Dog is man’s best friend. Sure. Maybe in America. Not in Kathmandu. And it surely does not feel like we’re best friends in the middle of the night. Why, you wonder? Let me tell you why, my friends. They bark. Yes, it sounds stupid to make a statement like that because, after all, they are dogs, they are supposed to bark. But you have not heard dogs barking in Kathmandu. They are relentless. And unstoppable. Even though they are quite annoying during day time, too, it’s during the night that I often dream about world without dogs. Or at least Kathmandu without dogs. They bark so much. So so so much. And so loudly. I don’t think you can even imagine that, without actually experiencing it. Sometimes I lie in bed in the evening for hours, unable to fall asleep as the dogs go on and on and on and on… Sometimes they even wake me up in the middle of the night with their loud barking. Things have become even worse now that the warm weather is here and we keep the windows open.
What I really don’t understand is: why are they barking? There is no one outside. Nothing is going on. Everything and everyone is quiet. Then one dog barks, then the other, and before you know it, half the Kathmandu’s dog population is having a very loud dog conversation. It’s insane. And so frustrating. So very frustrating when you know that you need to wake up early in the morning to go to work, and there you are, lying awake in your bed at 2:30 am imagining a mass murder of dogs. It’s horrible, I know. Makes me even hate myself a bit for thinking that way, but in times of insomnia and frustration, all kinds of things enter your mind. And it becomes even more frustrating when you realize it’s not street dogs that are barking. Not the ones without owners and no place to sleep, the ones that fight each other for food and shelter. Nope. It’s the well-fed ones in neighbors’ yards. What’s up with that? And how in the world are their owners not annoyed by their barking dogs??? Our dog had a barking spree for several days and I could not take it. I was beyond myself in frustration and anger. After that, our dog gets locked in its kennel every night to keep it quiet. Other neighbors apparently don’t feel that way. When faced with complaints about their dogs they say things like: our dog doesn’t bark after 10pm. Oh really? Did you buy it a watch so he can look up the time and go: oh, it’s 10:05, I better stop barking now, my workday is over.
I challenge you all, if you have a dog, to put it under your window at night and let it bark for hours without stopping. Let me know how you feel in the morning and whether the dog is still alive. Let the good times roll!
The Roofs of Kathmandu 
Very true. My theory is that the dog owners are so used to the racket of honking horns, that they let their dogs bark to fill the vacuum of the silence at night. ;o) Something like that anyway…
Very good theory indeed! I never thought about it in that way, but it really makes sense 🙂
right the Dogs are so terrible in the night. but why they sleeping at the day?
Yeah, that really is a bit odd… that’s a good observation.
Well,.. I miss my dog 😀
He is too lazy to bark like that, though. If he did, he would have smelled something and we’d have to wake up and follow him. Our imaginary thieves always ended up as cats. By the way, how does one make their dogs unbark? Because yes, if one barked in the community, all others sang chorus.
Well there is always a way. If you yell at the dog, and if you are a good owner who actually trained the dog, the dog will stop barking. If you do it for two to three days consistently, dog will learn. As opposed to doing nothing and saying: oh it’s a dog, that’s what dogs do.
You’re right. I guess we unknowingly trained him then. I think it also helped that he lived indoors. Most owners keep the kennel outside in the balcony, which makes the dog notice a lot of things and bark, I suppose?
I never noticed the dogs in Kathmandu but it sounds like a serious problem!
You are so lucky! And for some reason, it’s really gotten worse since several of our neighbors got new dogs.
i know exactly what you mean….it was hard for me to sleep the first day, so much barking god. I wish i had a solution for you..,maybe an earplugs? its uncomfortable though..
I would rather focus more on countless bright sides of Kathmandu.
I do, but i also like to focus on reality, and this is reality at the moment.
The barking chorus of dogs at nights is something I definately do not miss in Kathmandu. Nor the chorus of roosters that starts after the dogs have stopped barking. Nor the builders of the construction site that arrive around 5-6 o’clock, about the same time the roosters start.
Ah yeah, the noise pollution. I always thought that refers to cars and honking, but i actually find dogs more disturbing than cars.
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