Neighbours dog barks 10-15hrs a day a few doors down. What do I do?

LiveOnce

Hi all,

One of the neighbours a few doors down has their dog barking all night long nearly every day and it's driving me nuts.

I can't see which house it's from but I can hear the dog easily. The thing starts barking from 9pm until 8am non-stop every day and I can't sleep with this nuisance.

What do I do? No doubt the council will want to know exactly which house it is but I don't know and I can't exactly go knocking asking every house if it's theirs.

How can I approach this issue?

Fosterdog

First thing you need to do is find out exactly which house it is, shouldn't be too difficult if you just go for a quick walk down your street while the barking is going on.

Secondly, try speaking to the owner, if the dog is barking all night I would assume nobody is home otherwise they would be trying to get the dog to be quiet, possibly somebody who works night shifts if the dog is quiet all day when they are home. It is very possible that the dog has separation anxiety and the owner might not even know about it, they may genuinely be sorry and try to sort the problem.

If they refuse to do anything about it then you need to keep a diary of the noise and contact environmental health through your council, they will advise you where to go from there.

I'd imagine if it is all night every night you are not the only one complaining, speak to your neighbours too, they may already have made a complaint or at least tried speaking to the owner.

fierystormcloud

LiveOnce wrote: »

Hi all,

One of the neighbours a few doors down has their dog barking all night long nearly every day and it's driving me nuts.

I can't see which house it's from but I can hear the dog easily. The thing starts barking from 9pm until 8am non-stop every day and I can't sleep with this nuisance.

What do I do? No doubt the council will want to know exactly which house it is but I don't know and I can't exactly go knocking asking every house if it's theirs.

How can I approach this issue?

Blimey poor dog. That is not normal; barking 11 hours constantly all through the night. And do the owners not notice it?! As someone who has had dogs in the past, and who knows many people with dogs, this is not normal behaviour. Dogs usually only bark (a lot) when there are strangers about. If they are barking to THIS extent, there is some underlying reason for it.

Maybe he is never being taken out for exercise and is full of energy. It is also a sign of separation anxiety; they may be locked in a laundry room, or utility. Also it could be that they are bored, but it's weird that it's all through the night. You need to approach the neighbour (when you find out who it is!) to find out what is wrong with their dog. If it's not resolved, then yes, contact the council.

gettingready

.. or owners work nights and dog suffers from separation anxiety - they may not even be aware of the dog barking all night if they are not there

Person_one

My money's on a night shift worker too. They probably have no idea the dog is barking all night and if none of the neighbours tell them then they never will!

Find out which house, and then talk to them. If they are reasonable people they will start working on the problem. Just letting them know may well solve the issue, probably not immediately but within a few days or weeks it should start to get better. You could direct them here for some tips, a lot of dog owners who use this forum have dealt with separation anxiety.

If you don't want to speak in person in case they aren't reasonable, nothing improves and you do end up having to make formal complaints to the council, then drop a politely worded note through the door.

gettingready

My Zara was barking pretty much all day 5 days per week for 2 years and neighbours only told me as I was moving out (long time ago) - I had no idea as she was starting after I was leaving for work and knew when I was coming back so did not bark then. I was coming home lunch time to take her out and she was not barking then either. So I had no idea.

Owners may have moved into the area or had a change of jobs and work nights now - likely they have no idea poor dog is barking.

sheramber

I arrived hime one night at 10pm to find my neighbour out on the street and the dog belonging to the neighbour on the other side barking in the back garden. My neighbour told me hat it had been barking since 7pm.

Her young child couldn't get to sleep and another neighbour was very ill in bed.

They had asked the neighbour to take the dog but she denied the dog was outside- in that case what was the big, hairy thing that was leaping up and lunging at my fence?

They had called the police who arrived about half an hour later. The dog was taken in as the door was opened to the police by a glassy eyed woman.

The police left after half an hour saying that they would contact the dog warden.

The dog - a gsd- never left he garden and was shut out there for hours at a time. Poor dog was fence running on three sides of the garden as its only amusement.

Noise at night can be reported to the police but keep evidence of the occurrence to be given to the environmental heath department/dog warden at your local council

LiveOnce

Do the councils share your name to the owner if you have made a complaint? Or do they keep it anon?

Person_one

LiveOnce wrote: »

Do the councils share your name to the owner if you have made a complaint? Or do they keep it anon?

Its more that, if you are the only person who've ever said anything, and then there's an official complaint, the neighbour will probably assume its you. Whether that is a problem depends on how they react to the initial approach.

LiveOnce

The neighbour doesn't know me and we've never spoken.

Unless the council reveals it they won't know as we are few houses down. I emailed the council to keep it private.

Person_one

LiveOnce wrote: »

The neighbour doesn't know me and we've never spoken.

Unless the council reveals it they won't know as we are few houses down. I emailed the council to keep it private.

Pretty much everybody here has advised you to make contact with the neighbour and let them know about the problem.

Do you not think that would be a good idea?