Barking dog

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I live in a terraced flat. We have no garden access as we are on the first floor. We have lived here for about five years but in the last few weeks, most mornings a dog is out in its garden barking for at least ten minutes. It wakes me and DP up most weekends. It woke me up at 7:15 this morning.

On the weekdays it doesn’t matter because we leave for work at 7am but it’s been actually impossible to get a lie in and I’m exhausted. I’ve tried to be understanding as it’s obviously a new dog and probably a puppy but my charity has run the fuck out.

I can’t work out which fucking garden it’s coming from because I can’t see it. It must be very nearby though. It’s obviously a tiny Yorkshire terrier or something because it’s so high pitched.

I don’t have a street WhatsApp or anything. WIBU to go round and talk to every nearby neighbour until I work out who it belongs to????? What do I do if they don’t listen? I am SO TIRED.

I think you’re allowed to make noise between 7am and 11pm, and I think a dog barking is ok as long as it’s not continuous.
So I’d try and find out where it’s coming from and maybe have an initial word about it then, if it doesn’t improve, start a noise diary and report to the council.
Are you renting, if so maybe a complaint to the land Lord.

I think ten minutes of a dog barking non-stop is probably continuous? It does it a fair amount in the day as well but I can live with that. I definitely wouldn’t want to complain to anyone higher up until I’ve spoken to the neighbour. I just don’t know who it belongs to yet.

I take it you don’t have kids? Not sure I’ve slept past 7am once since I had DD 10 years ago. To be fair she sleeps ok now but I got a dog 3 years ago and he’s up about 7 every morning now.

@Peace43 why have you bought kids into this? The OP is about a barking dog - what you have said is completely irrelevant and actually quite rude.

OP YANBU at all. I know first hand the absolute hell that can be brought on by a barking dog. I have a neighbour who owns what sounds like the Hound of Hell - really really loud bark, they shut it out on the garden and leave it to bark and bark and bark. I've reported them to the council 3 times and it has made a vast improvement but I still live in anticipation of it starting up again.

@Peace43

I take it you don’t have kids? Not sure I’ve slept past 7am once since I had DD 10 years ago. To be fair she sleeps ok now but I got a dog 3 years ago and he’s up about 7 every morning now.

No, I don’t have kids, and the fact that you do is utterly irrelevant. 7am on a weekend is early, especially when you work long hours in the week. Hopefully you don’t let your dog out to bark and wake up all your neighbours?

It's tough if you don't know where it's coming from - but YANBU, but it's not acceptable.

My local council said a dog has to be barking non stop for 20 minutes for it to be considered a nuisance

The owners should take their dog inside if it’s barking for that long.
However, as a neighbour I wouldn’t say anything as it’ll probably calm down as it gets a bit older and more used to things.

7am on a weekend is completely unreasonable, dog owners can be so selfish

YANBU, the owner should be taking it inside. And I say that as a dog owner myself. Mines not much of a barker but on the odd occasion he does I take him in to stop him barking. For example last night he went out for his 11pm wee before bed and something moved under the hedge.. probably a cat or hedgehog... as soon as he barked I took him straight inside. I'd be mortified if he was regularly disturbing neighbours.

But to add to that, the same could be said of the neighbours who let their kids shriek for hours and hours in the garden.

neighbours who let their kids shriek for hours and hours in the garden

How do you stop kids from shrieking when they're playing outside?
Gag them?
Tell them to play without noise?
Keep them indoors?

A dog barking for 10 minutes is unacceptable at any time. You need to find out whose dog it is and complain - can't imagine you will be the only one disturbed by this.

@Tiari

neighbours who let their kids shriek for hours and hours in the garden

How do you stop kids from shrieking when they're playing outside?
Gag them?
Tell them to play without noise?
Keep them indoors?

Erm, teach them thag shrieking is unnecessary and antisocial? Whenever you hear them screaming bring them inside until they calm down? Tell them off?

How do you stop kids from shrieking when they're playing outside?

Teach them playing doesn't involve shrieking!

Everybody should have consideration for their neighbours - people shouldn't be forced to hear unnecessary noise. If kids can't play without shrieking, take them to an open space like a park where their noise would be more acceptable.

I’m a cat person but I love dogs. I wouldn’t mind as much if it was a big dog with a deep bark (would still be annoying) but it’s the ear piercing high pitched barking that gets me! It’s particularly bad because we have to have the window open atm due to the heat.

It’s just frustrating because I’m so tired in the week (my job + auto immune condition) and then to be woken up at 7am on a weekend is fucking annoying. I’ve spoken to my downstairs neighbour about it and she says that the dog is owned by someone halfway down the street.

How do you stop kids from shrieking when they're playing outside?

Put them back inside and let their parents enjoy their shrieking.

OP you have my sympathy. I’m a dog lover, I have a dog but I hate dogs barking like this. It’s just laziness on the owners part. I hope you can find the owner and have a word. Although as someone who sleeps with windows open on a street with what must be a million dogs left in gardens overnight you do get used to the barking.

I feel you, my last house was our in the middle of nowhere but attached to a small holding where an elderly gentleman lived, his son lived in the village and would come every day to tend to the cows but at night a dog would be left in a run barking ALL night Long, the man was deaf so he wouldn’t hear it. I brought it up but was told it was for security 🙄. We moved not long after. As a previous poster says it seems like laziness surely at that time of the morning it’s out for a quick wee and back in?

I just can’t understand how you can hear your dog making that racket at that time and not think “oh shit better bring him in”?!

OP, it sounds like one of those tiny rat like dogs with a pathetic, high pitched yappy bark

I would keep an eye on it until the owner returns and then speak to them and tell them that it's unacceptable to leave it yapping away for so long

@Macncheeseballs

7am on a weekend is completely unreasonable, dog owners can be so selfish

So can people who don’t own dogs.

We have a dog next door who is very loud. It’s a very annoying situation. I’m not being smart, but have you tried strong foam earplugs? My husband snores and plays a wave machine and these ear plugs block out the sound. I need silence to sleep. I would still try and find out who owns the dog though, and speak to them. The earplugs might help short term.

@Tiari I didn't say kids should be silent, normal chatter and laughter fine, constant over hyped screeching.. not fine. As pp have said, unless you have the luxury of living with no neighbours, everyone one should both have consideration for neighbours and also on the flip side some tolerance. For example... neighbours have couple of bbqs in the summer with music on fairly loud until midnight.... no problem... they have lives and I have tolerance... if they did it every weekend... that'd be a problem.

Dog barking occasionally, no problem... dog barking for long period every morning... problem.