Neighbours barking dog

[FuckKnowsMatee]

I am going insane.

Next door neighbours have a cockapoo that they leave for HOURS at a time, usually from around 6.15am until 12.30ish when a dog walker comes. But my god from the moment they leave the house and leave the dog on its own, it is howling whining barking non stop! I can hear it in every single room of my house.
We are on a row of terraces and I am the end house. Totally understand that hearing some level of noise is a given in our properties (hoovering, doors being shut, footsteps up stairs etc)

I have reported it to the council who have basically done fuck all and said it doesn’t meet the threshold for further action and advised to contact a solicitor and go down legal route (yipeee spend money I don’t have).

I actually don’t know what to do now other than instruct a solicitor to write a letter I suppose?

The neighbours are well aware of the issue , spoke to them about it from a ‘worried the dog may be anxious’ perspective, they’ve received letters from the council, they’ve argued with the neighbours on their other side about it bla bla they just don’t fucking care it seems.

I work from home some days and cherish the extra hour I should have in bed where I’m not having to travel to work but oh no the fucking dog is howling from 6 fucking 15 am for hours.

HELP.

Anyone got any advice or been successful in getting an abatement order (?). I’m so unhappy living here at the moment as I get no peace from it genuinely 😔

Have you reported to the dog warden ?

I would persist with the council. Keep a diary. Record the noise if you can. We had this problem mainly at night when a neighbour used his dogs as guard dogs and the constant barking made sleep impossible. It took a lot of persistence with the council but eventually (after several years) they took him to court after serving an abatement order which was ignored and he got a very large fine after which it improved until eventually we relocated for work. I would escalate at the council to a manager, senior manager etc until you get some joy. It was also useful that we weren't the only ones complaining so if you could get your neighbours to do the same that might help.

@Coffeeishot when I looked at our local councils website for dog warden info, it was all mainly in relation to dog fouling, stray dogs, dogs off leads. Nothing about dog noise nuisance BUT I will get in touch with them now actually and see if it is something they will deal with.

@CandidOP I have diaries and video evidence dating back months since I moved in. It still doesn’t seem to be sufficient enough for the Council to do anything. I’ve had to ring out of hours noise complaint line x 3 on a Friday night because of the noise. I will speak to the neighbours on their other side and see whether they’d be willing to make a complaint to the council to try and support the case. When I last spoke to them, he told me they’d already been to the council about it and nothing came of it either. I just don’t understand what the councils threshold is for action- the environmental health officer said they only deal with criminal noise activity - I could have screamed.

The local council have a legal requirement to investigate and serve an abatement order for noise that constitutes a statutory nuisance. If they are refusing to do that then you can go to the local government ombudsman. It would really help if you could get your other neighbour to complain with you. Also you could involve your local councillor.

You need to be as persistent as the dog barking. Get everything in writing and don’t be put off when the council put hurdle after hurdle in front of you. Did you get the fact that the EHO said they only deal with noise from criminal activity in writing? I’d be challenging that comment!!

which council are you? 👀👀

Wow that's shocking from the council.. I emailed one Friday night...had a call Monday.. Ndn got letter the Thursday.. Still a few barks but not half as bad. Also got a form to keep records for 2 weeks. Then they can take action. Maybe email your MP.. Your council are lying to you.. They do have powers..

You might get a better response from the dog warden hopefully, the neighbours should have their dog in daycare if its that distressed and you should be able to live in peace

@OhMyGiddyAnt I think the councils idea of investigating is to come out once to the property for 15 minutes to ‘witness’ any noise. When she came out, the dog wasn’t making a noise and had settled. I explained that there is sometimes a short window throughout the day where the dog can settle itself but it never lasts long and Im not psychic so can’t predict when in the day this will be. I explained that the dog can bark non stop for say 1 hour, then settle for 30 mins or so and then bark again for another hour, settle itself for a short time and then bark again for another hour. It’s literally a pattern like that so when she came out once, the dog was obviously settled and she didn’t witness anything. I said the noise starts from like just after 6 and is particularly awful, but of course council staff don’t start until 9 so nobody can come out and witness at that hour! The out of hours noise team are from 8pm-2am on Friday and Saturday nights.
I asked well what am I meant to do in this situation when the dog barks at the times you have no one on duty and therefore no one to come out and witness it. She didn’t have an answer. When she came out last week to my house after I rung the council to say it was making a noise, she said that since the ‘working day starts at 7am when the bin men start their round’ then there is nothing she can do. I was like wtf. Bin men last about 5 mins on the street emptying bins not for fucking hours like this dog grrrr. Then she said because I had my dishwasher on and it was making noise, then it covers the noise of the dog. Honestly it was like she was scraping the barrel to justify no further action. It was bizarre. The dog noise is incessant for up to an hour each time with maybe a short period of settlement in between. I can’t remember her exact words or sentence but it was definitely along the lines of only investigating criminal noise levels- she definitely said criminal.
It’s Rossendale Council- bag of shite.

I have just sent a complaint to the Council about how they’ve handled it via ombudsman so will see what happens with that.

@Coffeeishot Yes hopefully the dog warden might help. Fingers crossed 😔

You and the neighbour should be noisy when the owners are home and annoy them.

@PassportPringle I honestly had thoughts of playing loud music at 3am knowing that the council were never going to have anyone to come out and witness it! But then I couldn’t be arsed being awake at that time myself 🤣

It doesn't necessarily need to be at 3am. Just find a time when inconvenient for the neighbours, do they wfh? If leaving at 6.15am they're probably in bed by 10pm , maybe that's when you need to vacuum and blast Tina turner out.......

@PassportPringle yeah thats true, they must go to bed early. I’m normally settled and ready for bed by that time as well though 🤣Next door is a police officer so up early to work shifts.

Nothing helpful to add other than I feel your pain. A previous neighbour used to let their dog into the garden, at which point it would start barking and not stop for an hour or more. It drove me absolutely insane and that was only twice a day.

I now have neighbours opposite with a yappy dog that barks as soon as they get outside but at least it’s only for a few minutes, albeit multiple times a day. I still want to punch them, but they are selfish cunts generally.

3 months later and STILL no change. Now at Stage 2 of my complaint and tbh, the shit the Council come back with explaining their decision to close the case is honestly laughable. They think that 2 visits of 10 mins and 5 mins is enough to make a decision of it not meeting statutory threshold. I’m not sure how they can justify 2 visits of 15 mins over the course of 8 months as sufficient investigative process.
Written to my local councillor to try and make something happen whether it’s an internal review of their decision or what, I don’t even know.

the police officer is the one with the dog?
No wonder you can't get anyone to take a complaint seriously...

@Brefugee yep he is- just a usual frontline community PC I believe so not necessarily someone with influence with the local council but it does make you think twice why they’re so willing to not investigate properly.

The response to my complaint made reference to the neighbours ringing up the Council following receiving a letter and saying they believed it to be a malicious report (FFS) and I wonder whether there was mention of him being a police officer and therefore the council took that as Bible that the neighbours couldn’t possible be in the wrong. Maybe I’m stretching though but it does make ya think.