Advice about noise

pianistdave

I moved into my current house last year and am getting increasingly frustrated by the noise from my next door neighbour's dogs. She has two: both bark loudly at various times of the day, and quite excessively when she goes out to work (and leaves them all day), although they do calm down when she's driven off. Sometimes the larger of the two will bark when she hears noises outside, but this isn't consistent. The smaller, yappy dog, barks a lot in the evenings at what seems like nothing. I can hear my neighbour telling it to shut up but nevertheless, the noise is really annoying. Both will bark as soon as they hear a loud noise or if someone comes to the door.

I have chatted briefly to her once or twice and she has asked if the dogs are disturbing me, but in the interests of keeping a good relationship, I've just said it's fine. Mostly, if they're barking, I just put music on or turn the TV up, although she does start work at 7 some days and this sometimes wakes me up.

My real issue is that one of the dogs has a squeaky toy, and it's driving me mad. The barking is sporadic, but the toy is constant and as the walls are quite thin (1915 house), I can hear it really loudly through the wall. Today it woke me up at 6.10 (our bedrooms share the party wall and the dogs are clearly in there). It's like nails on a blackboard - how she stands it all the time, I've no idea. The other day the dog was in the garden with it and I had to go inside in the end.

Do I speak to her about it? The thing is, if I can hear that, what can she hear from me? For all I know, my walking on wooden floor or playing music - or even talking to friends who come over - is just as loud, although again, it's not all the time. There are periods where the noise stops for a few days - probably because the toy's been worn out - but clearly a new one gets bought pretty quickly.

I'm very nervous about speaking to her - not least because I don't like confrontation! - but because the last thing I need is a broken relationship with a nextdoor neighbour. At the same time, I'm not sure how much longer I can stand to hear it.

Any advice would be great, thank you

REEN

Looking forward to reading replies to your post, the two dogs next door are a right pain. 4AM they started one day last week! They are defending their new property I know but one in particular seems nasty. He barks and growls when the children on the other side play in their garden, he scratches and bites at the fence as if he is trying to get at them. Luckily he is only little, a Westie I think. His pal joins in when he starts but doesn't seem as bad tempered.

Chanes

If you do not speak to your neighbour she will not know there is a problem and will do nothing.

You could drive yourself into a depression and could become entirely irrational if you start obsessing over the noise.

It is your home!

To conclude - speak or suffer.

paddy's_mum

pianistdave wrote: »

she has asked if the dogs are disturbing me....I've just said it's fine.

Any advice would be great, thank you

Why on earth did you say nothing when she had specifically asked you if there was disturbance? That was your opportunity to politely speak up! She probably now believes that your tolerance level for noise is higher than perhaps previous neighbours had displayed and that, for you, the barking was not an inconvenience at all.

My advice now, since you specifically ask, is to either raise the subject face to face if you see her in the garden perhaps or drop a very polite note saying that due to the hot weeks we have recently had, with the windows/doors open and more time out in the garden, you now find that the dogs are making far more noise than you had first realised and that you would welcome her suggestion as to how she intends to reduce it.

It might be that you suggest that giving the dogs great lumps of rawhide chewbone would be less disturbing than the constant squeal of squeaky toys.

You may dislike confrontation but that is where you will end up if you don't find a courteous, 'normal people' way to communicate your growing frustration and rage.

Good luck.

stator

If she is a decent human being then she will not be upset if you ask her to replace one of the toys that is causing a particularly annoying noise.

About the barking you can only really insulate your property against noise internally.

phil24_7

Ask her over for a cuppa and some biscuits.

Get to know her a bit, know her circumstances a bit and what kind of person she is. Once you have chatted for a while say there is something you have been meaning to say but you have been a bit shy about it.

Say that you know dogs make noise and that on the whole you are okay with it but that you seem to have worked yourself up a bit over 1toy in particular and would she mind replacing it with something quieter.

Keep it polite and amicable as it doesn't sound like it is her fault really. You have previously said you ere fine with the noise from her dogs and I do suspect that the noise from the toy is not as bad as you think, but you have wound yourself up about it trying to be a good neighbour and now probably listen for it.

JakiT

Difficult one, Dave. Having had problems with neighbours before I know how easily it is for ill will to set in. Like you I once had neighbours who asked if their music was a nuisance and we said 'no' because it genuinely wasn't and so after that the neighbours turned their music up loud! We didn't mind so much at first because we liked to play our music loud sometimes in those days but then they started playing it loud through the night so we had to act on it! They were very approachable and apologetic but not all neighbours are. But I think if you don't approach her, she won't know! We also had dog noise from some other neighbours, barking etc but these neighbours weren't looking after them properly and they were shut in all the time. Again it was two dogs and this often happens, one dog will start the other off.

I think you could approach it by asking your neighbour first if she can hear your noise e.g. your music. This may be something that bothers her for all you know. By considering her needs first that will show her you're considerate. This should also give you an opportunity to talk about the squeaky toy. Of course, she may be respond by saying your noise doesn't bother her, in which case you will have to think of a way to lead into a discussion about noise in general e.g. noise travelling more in the summer when windows are open etc and hopefully you'll have an opportunity to bring it up.

Best of luck anyway.

bmthmark

You could go on a secret mission to try and get the squeaky toy and destroy it (the toy not the dog). Or you can just speak to the neighbour with your concerns

Zola.

Talk to the owner?

Kiran

As everyone else says, you'll need to speak to the owner. There isn't a cost effective soundproofing solution you would be able to implement if that was the kind of thing you were looking for. Getting a dog to stop barking is a tricky one too, but at least you should be able to get the squeaky toy out of the equation. It's a small win!