniture can include soft couches, pillow, blankets, area rugs and even tapestries.
Absorption panels can be easily mounted on the walls to trap sound waves, reducing that echo and reverberation. They work best in a single-room space, and come in fabric-wrap or custom art finishes to match any decor.
Treat Barking Noise With Acoustical Wedge Foam
New furniture and home décor can be expensive, and so can acoustic wall panels. There are some more affordable sound absorbing materials on the market that can help to reduce the amount of noise and echo you might experience from your barking dog.
Acoustical wedge foam is the most cost-effective way to handle noise problems such as unwanted echo. Made of highly-engineered foam that reduces the force of sound pressure build up, this can be hung anywhere to easily absorb excess noise. Since acoustic wedge foam and other sound absorbing foams don’t have as high of Noise Reduction properties as fabric wrapped fiberglass panels, you’ll need to have more foam coverage than you would need with the more high-end materials.
Mask Dog Noise with White Noise Machines
Some of your neighbors might like to let their dogs hand out outside at night, and if they see or hear something, they’re probably going to start barking. If you can hear dogs barking in the distance at night, that can make it hard for you to fall asleep and stay asleep. A lot of people will use sound machines or even fans to help mask the sound.
Masking the sound of barking with white noise can help you fall asleep easier or simply drown out the distraction during the day. This white noise machine is portable, so you can move it around the home depending what room your pet is in. It offers 10 different white noise tones to fit your particular preference, and can also be used to play music.
Outdoor Soundproofing Panels for Pets
If your neighbor directly next door has a barking dog who is outside frequently, they probably get on your nerves. If there’s a fence between your properties, you do have the option to soundproof the fence to reduce the noise level from your neighbor’s barking dog.
If your fence is 6′ tall or taller (and taller than the dog), consider hanging soundproof fence panels along the height and width of the fence that separates your property. Reinforced Mass Loaded Vinyl, or Fence Blokker, is a sound blocking material that deflects and diffracts the sound from a barking dog, so you can’t hear it as much from your side of the fence.
This works the other way around too. If you have a dog who likes to be outside and they like to bark, you can be proactive and avoid any complaints from your neighbors by soundproofing the fence form your barking dog.
Soundproofing Doors & Windows From Dog Noise
If the sound of your pet barking is traveling throughout the house, consider soundproofing the doors in order to contain the noise to one space. Door sweeps can be placed underneath the door, sealing the gap between the door and the floor. Therefore, excess noise from barking cannot seep underneath it. Door seals can be placed around the perimeter of the door, sealing any cracks so that sound cannot escape.
If it’s someone else’s dog you can hear inside your house, you probably need to consider soundproofing your windows. Similarly to the soundproof fence panels, soundproof curtains are made with a layer of sound blocking mass loaded vinyl that can reduce noise coming in by about 60%-80%.
DIY Soundproofing Against Dog Barking
These tips will allow you to enjoy the company of your furry friend, or deal with a neighbor’s barking dog without a headache from the sound of excessive barking:
- Using acoustic wall panels or plush furniture to absorb the echo from your dog barking inside
- Masking the sound of barking dogs with a white noise machine
- Soundproofing your fence from a neighbor’s barking dog, or soundproof your fence from your barking dog for your neighbors
- Soundproofing windows with soundproof curtains to keep out noise from barking dogs
