Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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

602 replies

soirritating · 18/07/2021 14:37

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?

OP posts:
mynameisbrian · 18/07/2021 14:50

I should add that my home is terraced and we have 4 gardens attached, two at the side and two at the back. My dog was used to neighbours at the back and the rights hand side, but silence from the left. New neighbours and my word my dog would be running along that side of the fence barking. It was horrible, he was never left on his own, if he started I sprayed the hose. He still gruffs but is in the main fine. But I am not an asshole dog owner.

hookiewookie29 · 18/07/2021 14:50

Get a squirty bottle of water and squirt the dog through the fence every time it does it. It won't hurt it, and it'll learn!
Im a dog owner and there's no way I'd let my dog keep doing that. It's unfair of any neighbour to spoil your enjoyment of your garden, why should you put up with it? It's not fair.

HeyDemonsItsYaGirl · 18/07/2021 14:50

They don't, we are detached from their house

And sound never carries, windows are never opened, your baby is never crying in the garden... okay.

Ylvamoon · 18/07/2021 14:50

Talk to your neighbour first. If it isn't sorted within a week, report to your local dog warden.

soirritating · 18/07/2021 14:51

@Uramaki

Screen off the fence somehow so the dog can't see the baby. Is the fence high enough that you are reassured dog can't get over it? Can you sit in a different bit of the garden?

Yes I'm happy that the dog can't get to her. It's just the proximity to us and the fact the barking is right at us and it's continual. If it was just a bit of general barking not aimed at us and our movements, it wouldn't be so bad! But it's right there inches from us and it's so loud!

We could sit elsewhere in the garden, it's just that's the best place to sit in the shade when it's hot. But yeah. I could do.

OP posts:
gardeninggirl68 · 18/07/2021 14:51

You cannot seriously expect them to take the dog inside every time you are out there??

Not their fault you feel you can only sit next to the fence. Change your own habitat to suit you

This place is turning batshit again

Where exactly CAN dogs go that mumsnet approves of?

Iggly · 18/07/2021 14:51

OP, you may have been better off not mentioning the baby and just said that the dog yaps every single time. People may have more helpful or sympathetic.

Sounds awful to be honest.

Madein1995 · 18/07/2021 14:51

Yabu. Ffs.

Iggly · 18/07/2021 14:52

@gardeninggirl68

You cannot seriously expect them to take the dog inside every time you are out there??

Not their fault you feel you can only sit next to the fence. Change your own habitat to suit you

This place is turning batshit again

Where exactly CAN dogs go that mumsnet approves of?

Maybe train the dog so it’s not constantly yapping. It’s not usual - we have a couple of dogs as neighbours!
soirritating · 18/07/2021 14:52

@HeyDemonsItsYaGirl

They don't, we are detached from their house

And sound never carries, windows are never opened, your baby is never crying in the garden... okay.

Is this a serious comment?

No the only time she's cried in the garden was when their dog made her jump. And trust me when I say that the houses themselves are far enough apart that there's no way her crying is heard by them. And even if it was, she's not running at them and crying at them, is she. The dog is. Also, dogs can be trained not to do this. Babies naturally cry.

OP posts:
CuriousaboutSamphire · 18/07/2021 14:52

Buy a screen and put it up against that part of the fence. If the dog can't see you it might lose interest.

soirritating · 18/07/2021 14:53

Im a dog owner and there's no way I'd let my dog keep doing that.

I used to be, and neither would I have!

OP posts:
NewlyGranny · 18/07/2021 14:53

Do you have a water pistol, OP? Or just a squeeze bottle? It won't harm the dog, just deter it. 😉

My greatest moment, walking with friends with dogs, was getting the two badly behaved (untrained) ones as they barrelled through, chasing each other and knocking people and obedient dogs flying, with a left and a right from my plastic water bottle. 😁

soirritating · 18/07/2021 14:54

I'm hearing the water pistol idea ..... 😬

But like I said, I don't need a neighbour war on my hands! 🙈

OP posts:
gardeninggirl68 · 18/07/2021 14:54

Yes op, but the owner clearly isn't going to train it now at this stage.....so move away from the boundary.... create your own shade further away

Sorted!

PerfectPrepPrincess · 18/07/2021 14:55

You are definitely not being unreasonable the CFs on here are though xxx Flowers

soirritating · 18/07/2021 14:55

Where exactly CAN dogs go that mumsnet approves of?

I love dogs. Trained ones. As I've said a few times, I used to own one myself.

OP posts:
unwuthering · 18/07/2021 14:55

Horrible for you and the baby. Can you get a shade umbrella and put it up as far away from the little rotter as possible?

PerfectPrepPrincess · 18/07/2021 14:56

Love the water pistol idea 😉

FenceSplinters · 18/07/2021 14:57

Could you get something like a wind breaker, and put it up against the fence? It would block the dog from seeing the movement.

unwuthering · 18/07/2021 14:57

Yes, I third the water pistol. They need to be trained and the next door neighbours are not going to bother.

soirritating · 18/07/2021 14:57

Not their fault you feel you can only sit next to the fence. Change your own habitat to suit you

😂 I have no words

OP posts:
soirritating · 18/07/2021 14:58

@unwuthering

Horrible for you and the baby. Can you get a shade umbrella and put it up as far away from the little rotter as possible?

Yes perhaps this is the solution!

OP posts:
GenderApostatemk2 · 18/07/2021 14:58

Dog whistle app on phone. It worked for next door’s mutt.
You might have to try a few different ones.

NewlyGranny · 18/07/2021 14:58

A squirty bottle, as a PP suggested, looks innocent enough, after the shots. You can be drinking from it. Better than a water pistol or hose!

If the neighbour spots you and doesn't like it, they are at liberty to train the dog or just keep taking it in whenever it goes doo-lally.

Swipe left for the next trending thread