Does anyone else have a neighbour whose dog just barks constantly when left?

This is absolutely NOT the answer. Please stop giving this as advice! Causing distress to an already distressed animal is not ok.

They should bring back dog licences to prove people's suitability to own one. Our DD begged us to get a dog when she was small but we refused because we both worked outside the house. It's only now I WFH (for myself, so it's a permanent arrangement) that we felt able to have one. When we go out and can't take the dog with us, it's never for longer than four hours or she goes to our friends or we have a dog sitter come in. Yes, the latter is expensive, but it's a non-negotiable part of being a good owner. Anyone who leaves their dog locked up alone all day while they go to work should be ashamed, frankly.

Agree with this. It was one of my biggest concerns when we got our pooch. I have cameras indoors so I check on him regularly and he just sleeps, he only barks when we are home and somebody comes to the door I think for our benefit!
Even then he is exercised twice a day and only left for a few hours at a time else we get somebody to sit with him.
I think many people get dogs without realising how much input they need. They aren’t like cats!

All these poor dogs, there must be thousands of them in the country living a pretty miserable life. You get a dog, you train it to cope with being left from day one so that it doesn't spend it's life in distress every time you go out. If not possible then you make arrangements for it to not be alone. Expensive? Yes. But tough shit, you chose to get the dog, it didn't choose you. People are so selfish.

OP, I would just report to the council. I would find the constant barking really stressful to live with.

I'm not surprised the RSPCA refused to help. I foster cats and kittens & we regularly get members of the public approaching our small local charity with stray pregnant cats when RSPCA & some vets have told them to put them back into the garden (in winter!) as there's nothing they can do to help. Also had a case where a woman left ££££ to RSPCA in her will and had 2 cats who were around 10. RSPCA refused to take cats and offered vouchers for euthanasia instead. We took the cats in. Some local branches of the RSPCA are great I'm sure but as a national charity I think they are shocking personally. Its usually the smaller charities who pick up the pieces when they refuse to come out or help.

You can get collars that vibrate and let out a high pitched noise only dogs can hear which stops them barking. I’d recommend to them that they get one. They aren’t going to be people who are arsed about training the dog and at least this will resolve the problem

Bloody hell They have a GSD and don't exercise him?? Wtaf is wrong with people. I give up. Report to the council and dog warden. Record the barking and howling. Keep complaining to the neighbours. Print off laws and regulations about barking dogs if necessary and post through their door. Why do some people bother getting dogs?

Oh that sounds awful. What a nightmare situation. Keep on reporting it I think. Keep talking to the neighbour about the problem. Maybe they think if no one is mentioning it no one minds anymore?

He needs to rehome it.

Our neighbours were the same. I shouted to dog to shut up and he did every time

I have this. New neighbours moved in next door during lockdown and after a couple of months got a German Shepherd who is very reactive. I was working from home and the dog could be heard barking by my colleagues over teams meetings. It has barked at 1.00am and woken me up many times but they don’t care.
The dog howls when they first go out, and then barks throughout the day at anything annd everything. I tried speaking to my neighbours to explain about the constant barking and howling and they replied that ‘dogs bark so nothing can be done’. Part of the problem is probably due to it never being walked so never gets any exercise.
It has got a little better since they now have a child.

Magic steaks 🥩 🪄

Do you know what’s almost worse? A crying dog ☹️ Our evil NDNs got a dog during covid, and from the beginning regularly left it as a young puppy on its own for hours at a time, and we could hear it crying - it was heartbreaking. Fast forward six years and thankfully it mostly sleeps while NDNs are at work, but when it wakes it either cries or barks until someone comes home. It has terrible separation anxiety. And unsurprisingly never gets walked.

My neighbours know their dogs howl every time they leave them. They don’t care

the dogs were ok,during lockdown as they were at home but now they not there

ive told them it’s heartbreaking hearing them howl for hours and hours but they don’t care

We have neighbours that leave dogs in the garden to bark for hours, I find it really distressing.

i complained about one of them last
month when the poor thing had been out in the garden barking non stop for three hours in January. They have quietened down now, but I can’t work out if they are oblivious to it or just don’t care about their neighbours and what is reasonable?

Yes I have told him in passing that his dog is upset when he is out. I think he knows the dog has anxiety, and gets upset because I’ve seen him return home while the dog is in full meltdown, but he has no one to mind him while he works.

Well that makes you a cruel git then. Well done you

Finally a sensible response. It took me almost 2 months to desensitise coat, shoes, keys and nearly a year to get to 3ish hours.

I’ve had dogs all my life. 7 to be exact. All raised and trained in the same way and only my latest has true SA. The suggestions of bark collars and high pitch noise from neighbours is so worrying! I don’t know what’s worse for the poor dog.

Recently had this with a newer neighbour whose dog I could hear from my house across the road with windows closed the dog would
sit at the window all day barking at everyone and dog that went by. I wfh and it drove me mad. Poor big dog is never walked & left alot. I put a note on the local community page asking for advice didn’t name but others said they had raised concerns too. I reported it to dog warden but they said they don’t deal with barking as it’s a civil issue. RSPCA state on their page they also not interested in dogs barking and being left alone for long periods. Surely it’s a training issue. We are surrounded by dogs most of whom you never hear.
the owners in my case must have read the post because now they shut the curtains so haven’t heard the dog for any length of time. Surely don’t get a dog if you can’t provide stimulation and care for it.

@Damnd if your dog is barking when it’s alone then you need to stop leaving it alone.
Set up a camera and see if you can leave the dog for 30 seconds without barking. If so, increase the time gradually.
If not, then really scale things back. Put your shoes on, then sit down again. Shoes and coat, then sit down again.
if the dog is barking, you’ve gone too far.
Set the dog up with a quiet, cosy space. I always leave mine with a tiny treat or a meal (if it’s meal time).
Gradually building this up creates a positive association to being alone.

Try to think of the dog is feeling distressed and how to help it feel happy and relaxed, rather that ‘how to stop barking’.

All behaviour is communication.
It’s our job as owners to decipher that communication and support the dog.

Try to contacting council.

Bark collars are vile devices. And chews are useless if it’s true separation anxiety. The dog is in a state of panic. No chews, toys, music, tv left on, will make them snap out of it. Proper specialist training is required, sometimes under the guidance of a qualified behaviouralist. Please do not give people advice like a bark collar or high pitch noise. You’ll just make matters worse for the poor dog.

A book called ‘be right back’ and strap in. It’s a long road if it’s true separation anxiety

Buy them a bark collar, get yourself a high pitched thingie that stops the bark? Or maybe they should be giving the poor pups some chews, mats and things to keep him busy.

They won’t know who the complaint came from.

We had terrible problems with large dogs barking next door and reported to Environmental Health who, after them sending them a warning letter and us keeping a log, brought round sound equipment and recorded the noise over a few days. They then gave them another warning and started court proceedings which resulted in a fine. Thankfully they moved shortly after