Dogs barking is relentless

RainbowBriteUk · 2022-01-31T12:31:40+00:00

My next door neighbour has a small dog. When they leave the house for work it barks incessantly. I first noticed it a few months back WFH but then when I went back to work forgot to say something to the neighbours. How do I broach it though? They're decent and considerate otherwise. Will they be aware of their dog barking? I feel if I do tell them then there's nothing they can do really, is there?

FTEngineerM · 31/01/2022 12:33

They might not be aware.
Yes there are things they can do if they wanted to.

Original poster

RainbowBriteUk · 31/01/2022 12:34

What can they do though?

OP posts:

FTEngineerM · 31/01/2022 12:40

Find out the problem, which is probably one of two options:

separation anxiety
guarding the house

Then go from there, training the dog how to behave.

Tellthemagain · 31/01/2022 12:44

I'd tell them their dog seems extremely distressed when left alone. I would want to know If it was mine.

CaptainThe95thRifles · 31/01/2022 12:45

You should tell them for the sake of the dog - I'd certainly want to know if one of mine was distressed while alone.

Thelnebriati · 31/01/2022 12:48

They can get up early and give him a good long walk with an intense game to wear him out so he sleeps though the morning, then have a dog walker come in midday to do the same.

thetemptationofchocolate · 31/01/2022 12:54

One of my neighbours' dogs started doing this and they had no idea because of course, she only did it while they weren't there. I told them about it, nobody got arsey and they tackled the problem. They were glad to be told as they didn't like the idea of their dog being distressed enough to bark non-stop.
I do see that this approach wouldn't work if your neighbours are hostile at all, it makes me realise how lucky I am with my neighbours when I read some of the tales on MN!

hairymorag · 31/01/2022 12:56

you tell them....dog barking is a nuisance and if you dont tell them another neighbour will likely report them to the noise nuisance department at the council (assuming your in the UK)

purpleboy · 31/01/2022 13:04

You should tell them, but do it from a place of concern for the dog rather than the annoying noise.
My dog had terrible separation anxiety, we had to work with a behaviorist for a couple of years to get it under control. It was so distressing for him.

MorningStarling · 31/01/2022 13:08

It's best to get the council involved, complaints take a long time to be processed so the sooner the better. The council will assess the noise and then instruct them to resolve the situation.

zafferana · 31/01/2022 13:15

You should tell them, but do it from a place of concern for the dog rather than the annoying noise.

Because of course the only one worth considering is the poor doggie, not the poor fucking humans who have to listen to it barking its bloody head off all day

Seriously, this is why dog people piss off non-dog people. Your dog is not the centre of anyone's universe but yours!

Mollymopple · 31/01/2022 13:19

My puppy did this when thought she would be ok if we just popped out for an hour.
I was glad my neighbour told me because it was the first time I realised she had separation anxiety. We now have a plan to support her with this. I wrongly assumed that she would be fine alone as previous dogs I have owned never did this. I also try hard to avoid excessive barking which might bother my neighbours so was glad that I knew it was happening. She approached the subject out of concern for the dog

purplemunkey · 31/01/2022 13:43

I'd approach them first. They sound like they might be reasonable. What can they do? Not leave their dog alone for hours might be a good idea...

I feel sorry for the dog but having been in this position before it is absolutely horrible being a neighbour to this. Our neighbours were nice enough but they didn't really do much about it. They said they had tried training and saw a dog behaviourist for a time, but 'nothing worked'. They treated the dog like a baby though so I'm not sure how much they committed to the training. They worked their schedules so that the dog was only alone for weekday mornings - but he barked non-stop for those 4 hours. It was a bloody nightmare. We moved in the end.

TyrannosaurusRegina · 31/01/2022 13:49

@zafferana

You should tell them, but do it from a place of concern for the dog rather than the annoying noise.

Because of course the only one worth considering is the poor doggie, not the poor fucking humans who have to listen to it barking its bloody head off all day

Seriously, this is why dog people piss off non-dog people. Your dog is not the centre of anyone's universe but yours!

I don't think that's what this poster was saying. I think they were saying to frame it as coming from a place of concern about the dog, so as to avoid any confrontation, as opposed to a complaint about the noise.

Squidgames4U · 31/01/2022 13:53

Next door got a lock down puppy.

They let it out for the toilet at 5am every day. It barks for 15 minutes running round the garden. It sets off the BIG dog the other side of it that lives in the garden (kennel with run). Once lockdown puppy goes back in, big dog starts howling now he is awake.

Lockdown puppy also yapps and barks ALL FUCKING DAY. It's not left alone, but has free access to garden to run around it and bark at every bird, or leaf that moves. But that I can just about cope with. Being woken at 5am every single morning by someone else's pet I can't cope with.

NoSquirrels · 31/01/2022 13:57

Does it bark all day? Do they leave it all day?

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 31/01/2022 14:00

Because of course the only one worth considering is the poor doggie, not the poor fucking humans who have to listen to it barking its bloody head off all day

Yeah, because that's exactly what PP said

Seriously, this is why dog people piss off non-dog people. Your dog is not the centre of anyone's universe but yours

And nobody has said otherwise.

But going in all guns blazing, ranting and raving isn't going to help - it will just piss people off and cause them to become defensive and upset.

There are ways of dealing with nuisance noise (that the neighbours are probably oblivious to) that don't involve being rude and unpleasant to people.

zafferana · 31/01/2022 14:09

I wasn't advocating being rude and unpleasant, but I really don't see why the OP should have to pretend that listening to someone else's dog bark all day makes her heart bleed with concern for the dog, when the issue is that it's driving her insane.

Many of these 'lockdown puppies' are a total nuisance. They're not used to being left alone, they haven't been trained properly, and many of the owners wouldn't know how to train a dog if their lives depended on it.

purpleboy · 31/01/2022 14:27

@zafferana

You should tell them, but do it from a place of concern for the dog rather than the annoying noise.

Because of course the only one worth considering is the poor doggie, not the poor fucking humans who have to listen to it barking its bloody head off all day

Seriously, this is why dog people piss off non-dog people. Your dog is not the centre of anyone's universe but yours!

Haha you proved my point perfectly. Unfortunately people are so aggressive nowadays any hint of criticism sends them into a irrational rage, framing it as caring for the dog will be better received than telling them they don't give a shit about their neighbors and are bad dog owners and neighbors.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 31/01/2022 14:31

@zafferana

I wasn't advocating being rude and unpleasant, but I really don't see why the OP should have to pretend that listening to someone else's dog bark all day makes her heart bleed with concern for the dog, when the issue is that it's driving her insane.

Many of these 'lockdown puppies' are a total nuisance. They're not used to being left alone, they haven't been trained properly, and many of the owners wouldn't know how to train a dog if their lives depended on it.

I really don't see why the OP should have to pretend that listening to someone else's dog bark all day makes her heart bleed with concern for the dog, when the issue is that it's driving her insane.

I mean, surely she can be concerned and annoyed at the same time?

I wouldn't blame anyone for being annoyed at a barking dog but if the neighbours have been leaving it for ages and nobody has said anything, they're probably completely oblivious and if they're decent (as the OP says they are), they will be mortified when it's pointed out to them.