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!?

I think you have done what you can Op....dont keep your dogs in until 4pm....noise has got to be expected when people live side by side.

Ispini
Thanks, I will bear this tip in mind . They are very good at coming straight back once called. Never have any problem with that. They bark, are called and are quiet.

As mentioned by another, this is not the first request from said neighbour.

First off, how are your dogs with water? When you want them to stop barking give them a little squirt (not in the face). It may take a couple of days

For God's sake, don't do this. What awful advice.

I live in a small village. I'm working from home these days too. At the moment I can hear dogs barking, someone drilling, some banging, some kids shouting, a baby screaming, some parents shouting, loads of birds, next doors pond, and my boyfriend on his conference call upstairs. Where do these people live where this background noise isn't prevalent on a sunny day? The only thing I'm currently not hearing is road noise and planes as we're on the Manchester airport flight path and usually they throttle their engines right overhead so you get that every ten minutes.

FWIW, I have two greyhounds (supposed to be very quiet dogs) and one of them goes beserk at pigeons and there's no training this out of him. Some features are just built in!

Other requests by this neighbour include parking our car the other way in the drive

The odd bark when someone knocks on the door is pretty normal. If it is only the occasional bark and you shut them up or bring them in straight away then it’s just life.

We have a yappy dog behind us. It barks constantly and drives me nuts. We only have to open our back door and it sets the bloody thing off - that is anti social

The owner has been round to complain this morning as she is trying to work from home and we keep making her dog bark - by going outside into our own garden

I have a dog, she’s very shy and timid and never barks. I can’t take her for her usual long walks off lead on the beach at the moment so we’re playing with her in the garden a lot.

We’re not making lots of noise, she’s got a hard plastic ball which she chases around the garden and has a whale of a time. She’s not barking, we’re not playing loud music or anything like that, but at the same time we’re not completely silent.

I’ve worked from home for years, I don’t expect the world to tiptoe around me and noise is to be expected - especially when it’s coming from her own fucking dog!

Use the water pistol to spray the neighbour if she moans. Carry on as you are with your dogs

Let your dogs in and out on your own schedule. Be aware of what they are doing and bring them in if required. Work on training them not to bark for no reason. If they are security dogs it is fine for them to bark if someone comes onto your land.

Do not fall into the trap of allowing your neighbour to dictate to you, or it will be endless.

Why is it awful advice vanilla?

Other requests by this neighbour include parking our car the other way in the drive

Wtaf? They’re bonkers.

Dogs are so annoying, my children are trying to work but the dogs next door are very noisy, plus their children and the racket is horrendous.its bad enough having to work at home but they are year 10 and 11 so gcse and a level courses.

Other requests from neighbour include parking your car, on your drive, the other way round?!

Ooooookay then - that makes it all so much easier! They are clearly entitled, self-important arses and you can cheerfully tell them to bugger off. And let your dogs out whenever you like.

Honestly, some people.

With the dogs only being allowed one walk a day now I don't think it is fair on them to keep them in all day.

If they stop as soon as they are told then I think your neighbours are being very OTT.

It would be kind for you to keep them in until midday, as per the first request, given she's sleeping. The until 4pm request is too much though and a little outside noise is just one of those things about living near other people.

If it was children outside laughing then they'd just have to get over it, and I think the odd bark when they react to something is very much the same ballpark.

I say all this as a non-dog-owner. We have some young teens a couple of doors down who like to play basketball for hours at a time. The repetitive bouncing is driving me up the wall, but that's my problem not theirs. They aren't doing anything wrong, it's just annoying. The same is true of your dogs.

Why is it awful advice vanilla?

Training using an aversive like water, loud noise etc. is not recommended by most trainers. Dog training should be about positive reinforcement (eg. if you're quiet, you get a treat/praise/your toy) not if you bark, something unpleasant happens to you.

Dogs don't learn through negative experiences, they just become scared. If squirting water at your dog stops them barking, it's because they're scared of the consequence.

