Neighbour and barking dog

zebidee1

The people next door to us are an elderly couple. The old gent doesn't keep well and is in hospital just now. He's been in and out for some time.

The lady is out of the house a lot, both during the day and also during the evening till maybe 9.30pm a few nights a week.

They have a dog which is left on it's own and barks constantly. I dont mean barks for a while then stops and starts again, I mean constantly. I have no idea how the animal still has a bark left.

We've put up with the noise for ages but for one reason and another, I am really stressed just now and I just cant deal with the constant barking anymore. We have a dog ourselves so I appreciate that they are not robots you can switch off, but something needs to change soon otherwise I'm going to find a nice sanitorium to sign myself into!

I also cant deal with any kind of confrontation right now so I dont want to go and try to talk to the lady about the dog. (I did once ask her to turn down her tv as she used to have it blaring during the middle of the night and she apparantly told another neighbour that she was offended and that no one had ever told her she was making too much noise before.)

I would have considered taking the cowards way out and slipping a polite note through her door, but (and I promise you this is not a joke) she is a psychic and I'm sure she would know it was me anyway.

Please dont wisecrack about how she should know her dog is barking....I'm at my wits end here and I need more than jokes.

I also dont really want to get involved with them and offering to watch their dog etc is not something I would consider, given all that is going on with us right now.

I dont see any solution to this but I thought I'd post just in case someone had a good idea.

The neighbour on the other side is a young girl who is out herself constantly so she isn't bothered, and another neighbour who is bothered, wont say anything either.

WeirdoMagnet

The local dog warden might have a word with her, and/or Environmental Health at the council will help if you badger them enough. There's a bit of info here.

Good luck - we used to have noisey nuisance neighbours, so I know how you feel.

Georgie

ETA: The neighbours' dogs barking won't be helping with Harleys nervousness either, I hope you get it sorted ASAP.

tomstickland

You won't be able to improve the situation unless you speak to your neighbour. It doesn't have to be a confrontation. You need to think about it for a good while, rehearse what you are going to say so you can pretty much say it without thinking.

but (and I promise you this is not a joke) she is a psychic and I'm sure she would know it was me anyway.

She doesn't need many psychic powers to narrow the note down to two neighbours.

Having a dog that barks all day is essentially selfish behaviour.

zebidee1

I know I need to, but I just cant face the conversation or the resulting bad feeling.

tomstickland

You need to be firm on this. Do you want to sit there for another 6 months with a dog barking all day? How about counting the number of barks in one typical day? If there's a problem your neighbour needs to know about it.

WeirdoMagnet

zebidee1 wrote: »

I know I need to, but I just cant face the conversation or the resulting bad feeling.

I hate confrontation. I could rant all day about something behind closed doors, but in this sort of situation I'd get all tongue-tied, can't think of the right thing to say etc etc.

This might be a rubbish idea, but how about making it sound like you're enquiring after their dogs' health "Oh hello Mrs Bloggs, how are you? And hows' Buster - he seems to have been barking non-stop recently, is he OK?". OK - it is a rubbish idea.

zebidee1

Actually Georgina, I did toy with that idea but I thought it would just go over her head and she would just say 'yes thanks, the dog's fine'. Lol.

Tom....I'd lose count before I got a total, lol. I've been trying to gee myself up for days to broach the subject with her, but my bottle hasn't just gone....it smashes to smithereens as soon as I see her.

'Hello, my name is zebidee, I am a complete coward and an issue avoidance expert'. Is there a support group.....?

Holli

Try and suggest your neighbour gets an Aboistop collar available from vets or
on-line pet shops. The collar has an harmless spray on the collar which is triggered when the dog barks & reduces barking quickly in most cases. Is very effective and totally harmless to the dog. Highly recommended for noisy dogs.

The dog warden would also visit without mentioning who made the report.

misty

I had this with a neighbour at my old house. The bottom of their garden backed on to the bottom of mine and their dog yapped all day long. I asked her to keep it in a bit more and she said I can't - when I asked why she said I can't then admitted she didn't want to! One day, she was in the front garden and the dog yapping in the back - she didn't even come through once to quieten it - let alone take in th front with her.

I asked her several times to keep it quiet and she said - it's a dog - dogs bark. I said they don't bark all day unless they are neglected and she was indignant. Eventually, I said I would phone the council unless she shut it up - she said do what you want.

They made no effort to keep it quiet and I contacted the council - they sent me a sheet to fill in about when it baked and for how long. They sent them a lettter saying they had received a complaint and would monitor the situation - which may include listening to the dog for themselves - and if they felt there was a case they would prosecute them. They did keep it a lot quiter after that and that if they received a complaint again they would take it to the next stage which was (can't remember what)

Contact the local council - noise pollution - I gave my name and told the neighbour I'd done it but they did give you the option of keeping your name anonymous I think - you may have to give it but they won't pass it on to the person your complaining about.

WeirdoMagnet

That's what happened with us Misty.

Whilst I would not normally advocate spray collars, the trouble with them in this instance is that the spray would soon run out, and the dog learns that after a while the spray stops.

Zebidee - I don't know if there is a support group, but if there is, I'll join it!

suki1964

If you really feel you cant speak to her face to face, write her a letter