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Original poster

Dog wagging tail too loudly against fence.

112 replies

Beansandcheesearegood · 09/04/2025 19:11

Neighbours are complaining that dog wags his tail and as it hits our fence its too noisy. It's waking them up, they don't want him out in our garden until 8:30am abd also want us to cover the fence with something to stop the noise.... I'm at a loss as to what to reasonably say!

OP posts:
Deanthebean · 09/04/2025 19:12

How did you manage to keep a straight face 🤣🤣🤣

TheCurious0range · 09/04/2025 19:12

Why aren't you supervising the dog to make sure he isn't making loads of noise early in the morning?

NotDarkGothicMama · 09/04/2025 19:14

Wrap your dog's tail in bubble wrap, send them a photo, take it off and if they ever ask about it pull a sad face and say you had to pay ££££ at the vet's after he ate it.

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Dogs
2dogsandabudgie · 09/04/2025 19:14

Is this for real, if it is what time do you let him out and how long for?

HenDoNot · 09/04/2025 19:14

We only have a small dog but when he jumps on our bed and wags his tail against our headboard, it sounds like someone is hammering the wall.

Basketslipper · 09/04/2025 19:15

I'd probably not compalin for fear of a response like Deanthebean's, but it can't be unreasonable to ask you to train your dog not to disturb people until a reasonable time, or keep him indoors.if that's really not possible for you.

8dateslater · 09/04/2025 19:15

Beansandcheesearegood · 09/04/2025 19:11

Neighbours are complaining that dog wags his tail and as it hits our fence its too noisy. It's waking them up, they don't want him out in our garden until 8:30am abd also want us to cover the fence with something to stop the noise.... I'm at a loss as to what to reasonably say!

What time is it happening currently?
How often is it happening?

Obviously some noise is expected, but if it's repetitively thumping while he is left in the garden for long stretches then it's annoying

My neighbours old dog used to squeak a ball a lot. Completely reasonable, but our eyes did twitch when he was left squeaking, and chasing a ball for a solid hour at 6 am

There are a couple of people who leave their dogs in their gardens for hours at a time unsupervised in my close and they are really bloody annoying

2024onwardsandup · 09/04/2025 19:15

Put something against the fence so it’s doesn’t make a noise - it’s a reasonable request if it’s making noise and surely not hard to do

CherryBlossomPie · 09/04/2025 19:16

Unsociable hours are 11pm - 7am so 8.30am is not a reasonable request!

BigFatLiar · 09/04/2025 19:16

On a more serious note do keep an eye on his tail in case he damages it if he's hitting surfaces with it.

bigboykitty · 09/04/2025 19:16

Oh jeez. Tell them to get some real problems.

Basketslipper · 09/04/2025 19:18

CherryBlossomPie · 09/04/2025 19:16

Unsociable hours are 11pm - 7am so 8.30am is not a reasonable request!

OK so it's fine for your neighbours to mow the lawn at 7am on a Sunday? I'd love to see how that thread goes.

TennesseeStella · 09/04/2025 19:19

Are you for real? You say "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise this was a problem. We'll keep Fido indoors until 8:30." If you must let the dog out before that, take it on a walk away from your garden.

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 09/04/2025 19:21

Well, clearly you need to have a stern word with your dog and tell him not to be so waggerly before 8.30am.

Dogs can tell the time. They just pretend they can’t.

GeorgianaM · 09/04/2025 19:24

You tell them you don't have a dog and your husband likes to have a naked early morning stroll and that's not a tail hitting the fence. 😕

MissMoneyFairy · 09/04/2025 19:25

What time does he go out, can you put pots or plants in front on the fence so his tail doesn't hit the fence, Id be more worried he could injure himself. If this is real of course.

Original poster
Beansandcheesearegood · 09/04/2025 19:47

Thanks for all the responses!
So this is the first time the neighbours have raised it- I was in the kitchen, back door was open and dog had been out about 5 minutes. I was getting breakfasts for kids and heading to work.
In normal school weeks the dog is outside at 8am ish, door open until 8:20am latest ( leave for school) he's not left outside alone. Weekends it's more like 8:30/9am.

Honestly I didn't realise it was a problem- I don't think he's loud and we have a big garden so he's not right outside their door all the time. They are older couple.

OP posts:
Whyherewego · 09/04/2025 19:52

Is it that the noise reverberation into their house is the problem? We have some gates to the back of our housing estate and the people who own the house next to the gate complain if the gate is slammed it reverberates really loudly. If i hadn't heard it myself I'd not have believed how bad it was through a brick wall no less ! It's something to do with how the metal and brick interplay.

Anyway my point is that possibly it's not the wag itself but the reverberating that can be fixed. So could you look at how the fence is fixed to their house and see if it can be dampened somehow ?

Bergamotte · 09/04/2025 20:00

BigFatLiar · 09/04/2025 19:16

On a more serious note do keep an eye on his tail in case he damages it if he's hitting surfaces with it.

This - I knew a dog who wagged his tail so enthusiastically, banging it against furniture, that the tip of his tail had to be amputated from the damage.
This happened more than once so the owners had to find a strategy for exciting tail-waggy occasions to happen out in the open, away from furniture, so he didn't damage himself again.

farmlife2 · 10/04/2025 06:54

How does it even happen? Do you tie him up in a particular spot? Does he happen to have a special spot he likes to go bang his tail? I have dogs and find it hard to see how it is possible a dog in a yard is doing that in one spot every morning.

Doolallies · 10/04/2025 06:57

Does he get walked pre 8am?

SpringIsSpringing25 · 10/04/2025 07:27

Why can't you just plant things or put pots along the fence???

LadyDancealot · 10/04/2025 08:08

And the fact they are older is relevant because?? Try replacing the word ‘older’ with Muslim or black and see how it sounds.

LivingDeadGirlUK · 10/04/2025 08:14

LadyDancealot · 10/04/2025 08:08

And the fact they are older is relevant because?? Try replacing the word ‘older’ with Muslim or black and see how it sounds.

I expect OP has mentioned this because the majority of people would already be up by 8am.

Honestly OP don't worry about it 8am is a perfectly reasonable time for pets or kids to be out.

My neighbours on the other hand whos dog needs a piss at 6am every day and let it bark in the garden can get stuffed.

8dateslater · 10/04/2025 08:17

Its such a weirdly specific complaint that there's probably something in it.

If they were complaining about generic garden noises then I'd assume they were just intolerant, but the fact it's just a uncommo specific noise makes me think that they really must be regularly hearing it for extended periods