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?

I own two dogs and find this behaviour totally unacceptable. I'd be mortified if my dogs continually harassed our neighbours.

You are not being unreasonable OP. Agree with the idea of blocking up the fence.

@soirritating

I think some people are misunderstanding what I'm complaining about. I don't expect a silent peaceful day in the garden. Just for dogs who bark continually at a family with a small baby (causing baby to cry) through the fence to be trained not to do so. That's all I'm asking.

My suggestion. Speak to the neighbour in a friendly way, and say not sure if you know but when your dog barks at the fence it's spooking the baby and making it cry. Do you have a command word that the dog reacts to that I can say to stop the barking. This way if she is trying to teach the dog she will share the word Adobe grateful for the help your side If she is oblivious (she maybe WFH therefore zoning out dog noises), then she will be more aware and should at the very least react and bring the dog in each and every time is bark, rather than sporadically as it seems to be happening now

For 14 years, have just spied on this vitriol from afar. The most toxic social media platform, ever. Women, I despair

Since the person doesn’t want to train their dog then get an anti bark device

@purplesequins

you need a water pistol or water spray bottle. if you are close to the fence spray the dof if/when it starts barking.

This doesnt work with my dog, he loves trying to catch the water and sees it as a fun game

Get one of those high pitched whistles that dogs don’t like and blow it when it’s barking!

@stellaisabella

Move away from the fence. The dog can see you right there, that's why it's barking! Shock and fear is a stretch, it's a dog barking, she will recover. Anything startles a baby! I don't even like dogs and I think this is a bit silly op. You don't have to stop enjoying your garden! You just simply need to move a bit, it's really not a big deal.

Again.

*The garden is too small to love significantly far away enough from the fence to stop the barking!!!!!!

The dog still sees us and any movement. Read my updates.*

This should be called Dogsnet based on some of these batshit replies.

Agree. Unbelievable.

@Kinko

I own two dogs and find this behaviour totally unacceptable. I'd be mortified if my dogs continually harassed our neighbours.

You are not being unreasonable OP. Agree with the idea of blocking up the fence.

As a former dog owner I'd be mortified too. Especially if a baby started to cry because of it! Some heartless, unempathic and VERY odd people in this world!

@Anniemas

For 14 years, have just spied on this vitriol from afar. The most toxic social media platform, ever. Women, I despair

Sorry?!

@rosalie11

Since the person doesn’t want to train their dog then get an anti bark device

Roughly translated as "since the person doesn't want to take responsibility for the animal she is keeping in her garden, you should instead!"

No. Rubbish.

*Will people please stop suggesting that I "just move away from the fence" (where we sit for as it's the only shaded area in our small garden) - we tried this. OH got up from his seat to get a drink and the fucking thing started barking instantly! There was no noise - just movement. There is only so far I can move from the bloody fence before I am sitting back in my house!!

This is not acceptable and for anyone to think it is is absolutely batshit.

This thread has angered me so, so much and made me lose faith in humanity!!*

@HalzTangz

I do like the suggestion of a command word I can say to shut it up. Would be willing to try that.

I can literally see and hear her chatting, drinking, laughing with friend, having a lovely time, further up her much larger than mine garden. Whilst dog is down my end barking continuously and harassing us. We get the odd "stop that, come here now!" (Half hearted as I've said) - dog ignores and continues. Very infrequently she will come down to bottom of garden and repeat this. Dog doesn't even turn its head to acknowledge her. Off she walks and leaves it.

Based on what I've observed I think I can confidently conclude she is not actively trying to train the dog, nor is she wfh and blocking out dog noise.

She is just a lazy dog owner with no shits given about impact on others.

Like I said further back - the dog also runs at the side fence next to the street and barks at anyone and everyone walking past there. On one occasion a child shrieked and ran ahead of parents presumably due to the shock (the dog is LOUD for a small thing), and then promptly fell on the pavement. Poor thing burst into tears instantly.

Is this really, honestly, genuinely OK to people??

I love dogs as much as the next person but this is NOT OK!

Fucking world is batshit.

@h1nch

Can you buy some dog treats and when the dog barks pop your head over the fence and tell it to 'sit' and then give it a treat? I'm not a dog trainer but perhaps if the dog associates you with 'good' things it might stop barking, which I'm assuming is territorial or guarding behaviour?

We can't pop our heads over / the fence is significantly taller than us.

@DreamTheMoors

Thank you for that

@AlwaysLatte

You cannot seriously expect them to take the dog inside every time you are out there?? I do with mine when she barks! It's antisocial.

Yep, I did the same with mine too when I had her. (not that she would have behaved as appallingly as this dog does in the first place because we invested time and money into training her!!!)

And honestly if one more person suggests I move away from the fence so it can't see me.

Yes it can. We tried this. Our garden is not huge and there is not much scope for moving too far away.

It isn't that you are demanding silence so your baby can sleep outdoors, of course a baby is going to be frightened and upset by dogs barking through a fence.

Thank you for understanding

[quote soirritating]@DreamTheMoors

Thank you for that [/quote]
My pleasure, @soirritating, I assure you. ❤️

@FootballisgoingtoRome

And your comments in particular were disgusting. As per @DreamTheMoors ' comments, you should also be ashamed.

Thankfully it's been deleted now but to call someone "unhinged" and suggest that they must be suffering from postnatal depression because they are upset by a dog making their baby cry is absolutely disgusting.

YANBU. Bloody irritating little yappy dogs and their ridiculous humans. Dog yapping constantly when we go into/move around the garden would drive me mad, baby or not! We have one neighbour whose dog yaps its head off whenever we walk past with out dog on the other side of the road. At least we don't live next door to them though.

You definitely need to speak with the neighbour and address the issue, and if she doesn’t want to know, start keeping a noise
diary so you can report it to the council.

I’d be out there every second of every day in the summer and just hope that either a) lazy ass dog owning neighbour is so irritated by the barking she actually does something, or b) multiple neighbours get annoyed and put in their own complaints.

There’s also the option of meeting the dog and giving it the chance to get used to you which might help, but it sounds very territorial and you probably don’t have the headspace for that right now. Sorry you’re going through this - it’s astounding just how many extremely rude, entitled dog owners there are. Many of them on here I might add.

Water is your friend. It requires no anger or the need to say anything. I cured two yappy dogs with this. Neither of them mine. You could use a hose with a ‘pistol ‘ type attachment on the end so the water isn’t running out all the time, only when you squeeze the trigger, or else a water pistol. Dogs don’t like being sprayed in the face, after a few goes they shut up, job done.

Our dog has learnt the sound of the neighbours amd their kids and does not bark at them at all, a quick correction and meeting them sorted that out. He does however bark/alert us to other stranger sounds. He is not a small yappy dog though so was easy to train, it just came naturally. If you like dogs I'd suggest getting to know the dog so he is familiar with your sound and smell and he may not see you as a threat you can tell him to shut up through the fence.

I will say however that I would not want our dog to not bark at all as it is a good defence for an intruder which goes in both yours and their favour as not only may it put off the intruder it would also alert the owner. Its a difficult situation while the baby is so young, our dog may startle our new baby but he has got used to the sound and wouldn't cry uncontrollably.

@dreamthemoors the irony of commenting on someone else's intelligence and spelling it wrong 😂. I can only assume you are very, very young using words like 'bestie', though.