It's unnecessary to use a physical punishment or deterrent on a dog. There are better ways to train good behaviour.

www.preventivevet.com/dogs/dog-training-aversives

I don't have dogs but think you have been very considerate to keep them in until 12pm.

Our neighbours have dogs who, by the sound of it, bark as much as yours. I hardly notice them (too much noise in the house from DC!). I think it is unreasonable to expect complete silence when WFH - it doesn't happen in the workplace. In the interests of neighbourliness, you might want to restrict the time your dogs are in the garden between 12 and 4, but I think you are being very reasonable and would not BU to say no.

I let my dog out to the garden as and when to do his business, and give him a good walk during the day. He also gets played with indoors. Why would your dogs need to be in the garden for so long?

The neighbours are being ridiculously unreasonable to expect you to keep your dos in until 4.00 every day! How rude and entitled are they?

Tell them that you’re sorry that your dogs have disturbed them but you’re sure that they can understand the consequences of having to take two walks a day away from the dogs because of lockdown. Suggest they use earplugs.

Why would your dogs need to be in the garden for so long?

Because it’s glorious weather and, like most of us, OP keeps her patio doors open.

if you have other neighbours with dogs it's entirely possible they are assuming that all dog noises come from yours. One of my neighbours made a comment once about our barking dogs first thing in the morning - when the only dog who ever barked had been dead for weeks and we just had the silent chap left - well to be fair he's not totally silent but he gives a sort of whoop and a howl rather than a bark, and he was not an early riser!

Turns out she didn't know that neighbours behind her garden and to the right had a pair of terriers that WE can also hear. She had just assumed that because she "knew" we had two dogs it must be ours barking.

If it were me I would keep a written record of when they bark, when you stop them barking, when they are in the house. Do it for 3-4days and make the notes as things happen. IT will give you a picture of what's going on and it is a basis for discussion with the neighbour.

You may find that they are barking more than you realised, or the neighbour might realise they are being unreasonable.

So what's the context of them asking you to park your car in a particular way?
And if your dogs bark so infrequently, then surely you just nod to the request and carry on as normal, because they would be unaware you where not following it. An oops Trixie got out for 5 mins yesterday sorry about that if they do bark, follow up if necessary ?

Why would your dogs need to be in the garden for so long?

Why would you keep a dog indoors when the weather is so gorgeous? Mine is often in the garden for several hours on his own - he has his bones out there, sunbathes, sleeps...

It's lovely here - our back door is open all day and the dog and cats can come and go as they please.

I wouldn't purposely keep my dogs in all day. I'll just try and stop the barking when possible but they are dogs and need to play outside and not be stuck in 4 walls. Can you go for a longish walk with them in morning so neighbour on nights can sleep more peacefully? As for wfh they need to keep window closed and ignore outside noise. Life goes on and won't stop cause they want it to.

Well, I am not a fan of barking dogs and you could maybe look into what you can do about it, however what she is asking simply isn't acceptable.

I think keeping them in to allow a night shift sleeper to sleep is fine. Because her DH is working from home? Not a chance.

I'm working from home and today (apart from the occasional barking dog) I've had, neighbours scraping for hours on end, maybe clearing chips from the back garden, accompanied by toddler screaming and laughing and loud talking - from just after 9am - still going when I thought i'd sit out for 15 mins at lunch, ended up coming back in. Then next door is a childminder so her kids were out on the trampoline, now have their teens out playing music. Then we have another neighbour DS trying to learn to skateboard/flip skateboard and another bouncing a basketball constantly. Add in the families passing through on walks, delivery vans, grass cutting etc. It's noisy.

It's a lovely day and people are entitled to be out. Unless I am in a call, I've started to have the radio playing in the background just to drown out some of the noise. It's not ideal but we just need to get on with it.

Oh, and I've started working at 6am so as to get a lot done before it gets noisy, that way I can finish early like today :) Maybe suggest that her DH does the same?

It depends how often they are barking.
Continuously- yes, sort it out.
A few times a day, TABU.