Neighbours dog barking

Murphybear

I can sympathise because I am a bit noise sensitive.  I lived in a downstairs flat in London some years ago.  It was one of those Victorian terraces where each house had been converted to 2 flats. 

The people in the upstairs flat got a dog.  It barked and barked most of the time I was there.  I sent them a note asking if the dog was OK as it barked a lot.  I got a response along the lines of “we have it on very good authority that the dog only barks once or twice”.    Grrr …

When the agent came round to collect the rent (that’s a giveaway how long ago it was ) I mentioned the dog and a few weeks later they moved.  Apparently she couldn’t get in until they left.  She told me the dog was always left alone and had done a lot of damage to the flat.  

Bit of fun - She then said my cat was very quiet.  This made me laugh.  The very large cat was a long haired white cat and very realistic - it was a toy given to me by my ex husband. 

I’ve still got the cat, he’s still very quiet. 

ThisIsWeird

sheramber said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Hi HB7.
It's early days for this dog,  so hopefully the situation will improve, but the owner's response so far isn't encouraging - they should be putting into place techniques for curbing this behaviour, and making their dawg feel more secure.
Do you otherwise get on with them ok? Do you like dogs? Do they take the dog for long walks? If not, would you like to?!
Are you a 'doggie' person - do you know, or have a feel for, how they should be treated and controlled? Calm but firm and consistent?
If there is some way for you to get to know that dog a bit more, then it'll likely stop reacting to you at least, and will possibly become more secure if more folk are interacting with it in a positive way.
Any chance - if you would genuinely enjoy it, and if the owners are pushed for time - that you could offer to take it out for regular good walks?

There is nothing like it.
(TiW, owner of Romanian rescue)

These are all things the owners should be doing. If they are pushed for time they should not have got a dog never mind a Romanian rescue who has probably been through a horrendous  experience of dog catchers, humans that it fears handling it, transported hundreds of miles over days cooped up in a cage in a van and then finds itself in a house with all the dights and sounds it has never experienced before.

( Mil to Romanian who is well aware of this treatment of dogs in Romania)

Of course that's what the owner should be doing anyway. But they seemingly aren't.
So just putting another option out there. An unlikely one, but hey. :-)

housebuyer7

Hi here is my noise diary so far today. Would expect barking to continue until around 10pm. What do people think?

08:02 - one bark

08:31 - two barks

08:34 - one bark

08:36 - five barks

08:53 - four barks

08:57 - one bark

09:10 - sixteen barks

12:34 - four barks

13:30 - twenty-eight barks

13:54 - four barks

14:52 - nineteen barks

16:25 - two barks

16:26 - five barks

16:32 - two barks

16:34 - three barks

16:35 - two barks

16:37 - one bark

16:39 - one bark

16:43 - two barks

16:46 - two barks

16:47 - one bark

16:52 - two barks

16:54 - twelve barks

16:59 - one bark

18:14 - nine barks

18:15 - six barks

18:17 - one bark

18:18 - five barks

18:53 - one bark

18:54 - five barks

19:04 - eleven barks

19:06 - twenty-three barks

19:11 - fifty-three barks

19:13 - 100+ barks until 19:17

19:19 - 50+ barks until 19:22

Slinky

Good lord. Sounds like you've got nothing else done today OP.

Perhaps you need to visit your neighbour and show them that list. It sounds like they are ear-blind.

sheramber

I would say that is not reasonable 

BarelySentientAI

housebuyer7 said:

Hi here is my noise diary so far today. Would expect barking to continue until around 10pm. What do people think?

I think you'll look like a lunatic if you present that as evidence.

"One bark.  Seventeen minutes later, a second bark.  Eight minutes after that, a pair of barks..."

Realistically, what that actually says is there was possibly something at about 09:10, 13:30, 15:00, 17:00, and 19:00 to 19:20.  Still too much, and possibly a nuisance.

But hey, they might be massively impressed with a minute by minute record of individual utterances.

housebuyer7

😂😂😂 I’m sorry I’ve never kept a noise diary before!!

BarelySentientAI

housebuyer7 said:

😂😂😂 I’m sorry I’ve never kept a noise diary before!!

I have no idea whether I'd have done the same - it just looked a bit mad when I tried to read it.

Millsandovis

That is the sort of thing you need to provide. It’s been a while since I had to do it and it was a London council but they sent me a printable form where I had to detail noise nuisance, what it was, how long it lasted and how it made me feel. I think it had to be 5 different occasions (1 sheet per day so 5 days) before they investigated. 

They sent letters, did the noise recording device stage, threatened the land lord and eventually they decided to sell up and turfed out the idiots living next door. But it took a lot of pestering and mental toil 

Your situation sounds a lot more amicable than that though so maybe you and the other neighbour going round and having a conversation would work better. 

ThisIsWeird

housebuyer7 said:

Hi here is my noise diary so far today. Would expect barking to continue until around 10pm. What do people think?

08:02 - one bark

08:31 - two barks

08:34 - one bark

08:36 - five barks

08:53 - four barks

08:57 - one bark

09:10 - sixteen barks

12:34 - four barks

13:30 - twenty-eight barks

13:54 - four barks

14:52 - nineteen barks

16:25 - two barks

16:26 - five barks

16:32 - two barks

16:34 - three barks

16:35 - two barks

16:37 - one bark

16:39 - one bark

16:43 - two barks

16:46 - two barks

16:47 - one bark

16:52 - two barks

16:54 - twelve barks

16:59 - one bark

18:14 - nine barks

18:15 - six barks

18:17 - one bark

18:18 - five barks

18:53 - one bark

18:54 - five barks

19:04 - eleven barks

19:06 - twenty-three barks

19:11 - fifty-three barks

19:13 - 100+ barks until 19:17

19:19 - 50+ barks until 19:22

That is exactly the sort of record you need, because if you do have to take this matter further, it'll be the first thing that asked of you - "Just how many barks are we talking about? Ah..."

And also a recording to indicate the kind of noise level. Ideally in a room you typically use when the barks disturb your peace, and if the radio or TV is on at the same time, then all the better - the level of the barks can then be compared. Ie, if the TV/radio is playing at a normal listening level, and the barks are very clearly cutting through and over this, then it's more credibly a disturbance, a nuisance - it doesn't allow the peaceful enjoyment of your home.