To think my kids can bark in their own garden....

I can’t believe that you got in to a slanging match with someone and then ran upstairs terrified 🤣🤣🤣

OP, your first port of call should have been the neighbours in the first place. Dogs continuously barking is annoying. Any continuous noise is annoying - I’ve had a word with my neighbour about the excessive, constant noise her children made in the garden. I didn’t just start mimicking them behind the safety of a fence and then shit
myself at the thought of a face to face chat.

then, if nothing changed, you should have contacted your local council.

I’m guessing the chances of you facing this head on with the neighbour now are very slim, so perhaps call the council about the noise.

What's more much relevant is what you did initially before the whole thing escalated to this? If you tried a reasonable approach and got nowhere I see why you resorted to a childish response out of frustration. If this was the first action then YANBU.

(If you were really petty you could get a high pitched whistle and use it in the middle of the night)

Noone is saying the yappy dog is acceptable

But op's family is flaming the situation...op could have gone and spoken to the neighbours. She could have kept a log and contacted the council

Allowing her kids to bark at the dogs is just going to increase barky dog behaviour. Its not a solution. And then allowing her kid to shout insults at the neighbour, again isn't a solution

Its just made the situation worse and escalated things

I understand reaching the end of your tether and the kids barking back.
But yes, you should've gone to environmental health at the council a long time ago over this issue.
I would do that now, but tell the kids to stop barking from now on because E.H will not take it at all seriously if they think the dogs are being wound up.

Good luck!

One person's sad day for the human race is another person's ridiculous non-event.

You sound lovely . No wonder the dog barks at you .

Tell your children to go back out and do it again. Record her and contact the police, she is publicly behaving in a way that is causing alarm and distress to a minor. I'm sick of bad dog ownership and these breeds which aren't suitable for terraced housing unless exercised well. Get supersoakers and blast the dogs back in, if nothing is done.

Just report to the council ?

Jesus, OP would have to build a loft conversion so she has another flight of stairs to run up before she takes such action.

What daring to exsist? Not wanting permanent yapping. I had German shepherds, they suited my lifestyle and housing situation. People used to have sane mongrels. You didn't hear the constant barking since the fashion of dachsunds etc. Just because they are small doesn't mean a run in the garden will do. The barking in these dogs is a stress response because of unmet needs.

So very terrified 🙄

Surely you’re going to get your kids to go and crack out a turd in the cat owners garden?

Yep...after all matching the animals behaviour is the only way to deal with it in op and her kids minds

I responded by saying her dogs were barking first and that she needs to watch her mouth around my kids.

Not taking responsibility for your own actions at all, are you?

We were so terrified and had to hide upstairs in case she came to the front door.

This made me laugh!

I’d have more sympathy if your post wasn’t absolutely dripping with snobbery.

If you dish it out op you should be able to take it back.
Sounds like your all bark and no bite.

Embarrassing yourself.

The dogs barking is annoying but your kids barking is aggreviating the situation and making the dogs bark more.
First step to resolution is to stop your kids barking and making daft comments to the neighbours.

Sorry, but you both sound a little bit antagonistic to me, and dragging your kids into it by mouthing off about it around them and then allowing them to bark - annoying your other neighbours and likely making the dogs worse - was really not the way to go about things. You will have likely worsened the situation. And as for describing her as “rough”, you don’t sound particularly pleasant yourself!

Unfortunately, my DS1 shouted back that her dogs have rabies- she started screaming at my kids again and went inside. We were so terrified.

I'm not knocking on her door, from the way she carried on at my kids, I don't want her squaring up to me plus she looks pretty rough!

So instead of speaking to your neighbour...you allowed your children to make it worse, shout at her and then claimed the victim when she shouted back? Perhaps, if you were that terrified, you should teach your kids some manners and how to handle situations like this before they escalate.

With your benefit bashing, calling her dogs rats, and calling her 'rough' as well as your behaviour...you're not exactly a Princess, OP.

My kids were just being kids.

Err...my DDs are similar ages. They definitely don't act like that and never have (barking at people, honestly). I'd be pretty shocked if any of their peers did if I am honest.

Also, nothing wrong with non-pedigree dogs (unless they are the product of puppy farming - but that's a mark of the owner/breeder more than the dog). A proper Heinz-57 is a much better dog that a lot of pedigrees these days.

Don't dish it out if you can't take it back 😊

I agree about it not being “normal” kid behaviour. And, honestly, their ages make it even more bizarre! Small kids, hmm maybe, at a push, who perhaps didn’t know better (and I’m talking about pre-school ages!), but at 10 and 12? Yeah, definitely not normal kid behaviour.

Why did you let your kids bark at the dogs? That was clearly only going to make them bark even more. And your kids thinking it appropriate to yell at an adult neighbour that her dogs have rabies? To be honest, your family sounds pretty rough, too.

Basically your kids and you FAFOd. And now you're scared stiff? Maybe you'll all learn from this.

why is ok for her mangy mutts to bark but not my kids

Because the dogs bark is their only form of communication. Your kids do not need to bark. Also your kids barking at then will make the dogs bark more, both at the time and in the future. Because those dogs will think there are dog neighbours that they have to bark at wherever they go in the garden.

@Wobblewobblejelly - how does your kids’ barking make the situation any better? Answer - it doesn’t. It aggravates and encourages the dogs, and it pisses off the other neighbours.

Parent your kids.