neighbor''s dog barking

[phoenixgirl]

Our neighbor has a relatively new dog who barks all the time. We live in a row house in the city so our houses are only a few feet apart. With the weather getting warmer, the neighbors have been leaving the dog outside at night. She barks loudly at 11:00 p.m., loudly at 5:30 a.m., etc. I am ok with barking during waking hours but she has been keeping/waking us up at night. We sleep with a humidifier and a white noise machine, and it still wakes us up. This is a big and loud dog who goes crazy every time we come and go in our backyard or close the door to the addition off of our bedroom (used to be a porch); mind you, this is an interior door but it needs to be slammed to close tight.

What is the proper thing to do?

Ask our neighbor to bring her inside over night?

Get one of those bark free devices that sends out an annoying (to dogs) sound whenever she barks?

 

[fisherofmengirly]

I think it would depend on how well you know the neighbor, myself.

We have neighbors who''ve complained about our dogs when we moved in. They are inside dogs and only go out about three times a day or so, and yeah, they bark. Not at night, and not incessantly. They did their complaining in the most ridiculous way, which was rude and hurtful, particularly since they were talking about two SMALL dogs who don''t bark loud and who aren''t outside more than 20 minutes at a time, and never after 9:30pm or before 7am.

Anyway, totally not what you''re talking about here... but I do think that if you know them and are on good terms with them, that you can handle it in a way that''s tactful and just lets them know that it''s been somewhat disturbing. Some dogs take a while to get used to their new surroundings, so it could be something they''re working with the animal on, as well.

I''ve often wondered if those dog whistles work..... I mean, as in training devices.

Good luck!! I hope he quiets down; you need your sleep, baking a baby and all!!

 

[soocool]

Cities and towns have ordinances regarding barking dogs. Check with your local police department and they will be able to help you. (You can also maintain your anonymity if you ask)

 

[diamondsrock]

Date: 3/18/2009 7:14:28 PM
Author: fisherofmengirly
I think it would depend on how well you know the neighbor, myself.

We have neighbors who''ve complained about our dogs when we moved in. They are inside dogs and only go out about three times a day or so, and yeah, they bark. Not at night, and not incessantly. They did their complaining in the most ridiculous way, which was rude and hurtful, particularly since they were talking about two SMALL dogs who don''t bark loud and who aren''t outside more than 20 minutes at a time, and never after 9:30pm or before 7am.

Anyway, totally not what you''re talking about here... but I do think that if you know them and are on good terms with them, that you can handle it in a way that''s tactful and just lets them know that it''s been somewhat disturbing. Some dogs take a while to get used to their new surroundings, so it could be something they''re working with the animal on, as well.

I''ve often wondered if those dog whistles work..... I mean, as in training devices.

Good luck!! I hope he quiets down; you need your sleep, baking a baby and all!!

fisher I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago. My neighbors were upset with my small dog barking. (Never at night and never more than a couple of minutes at a time). They went about it in a very hurtful way and it still upsets me, although I have moved past it. I had no idea it was a problem until a nasty note was left on my door ( I thought I had a decent relationship with these neighbors at the time and they had told me before that they didn''t mind her barking. One actually said she liked it because it alerted her to if a stranger was in the neighborhood

The other one had told me that dogs bark, that''s what they do, and she was fine with it). These neighbors assumed I knew it bothered them and were convinced of it. I couldn''t convince them otherwise no matter how hard I tried. Since then, I have taken every possible avenue to keep her from barking, and she is quiet 99% of the time (not an exaggeration), but she is a dog for crying out loud and I can''t make her NEVER bark which is what they would like. It''s just not reasonable. That''s a bit off topic but shows what can happen when people don''t communicate.

phoenix, as a dog owner, I can''t tell you how much easier the situation would have been if my neighbors (there were two of them) had just been honest with me and told me it was bothering them. Instead, they proceeded to slam doors and windows, swear at me from across the street, etc.. to get their point across. I of course had no idea what their problem was and had no idea it related to me or my dog, plus I''m not one to really watch or spy on my neighbors so they probably did these things all the time and I just never noticed. This escalated until their passive-aggressive behavior turned into the nasty note which I received.

In my opinion, I would be honest with them and let them know that you are having a hard time sleeping. I really can''t imagine someone leaving their dog outside tied up all night. I had a neighbor do that as a child and his big Newfoundland dog used to bark a deep WOOF while I tried to sleep so I know how annoying that can be. They maybe have no idea that their dog is bothering anyone. (I hope!) If they do know and don''t care, then you have a bigger problem on your hands.

