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How to Muffle Dog Barking in an Apartment
We love our furry friends, and we’re sure you do too since over 85 million families in the United States have a pet per the National Pet Owners Survey of 2019-2020. While our cats like naps and feather toys, our dogs like to run around and bark to show their affection. If you’ve ever googled “How to Muffle Dog Barking in Apartment,” then this is for you.
When it comes to living with our four-legged canine friends in multifamily buildings, barking can create a hassle with neighbors, or even within the apartment if an infant or young children need their peaceful sleep. We have some helpful tips for homeowners living in apartments who want to learn how to muffle dog barking and create a quieter atmosphere.
Purchase Soundproof Crate Covers and Crate Absorption Sheets
The first thing to try before changing your apartment is to change the dog’s environment.
Soundproofing a dog crate is a way to reduce noise levels in your home, not only in regard to your dog barking but also for keeping your dog safe and relaxed during loud events such as fireworks, storms, and parties.
A soundproof crate cover or crate absorption sheets will help absorb barking noise by reducing the intensity, but it will not silence it completely. Silencing completely would create an overly hot and uncomfortable environment for your dog.
Most crates can be transformed easily with little to no effort, or you can even purchase crates that have been specifically made with soundproofing properties. Those tend to have a hefty price tag though, so be sure you know your budget beforehand.
If soundproofing your dog’s crate doesn’t help, try modifying your apartment instead.
Add Carpet
While we find our dog’s pitter patter on hardwood floors to be cute, your neighbors below you might not agree. Carpet, rugs, and sound dampening pads are great additions to apartments to help absorb sound.
Not only do these materials lessen the sound of racing footsteps and barking, they also minimize the echo and absorb the noise of falling objects from a case of the zoomies or a curious sniff session.
The thicker the carpet, the better sound absorption they can provide. There are even options that are specifically designed for soundproofing. These options are usually denser than typical carpet and rugs, often made with rubber and/or felt backings.
Decorate With Bookcases and Paintings
Bookcases and paintings are a fantastic solution for both interior design and for muffling the noise coming from your apartment.
Adding shelves upon shelves of heavy books is a fairly effective way to create a sound barrier. When combined, shelving units and books create a thick barrier that sound has a harder time penetrating, essentially providing a second wall to your apartment. If you find yourself with numerous neighbor complaints about your dog, this is a great choice.
If you choose bookcases as a soundproofing option, purchase extra tall bookcases (5 shelves or more) and fill them as full as possible. You can get creative with eclectic, unique bookcases, but a traditional wooden bookcase works best for ultimate sound stoppage.
If you’re not too big of a bookworm, consider adding heavy paintings and interior art. These also work as a sound barrier, making it harder for dog barks to penetrate through your walls.
Install Acoustic Panels
Acoustic wall panels are great for soundproofing a room. It is a little bit of a larger project because you have to hammer or drill holes into your walls to hang the panels, so definitely check with your landlord before you move forward with this suggestion.
While the panels themselves are affordable and fairly easy, they do need to be installed carefully. If you don’t like the fabric they come in, you can acquire additional fabric to cover them to match your home’s aesthetic or to meet your personal taste. The dollars can add up on this project, so go in prepared and stay firm to your budget.
Add Door Sweeps
One area of your apartment that lets out a lot of barking noise, but is often overlooked, is your front door. The tiny gaps around the door’s edge and the space underneath can let out a lot of noise, letting your dog’s barks echo throughout the hallway.
Noise can also resonate through the door’s core if you don’t have a sturdy door, which is likely because most apartment doors are hollow to save on costs. Your landlord probably won’t let you replace your hollow door with a solid, heavy-set door, so your next best option is to purchase an acoustic door seal kit.
You attach it easily to your current door, and the door sweep works to eliminate the gaps around the door’s edge to prevent noise transfer.
If you don’t have the funds to purchase a sealing kit, a budget-friendly option is to use pipe insulation foam and apply it to the base of the door. You can combine this with some weatherproofing strips and create a fairly decent soundproofing seal.
Install Soundproof Window Inserts
Soundproof window insertswill not only muffle the dog barking from your apartment, but they will also stop the sounds coming in from outdoors that might irritate your dog like other dogs barking, cars passing, people shouting, or late-night trains.
Indow inserts don’t damage the existing window when you install them as nothing is bolted to the wall. This makes them a great choice for renters because it leaves zero damage and it’s very likely that landlords would approve this upgrade. Indow window inserts make noise-canceling easy without the hassle and expense of installing soundproof windows.
When you install Indow custom-made, sound-reducing window inserts, you can sleep soundly without worrying about what the neighbors are thinking, leaving you with more playtime, cuddle time, and hanging on the couch with your four-legged friend. Check out all of the options Indow offers and get a free estimate today.
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My home is about 500 ft. from an interstate highway and had been looking for a solution to reduce the highway noise, especially 18-wheeler truck noise all night long. What pushed me to finally make a decision was the 9 month highway repair project with trucks moving back and forth with their loud beeping when going in reverse (every 20 seconds) all through the night, every week night. I opted for the acoustic inserts, which took 3 months to receive from the time of my order. I was not happy about the 3 month waiting period. I was very timely with measuring the windows which included an arched window which I had to trace. The measurement process required 10 hours of time, most of which was the tracing (including time and cost to make several trips to buy materials for this). When they finally arrived, I installed the inserts and had approximately a 30% reduction in decibel levels. After nearly $5,000 in costs, I was hoping to have had better noise reduction.