Out of control dog disturbing baby in garden - help?!

[soirritating]

I'll keep it as brief as possible. Basically I have a 3 month old baby and we are often out in the garden in the pram in the nice weather. Sometimes she falls asleep whilst out there (obviously I put her in the shade and stay with her just rocking her etc).

My issue is that next door have a small noisy dog which seems to have some sort of motion sensor on it. Literally every time there's any sort of movement, like me standing to rock her from sitting, the dog runs to the fence (I can see through the small slats) and starts yapping very loudly. And it's constant, continual yapping, until the neighbour eventually comes and retrieves it and what I would describe as half heartedly tells it off, eg. "stop it, come inside". Dog ignores her and continues. By this time my baby is wide awake and crying. This is every single time we are in the garden and make any sort of movement. Her "tellings off" are also few and far between - sometimes she just leaves the dog to yap at us through the fence.

As well as waking her sometimes when she's asleep it has also given her a shock and made her cry her on one occasion when we were out in the garden on her playmat - the best shaded area is right by my garden fence so that's where I was sitting with her lying on her mat. Next thing the dogs comes bounding over and is yapping inches from where we are. She startled and cried instantly. I was so upset on this occasion I just went back inside.

I know dogs bark. I get that. But i have owned a dog previously and if it was barking through the fence every single time a neighbour and her small baby were out there I'd be taking it inside. She doesn't seem to do that. So often we just end up back inside so baby isn't upset and can sleep, which I don't think is fair.

I don't expect silence in my garden by any means. But a dog constantly up at the fence, inches from where you know there's a small baby?? I just wouldn't let this continue. I'm starting to feel like I can't use my garden.

AIBU?

Dogs barking all day and in the garden is annoying, yes. However, you can move baby indoors if you are worried about her being woken.
Neither you or the neighbour have any more right to that outside space than the other and I think if you choose to go out there then you are accepting the surroundings and if you want complete peace then a detached house away from others is the best option.

if you want complete peace then a detached house away from others is the best option.

We are working on saving the deposit for exactly this. Hence renting here at the moment

Staple some not too horrific looking shower curtains/old curtains/camouflage screens to the existing fence.

Genuine question... is the shower curtain suggestion really a thing?! I haven't heard of this ...

Maybe get a new fence. One where the dog cannot see in so easily. We have quite a high fence but slats so small gaps. The problem was with our own dog. It got attacked my a bigger dog and is scared of all bleddy large dogs now and barks like crazy when she senses one. New neighbours behind us have a massive dog! We ended up having to put up some wood a long the bottom half of the fence so neither the dog behind us or our dog can spot each other. They still sense each other at times though!

But unfortunately with a baby sleeping in the garden. There's always gonna be house. Whether it's dogs, people socialising or kids playing. Sleeping outside isn't essential. I assume she wouldn't hear it if she was sleeping indoors? I

@soirritating

Here is a diagram (taken from a zoom in on Google maps obviously with street names removed). Our garden is shaded green, neighbour is red. Boundary between the two is where the dog yaps. You can see my garden is a lot smaller so fewer options to sit away from fence and yappy dog.

The purple on our house shows the location of my baby's room for those suggesting neighbours would hear her cry. Highly unlikely.

Ahh I see. Yes not really anywhere else for you to sit. Feel your pain. Especially on a day like today.

Yes seriously. Waterproof. Can’t see through it. A million designs to choose from. Staple or tie it up then take it down when you move. Absolutely. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIST LADIES!!!

I don't think talking to the neighbour will help tbh. If they're prepared to let it bark like that they're not likely to take well to being told it's annoying.

If I plucked up some courage to talk to her about it I wouldn't use the word annoying. I'd say it was upsetting for the baby. That was my plan of how to approach it. Because ultimately that's my issue - if I didn't have the baby I'd totally just block it out with headphones and music when I was chilling in the garden.

Oh I'm sorry OP. Cheese cubes are both my dogs' favourite treat (hence why one is getting rather fat). YANBU to be annoyed about the dog yapping continuously at you when you're in the garden (and this is from an owner of a yappy dog; but honestly some dogs can't be trained when protecting their territory). I hope you find ways to minimise the barking and get some well deserved sleep .

@soirritating

if you want complete peace then a detached house away from others is the best option.