 

[doodle]

I have the EXACT same problem right now--our neighbors have a Basset Hound who barks incessantly (as in, he once barked on 2 second intervals for THREE AND A HALF HOURS straight). The people who live behind us have actually threatened to "bust a cap" in this dog (which would not be funny at all if I thought the guy were actually serious, but since I know he isn''t, it''s kind of a funny thing to yell at a dog!). We haven''t really said anything about it since it''s usually during the day, but if it were keeping us awake, you can bet I''d invite the guy over for a drink and tell him that I''d be more than happy to booze his dog up, too, if it''d getting him to quit baying at the wind for hours on end! Good luck dealing with the problem--I think it shows a genuine concern for your neighbor that you''re worried about solving the problem without hurting or offending them, so hopefully they''d see your concern, too.

 

[phoenixgirl]

We are on good terms with these neighbors; it''s just the awkwardness of asking them to change the way they keep their dog. But DH is going to say something to them ASAP. I was just wondering if dog owners were going to say it was normal to keep barking dogs outside at 5:30 a.m.; I''m glad to know that''s not normal!

 

[lauralu]

I don''t know the answer either. Our neighbors have 4 little dogs that bark every time they let them outside to go potty. No they are not out more than 20 minutes at a time yet, if we are out there they run to the fence and bark the whole time they are out there "at us". We can''t hear each other talk they are so loud. If my 6 yr old daughter is outside playing she runs into the house as fast as she can because she is afraid of them. If they are outside they watch for us in our kitchen windows and can see us and start barking at us.

Last summer for a time the husband would let them outside in the morning and not bring them back in until he came home from work at 5:00. They managed to dig their way under our fence and would spend most of their days going back and forth from our yard to theirs. We were infuriated. We talked with them yet, they feel nothing about this. So we called the city when they were in our backyard. The city told us that they were to busy to come out and check. We could bring the dogs to them though they told us. Tempting, but no we did not.

Now the weather has been really nice lately and my daughter and i have been trying to play in the backyard. The dogs come out and bark hysterically and my daughter freaks out because she thinks they are going to get under our fence again.

I do not know what the answer is but, I will be watching to see if anyone has any ideas and I feel for you.

 

[diamondsrock]

Date: 3/18/2009 9:51:57 PM
Author: lauralu
I don''t know the answer either. Our neighbors have 4 little dogs that bark every time they let them outside to go potty. No they are not out more than 20 minutes at a time yet, if we are out there they run to the fence and bark the whole time they are out there ''at us''. We can''t hear each other talk they are so loud. If my 6 yr old daughter is outside playing she runs into the house as fast as she can because she is afraid of them. If they are outside they watch for us in our kitchen windows and can see us and start barking at us.

Last summer for a time the husband would let them outside in the morning and not bring them back in until he came home from work at 5:00. They managed to dig their way under our fence and would spend most of their days going back and forth from our yard to theirs. We were infuriated. We talked with them yet, they feel nothing about this. So we called the city when they were in our backyard. The city told us that they were to busy to come out and check. We could bring the dogs to them though they told us. Tempting, but no we did not.

Now the weather has been really nice lately and my daughter and i have been trying to play in the backyard. The dogs come out and bark hysterically and my daughter freaks out because she thinks they are going to get under our fence again.

I do not know what the answer is but, I will be watching to see if anyone has any ideas and I feel for you.

I''m sorry your neighbors are so uncooperative. That is awful! When someone knows there''s a problem and does nothing or just plain doesn''t care, there is no excuse for that.

 

[PaulaW]

Ugh... that sounds awful. I think having your DH say something politely is the way to go. Sometimes people just don''t realize that they''re annoying others or maybe they think that the dog isn''t that loud, but by bringing it to their attention, you may be helping in the long run. You never know who else is in the neighborhood who may handle it differently by calling animal control or worse, hurting the dog.
My parents used to live on a super busy street and we had 2 boxers at the time. They would bark at people walking by, but it was mostly a "hello" - nothing malicious. Well, one neighbor hated them and on several occasions, someone opened the gate to the busy street. Thankfully the dogs were never hurt and my parents had to padlock the gate to stop it from being opened. Nice, huh?

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Date: 3/19/2009 11:14:36 AM
Author: PaulaW
Ugh... that sounds awful. I think having your DH say something politely is the way to go. Sometimes people just don''t realize that they''re annoying others or maybe they think that the dog isn''t that loud, but by bringing it to their attention, you may be helping in the long run. You never know who else is in the neighborhood who may handle it differently by calling animal control or worse, hurting the dog.
My parents used to live on a super busy street and we had 2 boxers at the time. They would bark at people walking by, but it was mostly a ''hello'' - nothing malicious. Well, one neighbor hated them and on several occasions, someone opened the gate to the busy street. Thankfully the dogs were never hurt and my parents had to padlock the gate to stop it from being opened. Nice, huh?

That''s awful!!

I''m so glad they were never hurt, though....

