Should I keep dogs in because neighbour is WFH

[poodlelocks]

I have 2 dogs.

Bark when postie knocks, van pulls up etc When told to stop, they do.

If in garden they'll bark at cats, or if someone comes up back alleyway (no pun intended)

Again they shut up if told

Last week neighbour asked if we could keep dogs In before 12pm as she does nights and is sleeping - fair enough? Agreed to that.

Now today she's asked if we can keep them into 4pm as husband is WFH and barks disrupt him.

Any advise before I return my answer to them!?

To be honest if the OP is at home I really can’t imagine the dog would be constantly barking - the only time I’ve known some dogs to be doing that is if they’ve been left alone and presumably have some kind of separation anxiety.

@Pinkblueberry my neighbour’s dog’s owners are at home. Doesn’t stop them barking.

And there isn’t really that much difference between barking briefly and non stop barking. My neighbour’s dogs don’t bark constantly, but for a minute or two several times day and night. That is still just as annoying.

You get used to noise if you're working hard enough.

What a load of crap.

It depends on the neighbours. Some of them are genuinely CFs. The OP has already been genuinely considerate in keeping her dog inside for the morning so her neighbour can sleep as she works nights. Expecting the OP to keep the dog inside until 4pm is excessive IMO.

I'm not a dog owner, so I'm speaking as a neighbour myself. I can't control what a dog owning neighbour does, so expecting the impossible would only make me miserable.

What I have noticed on MN is that some posters always assume that the neighbour is justified in making their complaint. In real life, this isn't the case, there are people who always find something to complain about. Sometimes the neighbours are justified, but not all the time.

And no, occasional barking is really NOT the same as incessant barking. That's a daft comment.

(Almost) No-one wants to hear someone else's dogs bark, hear someone else's children shriek or have them staring brazenly over the fence, listen to someone else's wind chimes clanging, smell someone else's smoke (be it BBQ, bonfire, cigarette, or weed), hear someone else's music in the garden, find someone else's cat's droppings in their garden, and on and on and on.

Most will, however, put up with a reasonable amount of annoyance and will do what they can to keep their own annoying behaviours to a minimum, because they realise that they aren't perfect, either, and everyone ends up annoying someone else sometimes, no matter how accommodating they try to be.

OP, you've done your part by agreeing to keep the dogs in until noon. I wouldn't budge an inch further, so long as your dogs aren't barking constantly for five minutes or longer. (And I definitely wouldn't change my parking habits to suit the neighbours, if it made things more difficult or dangerous for me or my family.)

So we now have the MN dog - it never barks and is trained to communicate through the medium of mime and has presumably achieved the obligatory death stare or cats bum face whilst clutching its pearl collar.

In the real world dogs bark sometimes.

"My neighbour’s dogs don’t bark constantly, but for a minute or two several times day and night. That is still just as annoying."

That is a fairly low (intolerant) threshold for annoying. Although it hinges on how often is 'several times'

Imagine comparing brief barking to barking that goes on for hours on end. Delusional. Just say you don't like dogs, and because of that you can't actually provide any solutions.

Strange how none of my other neighbours’ dogs feel the need to “communicate” by running round the garden barking every time they are out there.

A lot depends on the breed of dog, though. Some dogs never bark, others will bark at a blade of grass moving in the wrong direction.

Of course owners should do whatever possible to minimise the barking but depending on the breed, it can be impossible to eradicate it completely unless you go down the road of shock collars - which are thankfully now being made illegal in the UK.

@motherheroic Exactly. Non stop barking for hours on end is slow torture! And it obviously demonstrates that the dog is distressed, which makes it far worse.

Get an old cleaning spray type bottle or anything with a spray nozzle.

Each time they bark, spray them.

It's always worked wonders for any dogs we've had.

Like buggery are you to keep them in til 4; say you'll continue to keep them in til 12 and will monitor them closely for the remainder of the day

@motherheroic I chose a breed which was noted for being quiet, but got a noisy one.
Honestly I don't treat it much differently to dc screaming, I know they can do it but it is anti social so I try and prevent it as much as possible.
I can't prevent either entirely but I can actively manage both as they are behaviors I don't want in my house. Obviously both dc and dog have other ideas at times.
We don't have terribly close neighbors so it annoys me more than anyone else.

Nobody wants to hear your dogs at any time of day or night.

Nobody? Really? I’d say most people are fairly ambivalent to the sound of a dog. Night time, fair enough. Day time - hearing a dog bark from time to time is like hearing a seagull squawking, children arguing, a motorcycle driving past, a lawn being mowed, a plane flying overhead.. it’s just part of everyday life and sounds! I’m obviously not talking about incessant barking, because anyone would find that irritating, even the dog owners themselves. But anyone who is that sensitive to basic everyday sounds needs to get themselves a pair of ear defenders.

Thank you motherheroic exactly my point why should dogs stop communicating children have the sense to know when they should stop shouting loudly but that the problem people are quick to turn on innocent animals but children these days most not all but most have no manners what so ever. That is how animals talk so who ever has had a dig at my comment needs to educate themselves on animal communication. And you wonder why children are so dam rude these days. They are allowed to be.

Good God, just read about the parking and the flipping fence. Please stop engaging. As the old saying on Mumsnet; ‘nod and smile’ every time, twice a day if necessary.
They should live in the middle of a big field, where no dogs, cars, fences, (buses, boiler noises, lawn mowing, cats meowing etc.) interfere with their lives. You have been too tolerant OP, get your Wonderwoman clothes on! 👍🏻

So I've been downstairs all morning , cleaning Kitchen and lounge , been in and out of gardenas have dogs. Dogs went out with DH for 2 hour stroll first thing because we were all woken up by said neighbours washing machine spinning off a load at 530 am (as it does every morning but have never thought to moan about it until now )

One dog has been quiet all morning. No barks .

Second dog barked once ( one wood- I'm counting) during play (stopped when told) Then barked again (x3 woofs ) at a cat.

Absolutely typical morning

That's it so far.
Now they're in the lounge sleeping

So is this what is counted a excessive and continuous these days?

Meanwhile, neighbourhood is wide awake and there's plenty off kids/mowers/drills/whistles (weirdly)

I've parked my car as I freaking well wish (empowered by you lot) and I just nodded good morning this AM.

I'll keep you posted on the bark count this afternoon.

poodle that level of barking is fine by me and I'm one of those terrible cruel dog owners who trained their dog not to bark.

Thanks for the woof count!