Sir, Over the years, this newspaper has published scores of letters on the subject of dog fouling, but hardly mentioned the nuisance caused by barking dogs.

It’s a beautiful July morning on the South Beach, the sun is twinkling on the water and a pair of dogs are barking furiously for their owners’ attention while they conduct a lengthy conversation, completely oblivious to the nuisance caused to other beach users.

Fast forward to the evening - families are enjoying barbecues, locals are relaxing after work and dogs are barking for their owners to throw the ball.

I’m a dog owner and know that the most effective way to train a dog is by reward. You reward good behaviour and don’t reward bad behaviour. The person who throws the ball for the barking dog is unwittingly rewarding that dog’s bad behaviour. A better strategy is to make the dog sit quietly for a few seconds, then reward it with the ball. You could train a dog to do this in a couple of sessions and it might give the rest of us some much-needed peace and quiet.

Penally resident,

Name and address supplied