We had a large Bitsa dog with a barking problem and our neighbours also complained. We hired a citronella collar from the council. It was a few years ago, so I can't remember how much it cost, but it was cheap and the refill cans of citronella were not expensive either. Basically, the collars sprays citronella under the dog's snout each time they bark. the dog doesn't like the smell so they make the negative association between barking and citronella and they stop barking. In theory. Our dog didn't mind the smell at all and he had emptied the collar within about 10 minutes. He went through two large refill tins in a day and a half. I have heard people say the collar was effective, but it didn't work for us. Maybe see if your council or local vet has any to hire rather than buying one.

We also tried Bark Busters. It was expensive as we actually had two dogs and you have to pay for both of them even though only one dog exhibited problem behaviour. From memory, it was about $600 for both dogs for 'gold' membership. The theories were all good, the trainer was lovely, we certainly learnt to better understand the dogs' behaviour... but it didn't fix the barking of our big dog. In fact, it didn't fix any of his problem behaviour (oooh... he had LOTS of problem behaviours!).

Finally, we put the dog on Valium as a last ditch effort. Started on a low dose and built up to maximum dose. Didn't fix the barking. At all.

Our neighbours were very patient, but they were fed up and quite honestly, so was I. DH was devastated as the big dog was really his dog and DH loved him. We were unable to change the dog's behaviour and he was not suitable to rehome. When I had my second child he began showing jealous and aggressive behaviour and ultimately we had to have him put down.

I'm NOT suggesting you will need to have your new boy put to sleep, but perhaps the vet would be the best place to start for advice? Do you know the dog's history? Has he always barked? Bark Busters didn't work for us, but I believe they have a really good success rate. Good luck.