neighbours dog barking incessantly

[sleepyrose]

I searched the web for advice and all i found was this website so here i am, for advice. I don't know what i can do anymore. I'm 19, don't have children but i live with my mum and I live next to the noisiest neighbours ever & this year they decided to get a dog. It's a bichon frise. It's only about a year old, and my neighbours are both around mid 50's. The dog was fine when they first got it, but now it never shuts up. They didn't go out when he didn't have a dog, but now they have one, they can't seem to stay in the house? This has been going on for a few months and the dog barks INCESSANTLY. At first it was him letting it out in the garden, which, if it were 5 minutes of barking, I wouldn't mind. But it's usually around 20 minutes of barking, if not more. And then he started going out for hours at times and leaving it home alone, and it would bark & howl until he came back, whether he'd be 5 minutes or 5 hours. We have thin walls and I can hear it so clearly it sounds like its downstairs. It barked for 3 hours non stop just this morning. I complained to my neighbour about it and told him about how it barks non stop when he goes out, and he replied saying 'it will bark as much as it wants to' pretty sure it doesn't want to, though?? I then said i'd have to call the council and he replied 'call them'. So I did. They are supposed to have sent a letter about 2 months ago, and my neighbours have clearly ignored this letter, as nothing has changed. The council gave me a log for the barking, in which I have clocked at least 15 hours of non stop barking in just 3 days. I have more than enough evidence on there to prove what a complete and utter nuisance this dog is, but as my neighbour is old and claims to be disabled, I'm worried this will get the sympathy vote and nothing will get done about it. My neighbours are very ignorant, rude and selfish people and don't care how anyone feels except themselves, its not fair on anyone else, not even fair on the dog. I have aspergers and cannot take the constant barking, I am left with headaches, severe stress and I get so frustrated I cry and get a sore throat. I try to put earphones in but I can still hear it. I have constant fatigue from endometriosis and always want to nap but I can't because of this awful barking. What can i do?? My mum doesn't want to cause a war with the neighbours so she keeps quiet, as we've had issues with them in the past, such as their grand kids climbing over our fence without permission to get their football back that they chucked over, or kicking balls at our windows and doors on purpose. And this happened about 4 years ago. I want to move but it doesn't feel like thats happening any time soon. What can I do if my neighbour ignores everything??

p.s as I type this, my neighbours dog barked non stop from 9am to 1pm. my neighbour came back for 15 minutes and it shut up, then he left and its started again. And this is ONE example.

It's not the dog's fault, sounds like it has separation anxiety. But your neighbours are inconsiderate arseholes. Either they don't know, don't understand separation anxiety or they just don't care.

Either way, call the RSPCA. Show them your log.

Thank you. Yeah, as much as it irritates me I know its not the dogs fault, my sister used to have two big dogs and they were no trouble. I called the rspca & they just said to call the council about it, they said if I have no evidence the dog is being abused, they can't do anything about it. But I really don't think the council will do anything unfortunately.

Does the council have a local Dog Warden? Might be worth contacting them directly? (If that's not who you're already in touch with.)

It doesn't matter if they're disabled, they won't get the sympathy vote. Carry on with the council and hound them. They'll automatically send the case to the dog warden. They'll ask you to record it next - some councils have an app where you upload straight to them.

The council can take action up to and including removing the dog. Keep pestering.

Why people like this get dogs is beyond me. It will never stop unless they walk it and pay it attention.

The council will help. You need to keep them updated though.
They sent the letter but they will consider it dealt with until you tell them otherwise.

I also can't understand why people get dogs if they can't deal with their needs.

Look up Statutory Nuisance on your local council's website. It covers noise and is an improvement on older methods of dealing with these type of things. It focuses more on the effects of people's behaviour on others around them.

You state the neighbours are mid 50's and then that but as my neighbour is old.....know I'm missing the point but really??

Thank you to everyone. I've actually never heard of a Dog Warden but I'll try to find my local one if there is one and talk to them about it. I'm not sure I even would have posted this if I hadn't of lost my temper, as I do most days, I get to a point where I lose it and am desperately searching for a solution to make it stop! I'm going to post my log to the council today and hopefully they will do something about it, and if not then yeah, i'll keep nudging them to do something until this all ends.

Also - namechange2222, sorry if I offended you or anything with that! I'm not definitely sure how old they are really, but last I heard they were mid 50s - what I meant really was that my mum is 61, they're definitely younger but anyone would think my neighbours were atleast 15 years older than her by the way they act & live.

Would it be worth you or your Mum talking to the neighbours and telling them that this constant noise is unacceptable and unreasonable. Say you don't wish to take it further but if it persists, you will be complaining to the Council who you understand have powers up to removing the animal if it persists. Say you don't want it to go that far which is why you are asking them directly to do whatever they need about the noise.

May be worth a try. May be better coming from your Mum as she is nearer to their age?

You need to speak to Environmental Health - this is a noise nuisance, they should be able to get in touch wiht, or give you contact info for, the Dog Warden, because if this dog is left alone barkign this is ALSO a welfare issue for the dog.

The sooner you take action the sooner something may be done - but the neighbours are likely resistant becuase this means admitting their pet who they presumably like, is severely distressed (this is my field of expertise, canine separation anxiety!).

The local authority and the dog warden can suggest, and then the local authority can legally REQUIRE the owner to take steps to address the barking via training and behaviour modificaion - however they may tell the owner to slap a bark collar on teh dog which gives the dog either a squirt of nasty up the nose or an electric shock whenever it barks, so perhaps check what they recommend!

If you can, record the barking as well as continuing your log.

Be aware that what you may think of as constant barking may NOT constitute constant as far as EH are concerned - barking for a minute, and then silence for five minutes and then another minute of barking = would be irritating as fuck but would not likely constitute constant barking! When they say constant barkign they literally mean the dog only pauses to draw breath to continue barking, and they generally mean for 5 minutes or more (5 minutes of constant barking feels like a LIFETIME!)