Neighbours dogs barking

evoke

I have two nearby neighbours who have dogs that bark at each other several time a day. The two houses are at right angles to each other with their rear gardens connected at right angles. The two dogs cannot see each other.

Sometimes the barking goes on for an hour non-stop. During the day it's less of an issue but at midnight it becomes annoying. This affects a group of around a dozen houses.

One of the neighbours is my immediate neighbour and I get on with the family very well. I don't know how to raise the issue with them.

Any advice greatly appreciated as the barking for several hours a day is really annoying!

flossiethebrave

I don't think your nice neighbours would find it unreasonable if you asked them to bring their dog in before midnight, do you?

00ec25

my council does a leafet explaining to dog owners why a dog barks and what they should do to stop it

the leaflet is available free for shoving through the relevant letter box if you do not want to tackle the person face to face - althought the latter is clearly the best way to start off

if you want to get formal then follow the direct gov guidance
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/WhereYouLive/NoiseNuisanceAndLitter/DG_10029682

harrup

Barking for an hour? At midnight?! Whoa!

You got to grab the bull by the horns and tell your neighbours that the barking has to be curtailed and addressed especially after dark.

Politely, pleasantly and firmly.

Just steel yourself and pop on over - take a deep breath and say something like:" Listen, I REALLY don't wish for us to fall out over this, but I have to appeal to you to please take some measures to intercept Fido/Rover's ( whatever the dog is called) barking sessions as they are really intrusive. I cherish you as neighbours but this prolongued barking can't continue".

Don't get embroiled into " but the other dog is starting it and mine only responds" type of discussions. And don't be apologetic either as if you OUGHT to tolerate endless barking.

We always had dogs...and neighbours. As did many of my neighbours. Excessive barking was only once an issue in our neighbourhood ( mercifully, those neighbours moved and the dog had only barked for hours to be let back into the house).

Its NEVER the dogs's fault, always the owners. Every time we brought a puppy home I trundled round to every neighbour in my street and informed them that we had a new furry family member. Requesting that if they EVER felt disturbed by my dog ( our dogs have free access to the garden and I might have gone out for a little while) to please let us know immediately.

People have a right to enjoy their free time and not to be bothered by other peoples dogs barking at infinitum. Your neighbours don't sound very considerate...or perhaps they simply think that IF it bothered you, you would tell them.

It DOES bother you.... so DO tell them. Go on! Remember - its never what you say, but how you say it.

mazza111

My neighbours' dog yaps constantly, and it does grate on ur nerves. If it happened at midnight though, I would definitely have to say something.

krlyr

Prolonged barking can be a noise nuisance and it would be a job for Environmental Health to look into/deal with. I've had problems with my own dog barking (turned out to be a health issue, thankfully barking has stopped now she's on medication) and was worried about what action the neighbours might take, I was doing everything physically possible bar quitting my job or rehoming the dog - but other dog owners who'd had similar experiences or knew the rules about the issue reassured me by saying that the main guideline would be 30 minutes of constant barking to be considered a nuisance. I assume unsociable hours, like late at night, may hold more weight to them too. You may want to keep a diary for a few days/a week before going to EH so you have something to present them, they may want to visit to assess the noise themselves (though not sure how this works with the unsociable hours issue) but they may be happy to have an informal word with each dog owner first about the issue before going down any formal route. Just don't feel like there's nothing that can be done about it, the rules around noise pollution are there for this sort of thing.

st999

My neighbour of many years sold his house and the new owner had a little yappy dog that they left in the back garden all day while they were at their work.

The fence was 6 feet high so it was untethered and every time I or my wife went into our garden it ran over to the fence and barked and tried to get into our garden.

My wife was getting afraid to go into our garden because of this as she had been attacked by a dog when she was a child.

This went on for a few days and I went to the neighbour and mentioned that the dog barked all day and he immediately started shouting at me that it was his dog, his garden and if he wanted to leave it in the garden all day he would and the dog was only trying to be friendly.

Just over the fence from my garden was a gate that I could reach and open and close it without physically going into his garden.

Next day his dog managed to escape from his garden and ran about outside all day, and it's owner had to go looking for it.

This happened every day for a week and eventually one day he couldn't find it and it was never seen or heard off again.

He could never figure out how it got out.

ruggedtoast

st999 wrote: »

My neighbour of many years sold his house and the new owner had a little yappy dog that they left in the back garden all day while they were at their work.

The fence was 6 feet high so it was untethered and every time I or my wife went into our garden it ran over to the fence and barked and tried to get into our garden.

My wife was getting afraid to go into our garden because of this as she had been attacked by a dog when she was a child.

This went on for a few days and I went to the neighbour and mentioned that the dog barked all day and he immediately started shouting at me that it was his dog, his garden and if he wanted to leave it in the garden all day he would and the dog was only trying to be friendly.

Just over the fence from my garden was a gate that I could reach and open and close it without physically going into his garden.

Next day his dog managed to escape from his garden and ran about outside all day, and it's owner had to go looking for it.

This happened every day for a week and eventually one day he couldn't find it and it was never seen or heard off again.

He could never figure out how it got out.

Naughty...

:A

suelizab

Naughty but nice

Davesnave

suelizab wrote: »

Naughty but nice

Not if it was run over, or if it bit someone's child because it was scared. Not if it ended up in the RSPCA home waiting months for a new owner.

It's easy to take a one-sided look at this issue, especially if you're familiar with the nuisance, but as someone has said, the dog isn't the one to blame or punish.

As I also have a problem in this area, now diminished, I tried to find out what would upset and worry the owner most, simply by chatting with them. Once I knew, it gave me more control when the time came to raise the subject of the dogs, which was when their owner complained to me about my 'un-neighbourly' behaviour! :rotfl:

Unfortunately, if dog owners know that their dogs are causing nuisance, you'll often find that their psychology will twist things to somehow make them the 'victim.' Because of this, reasoning with them may have little effect.

pinkteapot

In the last few weeks a dog near us has started barking incessantly during the day. I'm doing a part-time postgrad degree and study at home two days a week. I live in a detached house and the dog is several houses away, but I can be inside with all our windows closed and I can still hear it clearly. It's making it impossible to think.

I don't feel like I can say anything as I don't know the people at all and it's during the day, not overnight.

I just don't understand how dog owners can be so blinkered about the racket they're making. I don't know if the people in question are home all the time, but there's certainly been someone home at times (windows opening/closing).