To be driven to distraction by neighbour's dog barking?

[niminypiminy]

When our next door neighbours go out, they leave their dog at home. When their dog is home alone, it barks continuously. Today it has been barking since midday. It's just stopped because they have got home, but often it barks all day. You can hear it all over our house.

This is really more of a WWYD than an AIBU. Should I tell them their dog is barking (and risk them saying, well, we hear you shouting at your children). Next door neighbour is a grumpy old sod, and I am nervous of a face-to-face confrontation, but don't want to leave a note. Is it cruel to leave a dog to bark for so many hours? Is it possible they just don't know this is going on, since the dog stops when they get home?

I would tell them, chances are they don't know the dog barks (as obviously they are out when it does it).

Hmm. I guess I'd better prepare myself for a difficult conversation, then.

Tell them.
We put up with a similar situation for ages before losing it at 1am when they came back after hours of barking.

Do tell them. It means the dog has separation anxiety about being on it's own. A good dog owner won't want their dog to be upset for hours.

Plus it means the dog hasn't been trained in any way. Poor dog. But poor you more.

Chances are they don't know. My parents have dogs and I know they'd be embarrassed and want to know if they were barking and annoying the neighbours. I'd either pop a friendly cheerful note through the door if you can't face a direct conversation, or just bite the bullet and speak to your neighbour.

How many hours is he leaving the dog? If it's ALL day, ie 8am-6pm then that IS cruel. Poor dog is probably desperate for the loo, or doesn't get enough exercise. Dogs are social creatures too and crave interaction with their "pack", I wonder if this one is desperately attention seeking.

Definitely tell them, our neighbours once wrote us a note to say or dog barked when we were out, it did annoy me a bit that they didn't say to our face but we genuinely didn't know as she was a quiet old shoe when we were in.

It turned out she used to sit on the bed upstairs and bark at goings on in the street so we closed the curtains and problem solved.

Feel rather nervous about speaking directly to him. He really shouted at us after DS1's ball broke an ornament in his garden. DS1 apologised, and I took a plant round for the garden, but he wasn't exactly gracious about it. But I guess the direct approach is better.

Tell them poor doggy is obviously lonely :-(

You have my sympathy OP, my neighbours dog barked all night when they left him in the garden and went away overnight bastards.

tell them you are worried for their dog and are telling them as you know they love their dog and they are wonderful owners who would not want their dog upset... butter them up a bit.

Good thinking BlackEyedSusan. Thank you.

My dog barked for 5 years when we went out. The retired neighbours who were home bitched about me for 5 years. They bitched to a neighbour who worked. He heard it one day when he had a day off and told me. At first I was mortified, then incredibly cross. Did they think I was psychic ! I put a radio on for my dog and he stopped.

We had this. It was a nightmare. We finally got the courage to tell the neighbours and they were mortified. They had no idea. Doggie was then given a rug over his crate and we've hardly heard a peep since!

I'd want to know if my dogs were doing this.

I'd appreciate a friendly word rather than a note or a neighbour who had been suffering in (not so silent) silence until they couldn't stand it anymore and lost their temper with me.

Have a word, tell them you just want to make them aware of the problem because as they aren't in to hear it, obviously, they won't know about it.