Responding as an owner of previously (hopefully) barking dogs - I have some input here.
My one lovely dog never barked. We live on 2 acres outside city limits and have had emu and chickens that our dog protected and only barked at mountain lions, foxes and raccoons trying to get to our other animals.
We acquired a second dog - still no barking - until we kept a friends dog for a few weeks who went overseas.
The visiting dog taught our dogs to bark and as long as we were home, we sushed them and it stopped.
Apparently, they began barking while we were away during the day and some evenings when we were out.
Not randomly, but as people and dog walkers passed our home. It took a neighbor to let us know this, and at first, it was hard for us to believe as we had taught them quite stricktly. However, we took measures: first bark collars which did not work well, then settled on bark houses that attached to our fence. It took a little while, but we are in control of that.
A second neighbor accosted us in the back yard, possibly altered, screaming and yelling that our dogs barked all night long in the back acre. We keep our dogs in at night (via locked doggie door) and we know the periods of time that were in question were not our dogs. This abuse from that gentlemen went on for some time and we KNEW it was not our dogs at that point.
We recently had a couple of notes in our mailbox about our dogs barking at night. I don't know if it was the same gentleman or not - but I have no one to contact about dates/times etc.
We are doing everything possible to eleviate the barking - however if there is a time we don't know about - we need to be informed, not accosted.
Personally, if for any reason my dogs were barking day or early evening and I don't hear it - please call me.
Leave me your number so I can give you mine. I want to be a good dog owner - but without proper feedback, it is truly sometimes hard to know if your dogs behave with you.
My first neighbor has my email and phone so he can contact me in daytime if there ever is a problem. We check in to make sure all is good.
I understand that complainers may be met with hostilty - but we are not all that way - but we do need to know the when and why our normally well behaved pets are barking.