We are working on saving the deposit for exactly this. Hence renting here at the moment

Completely understand. Also in the same position with trying to buy. I'm in a detached rented house but neighbours gardens adjoining nearby so have to deal with their noise also - dogs, parties, out having bbqs etc. Just part and parcel with what we are dealing with at the moment. Wouldn't expect any of them to stop what they are doing though

Get a dog. Your kid will get used to the noise of a dog and won’t be so easily upset by them.

My dogs are supremely well trained but still bark. It’s instinct.

But unfortunately with a baby sleeping in the garden. There's always gonna be house. Whether it's dogs, people socialising or kids playing. Sleeping outside isn't essential. I assume she wouldn't hear it if she was sleeping indoors?
I don't think anyone thinks sleeping in the garden was essential, more that a family should be able to use their garden without being constantly barked at.

@Drivingmeupthewall

Get a dog. Your kid will get used to the noise of a dog and won’t be so easily upset by them.

My dogs are supremely well trained but still bark. It’s instinct.

We have had many a discussion about getting another dog since we lost ours. We always decide against it as the heartbreak of losing them is just so awful 😥

@ForeverSausages

Oh I'm sorry OP. Cheese cubes are both my dogs' favourite treat (hence why one is getting rather fat). YANBU to be annoyed about the dog yapping continuously at you when you're in the garden (and this is from an owner of a yappy dog; but honestly some dogs can't be trained when protecting their territory). I hope you find ways to minimise the barking and get some well deserved sleep .

Thank you

If it helps, my neighbour said "oh he barks every time I come out here, it must drive you mad". I was mortified (I did bring him in every time he barked, but still). I think I'd go with "it really upsets him/her when I go into the garden. Is there anything I can do to minimise it?". You shouldn't have to do anything at all! But with neighbours I think the best thing is to kill them with kindness. If they're a decent neighbour, it'll make them far more aware if nothing else.

@ThanksIGotItInMorrisons

Yes seriously. Waterproof. Can’t see through it. A million designs to choose from. Staple or tie it up then take it down when you move. Absolutely. YOU HEARD IT HERE FIST LADIES!!!

This is a revelation to me 😂

My dogs are supremely well trained but still bark. It’s instinct.
Yes, it's instinct, but surely that's the point of dog training? Teaching dogs to act in non-instinctive ways?

@soirritating it is utterly galling but for me, having them is so rewarding it’s worth it.

@Uramaki

I'm pleased you can see from my (pretty rubbish 😂) diagram that there's only really so far from the fence I can get before I'm back inside my house 😬

They should bring their dog in asap but it may have woke db up by then, you can’t expect more. What if there were noisy toddlers or people enjoying a lunch chatting etc?

@Dontdripme

They should bring their dog in asap but it may have woke db up by then, you can’t expect more. What if there were noisy toddlers or people enjoying a lunch chatting etc?

There are both those things - neither of them startles her. Just the barking does.

@Ratalie

My dogs are supremely well trained but still bark. It’s instinct. Yes, it's instinct, but surely that's the point of dog training? Teaching dogs to act in non-instinctive ways?

Do you have dogs?!

You can train them to behave certain ways and trigger certain behaviours, but there are certain things you can’t always suppress, like breed specific traits. My terriers bark. They stop once corrected but they still can’t resist it. They get excited. My giant dogs have watchdog behaviours so let off a single big booming bark to notify me of arrivals to the house. They then go lay on their beds so as not to mob the guests. So trained, but working to realistic parameters regarding instincts.

Would it be worth sticking your head over the fence and saying hello to the dog? Sometimes when they see what it is moving about they calm down. Like when a dog barks at the door as they can hear someone but then when they see the person they chill out.

Although it’s annoying there’s unfortunately not much you can do. I’m sure your baby will make noise too, especially as she gets older. It would be great if the neighbours could calm their dog down a bit but they obviously don’t feel they have to.

I'd find this annoying.

I hate yappy untrained dogs.

Hosepipe over the fence each time

You can train them to behave certain ways and trigger certain behaviours, but there are certain things you can’t always suppress, like breed specific traits. My terriers bark. They stop once corrected but they still can’t resist it. They get excited. My giant dogs have watchdog behaviours so let off a single big booming bark to notify me of arrivals to the house. They then go lay on their beds so as not to mob the guests. So trained, but working to realistic parameters regarding instincts.
But that's quite different from a dog that barks aggressively and constantly at any hint of noise or movement. I agree most dogs can't (and shouldnt) be trained to never bark, but surely the neighbour should be training their dogs like you did yours?