Problem with Office/Dog

jimpix12

Hi All, In need of some advice please. Not sure if this is the right subforum... Anyway, I am the Director of a small UK firm and we're renting a 1st floor office. In the office below there's another company, their boss has complained twice to the landlord about the "noise" that my colleague's dog makes, apparently running around and creating lots of noise for them below. The dog is a small breed and isn't very active anyway, so at first we were somewhat unconvinced that the dog was making noise.... From then on, we agreed to put the dog in a cage whenever we all left the office... A few days later, the guy complains again to the landlord when we'd all gone to lunch and said the dog was running amok. Since it was caged, we know for sure that he's lying.

The problem is, he's a very rude, unapproachable man and has twice complained to the landlord - who I might add is a very gentle, elderly guy. The landlord has come to us twice now asking us to rectify the situation but aside from leaving the dog at home all day (unfair?) there's nothing we can do. Dog is too young to be left at home. I've requested to speak to the tosspot below several times about it, but he always ushers me away and says he's too busy, or avoids me, but is always quick to complain to the landlord.

Any thoughts?

Edit: Thanks for the advice, thread can be closed.

Cyril

Personally i'd approach the guy downstairs head on with this.

Not in a confrontational way buy just to say you understand he went to the LL and are disappointed it couldn't be resolved between you. Ask what exactly are the issues he has with the dog. Say you are at a loss to know how such a small dog is so disruptive to him through a ceiling etc etc. Put the ball in his court, tell him that the dog has to come to the office and this is non negotiable so what would he do in your shoes to help.

Depending what his attitude is like I'd also tell him you caught him out in a lie and see what he says.

He sounds a person who just wants to complain for the sake of it ( assuming we do have the full story and said small dog is not a great dane with huge feet and a very loud bark LOL )

poppysarah

Don't take the dog to work.

I don't know of anyone who takes their dog to work unless it's a guide dog.

materialgirl

poppysarah wrote: »

Don't take the dog to work.

I don't know of anyone who takes their dog to work unless it's a guide dog.

Loads of people take their dogs to work, especially people who have elderly or injured dogs that need round the clock care. I would guess inner city office buildings, probably not so much, but further out they do. I would love to take my dogs to work, but they keep each other company at home and are more relaxed at home.
:beer:

Thrugelmir

spunko2010 wrote: »

The landlord has come to us twice now asking us to rectify the situation but aside from leaving the dog at home all day (unfair?) there's nothing we can do.

Seems that the Landlord is placing the ball in your court. Suggest you leave the dog at home.

jimpix12

Thanks Cyril, will do, I'll see him later. I'll try not to mention the time I came in early one morning and saw him "making out" on the floor with his co-worker. :S And the dog is a pug.

poppysarah - you must work in a drab environment or we're just very lucky. But all of the 6 or so offices here bring their dogs in except the office below. In fact one office even has a permanent kennel. Maybe it's a country thing. I won't be changing this policy, though as I see no reason to.

mr_fishbulb

What does your rental agreement say about dogs?

poppysarah

spunko2010 wrote: »

poppysarah - you must work in a drab environment or we're just very lucky. But all of the 6 or so offices here bring their dogs in except the office below. In fact one office even has a permanent kennel. Maybe it's a country thing. I won't be changing this policy, though as I see no reason to.

I have 3 cats at work.

(Although I work from home)

If there's no sound insulation between floors your downstairs neighbour is probably rightly annoyed by the noise.

Owain_Moneysaver

Ask the neighbour to keep a log of times and dates when disturbance occurs.

Put a CCTV camera in your office with time/date stamp.

Demonstrate to landlord and neighbour that when neighbour's log says "galumphing elephants", CCTV demonstrates that pooch was asleep perchance to dream.

superted187

Why do you have a dog in the office?

The guy in the office below sees his office as a place of work, and I can understand how annoyed he'd get at hearing a dog running around upstairs. If he has clients in, it makes it that much harder for them to take him seriously if they can hear a dog running around upstairs.

The dog might be small but you'd be surprised at the noise they make. My upstairs neighbour in my rented accommodation has a small dog. I can't tell you how annoying the noise is, especially as they have exposed flooring and no carpet. It's actually one of the reasons that we are moving.

Try to understand the irritation that a dog can cause the people below you. Do you really need to have the dog in the office?

jimpix12

I went down to talk to them just now, but the tosspot below isn't in until Monday now, which is no bad thing. I spoke to his staff, they said it wasn't as bad as their boss said, but sometimes it was noticeable when we had visitors. I wasn't quite sure if that meant it was the dog apparently getting excited by the visitors, or if it was the visitors making the noise! Either way, clearly there is no insulation/underlay. Coincidentally, the last time he complained I remember we had an area meeting.

I asked his staff if he would be willing to politely discuss the matter when he returned, they said he wouldn't because he "doesn't do that sort of thing" i.e. isn't approachable?. Oh well. Thanks for the input, will probably go with the camera angle as we already have CCTV here.

Why do you have a dog in the office?

The guy in the office below sees his office as a place of work, and I can understand how annoyed he'd get at hearing a dog running around upstairs. If he has clients in, it makes it that much harder for them to take him seriously if they can hear a dog running around upstairs.

The dog might be small but you'd be surprised at the noise they make. My upstairs neighbour in my rented accommodation has a small dog. I can't tell you how annoying the noise is, especially as they have exposed flooring and no carpet. It's actually one of the reasons that we are moving.

Try to understand the irritation that a dog can cause the people below you. Do you really need to have the dog in the office?

As I have said several times, I won't be changing this policy. I have suffered at the hands of noisy neighbours before, i.e. all night parties, hottubs and I also moved recently due to noise disturbance from selfish neighbours. However there is a world of difference between that, and fabricating stories about noise disturbance.