How is your best friend coping with all the noises from the neighbours now most are home throughout the day and not at work?
If you are noticing your dog barking more than before it could be that he is not used to the extra sounds that are coming from the surrounding homes. Remember dogs are creatures of habit and every situation, behaviour is all contextual. Why wouldn’t they be a bit stirred up right now when their week days that were usually filled with the noise of the birds only are now filled with kids playing ball, people blower vacuuming and spending time gardening. Where has this peaceful environment gone?

It’s not a time to get mad at your best friend, it’s a time to remember that dogs brains do not understand all that a humans does in the same way. They do not rationalise situations and do not know why we are all staying at home.
If your best friend is not behaving in a way you like, take a step back and say to yourself ‘How can I assist my best friend to understand the behaviour that is more appropriate’.
It’s your responsibility as the guiding light of a canine to have the communications clear to your best friend. You are the one keeping them safe in our human dominated world, do not presume a completely different species to human ‘should’ ‘just’ know how to behave.
Thinking back to humans and when one is born, what is the process for that human? Playgroup, kindergarten, junior primary school, high school, university. Even at 50 years old people are leaning every day how to cope in our world environment.
No dog is ‘Stubborn’, and No dog ‘Knows Better’. You are the Guardian and that is a big responsibility, for you must learn to communicate with your best friend to teach and train them behaviours that are appropriate for the human world.
Knowing context is so important to a canine, you as the guardian are required to assist your best friend in as many different environment contexts to behave appropriately. Asking a dog for a cued position maybe 100% given in the home with low to no distractions, now there are neighbours home making noises and lots of distractions is your best friend able to still preform the cued position for you 100%?
Perhaps its time to go back to basics with the training of the cues with your best friend to assist them to come out of this as a better version of themselves. Hey a better version of you and your best friend together!