 

[phoenixgirl]

Another neighbor stopped by today and as she was leaving asked, "Oh, by the way, is that [next door neighbors'] dog I've been hearing at night? I can't sleep!" She lives two doors and across an alley away, and she can't sleep . . . our bedroom window is just a few feet from where the dog sits. So I definitely feel vindicated in saying something. She said her husband was going to say something today, but DH needs to get on the ball and say something too. If they don't do something I'm buying one of those bark deterrents!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Date: 3/23/2009 5:06:11 AM
Author: SanDiegoLady

Date: 3/18/2009 6:51:43 PM
Author:phoenixgirl
Our neighbor has a relatively new dog who barks all the time. We live in a row house in the city so our houses are only a few feet apart. With the weather getting warmer, the neighbors have been leaving the dog outside at night. She barks loudly at 11:00 p.m., loudly at 5:30 a.m., etc. I am ok with barking during waking hours but she has been keeping/waking us up at night. We sleep with a humidifier and a white noise machine, and it still wakes us up. This is a big and loud dog who goes crazy every time we come and go in our backyard or close the door to the addition off of our bedroom (used to be a porch); mind you, this is an interior door but it needs to be slammed to close tight.

What is the proper thing to do?

Ask our neighbor to bring her inside over night?

Get one of those bark free devices that sends out an annoying (to dogs) sound whenever she barks?

Contact your neighborhood Code Compliance (they take complaints in the residential neighborhoods, noise abatement, barking dogs, etc). If Scottsdale/Phoenix are similar to San Diego PD, they dont go out on barking dog complaints, that is held for Code Compliance or Animal Regulations. You can contact your non-emergency police line and ask if the City has this department.

It is not wrong to ask your neighbor to bring thier dog in, there are bark collars she could use.

I''m sorry this is such a pain, believe me, I get A LOT of these calls...

Pet owners need to be responsible for their animals and sometimes, they just aren''t.

To piggy back this, a lot of towns/cities have codes regarding when a dog can be outside and barking. For instance, where I live, you can have a dog that barks outside during the day, but not during "quiet hours" (10pm to 7am). The thing is, if you call to report that a dog is barking at night only, well it''s hard to "catch" it.

I wonder if the owners are not only aware of this (of course they''re aware of it, they hear it too) but also are trying to work with the dog on getting better habits. Lots of times "new" dogs have bad habits that require time to correct. I hope it''s a work in progress on their part!!

Hope you''ve been able to get some sleep!!

 

[lauralu]

just checking to to see if your Dh said anything to your neighbors yet and if the response was favorable? Hope so

 

[phoenixgirl]

No, he still hasn''t. They seemed to have gotten the message from our other neighbor . . . no barking before we were up and at ''em, no barking weekend mornings even later in the morning . . . but this morning they let her out for some barking at 6:15. Too early!

 

[phoenixgirl]

OK, DH did talk to them last night. Haven''t heard any barking this morning. But they did say that they wake up early, so the dogs wake up early and want to go out to pee. I get that . . . not asking you not to let your dog pee . . . but that doesn''t explain the long spells of barking. If it takes that long to pee, perhaps she needs to be walked (I never see them walking their dogs. They''re not very active people. One time we watched in amusement as the wife made multiple van trips to the laundromat half a block away, which was actually more of a hassle than walking because we live on a one way street and it''s hard to park).

 

[phoenixgirl]

Update:

We bought a barking deterrent from Amazon.com, and it''s a godsend. The reviews were split 50/50--half the reviews said it was amazing, and half said it just didn''t work on the dog or even caused more agitation. But after she woke us up at 5:50 a.m., I had to try something.

As soon as she tries to bark, she must hear the discordant noise because she immediately stops barking, runs up on the deck, and waits to be let back inside.

We turn it on when we go upstairs at night and turn it off when we come down in the morning. We''re not not against dogs barking--that''s what dogs do, and it makes all of us safer to have a barking dog looking after our yards--but since our neighbors won''t keep her inside during sleeping hours, I feel we are well within our rights.

We see our neighbors all the time and have friendly interactions. I know they''re not trying to annoy the whole neighborhood, but the problem is that doesn''t really matter. It''s like the parent who thought I shouldn''t turn her daughter in for an honor code violation because she didn''t "mean" to plagiarize. I don''t think they "mean" to disturb our sleep but that''s what they do anyway.

Anyway, yay for Petsafe Outdoor Bark Control!

 

[Diamond*Dana]

We had this problem, so I feel for you.
Our neighbors kinda neglected their dog. They would leave her outside, all night long, and we have coyotes around here. One night my DH and I heard a pack of coyotes in the backyard and DH went out with a baseball bat in hand to check and see if the neighbors left the dog outside again!

After many nights of the barking...3-4 hours straight, I would be awakened to barking at 4:00 in the AM some nights, I finally called the police. They told me that there is a noise ordinence in most cities and that includes dog barking. It is completely confidential that they do not tell them who called, I made sure to ask about this.

Our neighbors are partiers, fine, but they neglected the dog...they had the police called on another occasion, and it was not me that called...I am certain that it was about the dog.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

I''m glad you''ve found a solution!!