To ask you to read this letter for me?!

[hellospoon]

I started a thread last night about my next door neighbour and their dog, here

I have decided to write them a letter and have drafted it up, anyone fancy reading it for me to see what you think?

I agree with thisisyesterday, cut it right back eg...

"I am writing to inform you that if you do not control your dog's barking then unfortunately we feel that we have no option than to involve the Environmental health dept.

I am sure that you just haven't realised what a negative impact the noise is having on us. As you know I have a 16 month old child that needs her sleep and my husband works night shifts. Allowing your dogs to bark continuously for hours at a time is just not acceptable.

I really hope that we can resolve this matter amicably and continue to be good neighbours."

Something like that?

And make sure that you are keeping a log of all the times the dogs are left barking so you have something to show if you have to make a complaint.

Can I just add that I have 3 dogs myself and wouldn't dream of leaving then in the garden barking for 10 mins never mind hours at a time.

How about something like this:

Hi,

I wanted to have a proper discussion with you to see what we can do about the continued problem with your dog barking and waking my daughter up - hopefully we can come to an amicable solution.

As we've discussed previously, the noise is really disturbing our sleep patterns and I am left most days with a tired and cranky baby and an exhausted husband - I'm sure you can appreciate this isn't ideal!

When I popped round yesterday I'm afraid I was not in the best frame of mind as your dog had been barking outside for 2 hours - which it seemed you were aware of?

I would ask that if you notice the dog barking outside after 6pm, you could please bring it in. This would be a great help to us as a family.

I'm glad that we have a good enough relationship to discuss this frankly and hope we can maintain that without having to speak to any relevant authorities about the noise disturbance. Please do feel free to pop round for a further chat later if you have any questions for me.

Kind Regards

mctemp and dickie's suggestions are good.

i really feel for you. my parents had people like this next to them and it was just unbearable. and the thing is the longer it goes on the less able you are to cope with it. a dog barking for 2 hours is annoying, but you get over it. a dog barking for 2 hours (or more) every single fucking day is just horrendous.

go with dickies letter - straight to the point.

However you do have my sympathy for having shite neighbours - I do too and it is fucking horrible having to put up with noisy from other when all you want is a quiet life. Its not the dogs fault obviously but the other posters who are calling you a twat have probably never had to listen to constant noise from their neighbours - no one can understand how hellish it is until they have been through it themselves.

hope you get it sorted.

hellospoon even the most mild mannered person on receipt of your note would be fuming with rage. Try something like this instead:

Dear Neighbour,

I feel very embarrassed having to write this note as we are not a complaining family. However the noise of your dogs barking during the day has become very stressful for us - particularly due to our toddlers sleep patterns. I'm sorry to say that it is really wearing us down.

It would really help if the dogs could be kept inside more, particularly early in the mornings/late at night.

Again I'm sorry to have had to write this, please feel free to discuss this with me face to face. Thanks.

I would go with dickies reply - straight and to the point. Either they are going to do something or they're not the detail is irrelevant. You've already explained the situation once - this is their second chance to sort it out. You are giving fair warning and are not reaporting them behind their back.

I completely understand the anger you feel though - I just don't get people who have pets but don't take responsibility for them.

Sorry - x posted with a couple of others - both of which are good.

You must be knackered and I totally feel your pain - yappy dogs are fucking annoying! But as Soup said, if you receieved a letter like this yourself it would be bound to make matters worse.

Agree with the other posters re far too much detail- Mctemps suggests a good alternatve you could you as a template.

Good idea about laying our expections too.

Also, don't mention anything related to how you think the dog would be better elsewhere, the only thing that would achieve is getting their backs up and increasing hostility.

On the contrary redlac6, there is some sort of small, yappy terrier just up the alley from us that barks all hours. My dogs occasionally bark a quick hello back and are immediately told to shut it, which they do.

There is/was also some utter numpty who would let her dog aggressive dog out into the alley and then go back inside and leave it to attempt to eat my back door in order to get into my dogs.

Not once did I joke about harming the dogs in question. My anger was directed at the inefficient and irresponsible owners. This is why the op is a twat. Not because she is annoyed at the noise.

Listen to what everyone is saying. Your letter is accusatory, inflammatory, too long and over-emotional. If you want them to take you seriously, you need to be calm and reasonable, and stick to the point.

Use one of the examples McTemp and dickiedavisthunderthighs have given you. And don't write words in all caps.

how does this sound? i have used suggestions from all of you;

Hi,
I am writing to inform you that if you do not control your dog's barking then unfortunately we feel that we have no option than to involve the Environmental health dept.

As you know I have a 16 month old child that needs her sleep and my partner works very early shifts. Allowing your dogs to bark continuously for hours at a time is just not acceptable.

The situation really is getting to a point where we cannot take anymore, our daughter is being woken when we finally get her to sleep, all we can hear is the dog barking outside and we feel it is cruel not only to us but also the dogs.

I am sure that you just haven't realised what a negative impact the noise is having on us.

Unfortunately if this problem is not resolved quickly, we feel we have no option but to report the noise, and this is something we really don?t want to do. I really hope that we can resolve this matter amicably and continue to be good neighbors.

Many Thanks,

Ever looked at the website passiveaggressivenotes.com? What not to do when writing letters in lieu of speaking face to face....

doinmecleaning i wonder how you would feel if the dog lived right next door to you?

no beanlet i will check it out.

Honestly, you are seriously over-egging it. You are liable to get dog poo thrown over the fence if you carry on like this, it's all "boo-hoo, poor me".

Just be straight and to the point - all you really want to say is "I am unhappy and therefore if you don't deal with this issue then I will take further action." That's it.

hellospoon I think that's fine.

i was only joking, but I do feel sorry for OP as its clearly an issue for her

god us Brits love the animals eh!

actually I was not offended by letter but think McTemp did a good trm

dickie what would you change from my revised letter?

I would go with mctemps letter. Even your shorter version might get their backs up quite a bit. It is understandable that you are angry and at the end of your tether with the situation so it is hard to put your point across in a non-emotional manner.
mctemps letter is more to the point.

I would feel like feeding my neighbour arsenic. I would not threaten or joke about harming a dog, who is being neglected.

youngwoman, i really want to avoid calling the council as they are nice people and have got on well with them

unfortunatley it is becoming apparent i cannot avoid it, this letter is a last ditch attempt to get it to stop, i have spoken to one of the mum's about it but it seems she hasnt really taken it on board!

Spoon, as emotional, tired, and anrgy as I'm sure you are (which is understandable btw) you really need to keep everything more simple, amincable, and less personal- you want this resolved as quickly as possible, please dont't risk making things worse!

i would leave out the bit about it being cruel to the dogs... they will just feel attacked, and defensive and be less likely to change anything

Bloody hell, I really need to start proof-reading my posts