Neighbours barking dog

[ILoveAndrew]

Next door neighbours have a Chihuahua. It barks every time it's out in the garden and sometimes this can go on for a good 15/20 minutes without the owners stopping it. It has always been like this for the past year I have lived here, but I am seriously fucked off now it's getting warmer and my door is open. The dog also barks regularly indoors even when one of the neighbours are home with it. Even if the door is open for the dog to go back in, it still barks, just staring at the back door.

The dog has a very loud, high pitched bark and it's regularly waking me up too when I sleep through the day because of work.

I have just lost my patience and shouted for them to shut the fucking dog up.

I was working from home on a call the other day actually and had the back door open to enjoy the lovely weather, but the dog started barking and ten minutes later it was still barking. Again, I lost my patience, slammed the back door shut and the neighbours must have told the dog to be quiet as it shut up but why aren't they doing anything? They are decent neighbours apart from this.

Maybe it's just me though? Perhaps dogs bark and as it's not all day then should I be more tolerant?

How on earth do you know this given you haven’t spoken to them?

SO WEIRD to be frothing this much and getting so wound up when there is literally something you could do about it right now. (Well maybe in the morning)

OP you can try complaining to environmental health at your council (with your noise diary ensure your record start and end time of barking plus effect on you, each time). If council is crap (some are good, others not), then I recommend that you order a solicitors’ letter to be sent. Company called Sanctum Consultants will help you and they are very affordable and professional.

Of course you can start by trying to have a civil conversation with the neighbours but I know from bitter experience that this can often backfire.

I'm an owner of a yappy little dog, your neighbours are being arseholes by not immediately coming out and getting their dog in! I'm always embarrassed when mine starts howling outside and immediately dash out to quieten him down. You can't always train the barking out (dogs will be dogs) but you can distract them or remove them from the situation that is causing the barking!

Keep a noise diary, you can also try writing them a letter asking them to please immediately bring their dog in when it starts barking, that you sleep during the day, that you are recording the noise and length it goes on for etc. Date and keep a copy of the letter as you may be able to use it later if they don't do anything to change it. Then after that, if no change, go to the council and make a noise complaint!

@ShirleyPhallus I just went round as the dog has been barking for 20 minutes now.

They didn't answer the door which might be because of the time.

@Confusednewmum1 Is the noise a figment of my imagination then?

I absolutely CAN hear it through the walls. Perhaps you'd like to come round to verify that I can indeed hear it! Doh! The chihuahua's bark is loud and is high pitched. I'd rather hear kids playing outside noisily than that bastard dog (with anti-social bastard owners who don't shut it up) when it's constant bark, bark, bark.

A dog barking like that really really grates doesn’t it? You have my sympathies.

There seems to be more irresponsible and selfish dog owners than ever around.

I feel your pain.
your neighbours are selfish idiots .
you can train a dog not to bark.
please go round and have a quiet word.

In the morning before you go to work, put youtube on your tv and search "yappy dogs barking" press play, go to work. This is what I do to my arsehole neighbours. That or a dog whistle video but I am a petty twat

Chihuauas are decievingly loud for their size. Ours only barks properly when the Rotweiller barks at what he deems to be threats (aka the binmen and the postman). You can hear her over the top of him, even when she is in a different room to him.

Because of how shrill her bark it is far more annoying than the big dog's. It goes right through me and I immediately stop her.

Poor you. It sounds unbearable. People shouldn't be allowed dogs if they can't keep them quiet (or pick up their poo)!

Generally speaking Chihuahas are quite nervy dogs and don't like sudden, loud noises. If you know its name try shouting it's name loudly and sharply. That shocks ours into stopping whatever she is doing immediately.

Is there some sort of device that deters barking, like a high pitched tone or something? We are having the same problem with our neighbours dog and I can see it getting worse over summer.

Dogs would be so much cooler without vocal chords, the shouty little fuckers.

You’ve done the right thing by going round at this time of night. Shame they didn’t answer the door so I would now put a note through the door explaining it was you ringing their bell in your pyjamas at 11pm as you had been woken up by the dog barking!

Do you own or rent OP? Just be careful about doing things officially through the council if you’re an owner as you will have to declare it if you come to sell.
If that’s the case you’re best to speak to them yourself repeatedly every time the dog disturbs you. Go out every time the dog’s barking in the garden and ask them to take it in as your on a Teams call and it’s so loud no-one can hear you!

I've had this almost everywhere I've lived. So many irresponsible twats.

I can hear the chihuahua next door through the wall, I've no doubt OP can hear her neighbours too. My neighbour looks after his mothers dog when she's away and always tells it to shut up so it's only ever a min or so.

No advice but solidarity! I live next door to a guy who has a whole pack of dogs and they're forever barking. Sometimes he'll shut one of them out in the garden and it just stands at the door barking. He recently ran over one of them and I did feel sad for the dog (and him as he was distraught) but in the back of my mind I thought hmm one less bark (it doesn't make much difference though as it's the little terrier which is the worst).

It’s not always possible to stop them though. One of our dogs barks a lot. We have a behaviourist and trainer and follow all advice but there’s not much progress.

Thank you for all of your replies.

It went on for forty minutes in the end, way past 11.00pm. I'm going to continue to do the council noise log (there's lots on it already!) and send that off.

I'm not even going to go round. They have probably heard me getting agitated with the constant barking when the dog is in the garden and then me slamming the back door when I'm on a work call so they are well aware that the noise is a disturbance to me. There's no reasoning with stupid is there?

Forget the D, just shout dog.

I wish I knew which house the fucking barking has been coming from for the past 2hrs I would most definitely go round and bang on their door.

It's completely unacceptable to leave a dog barking for more than a few minutes, and yes, I do feel for the dog too but after listening to it's yapping since 5am I'm ready to strangle both it and it's owner.

I would shout its name and tell it to shut up every time.

I really don't understand why you don't speak with them. Or drop a note round if you really can't bear confrontation.
What possible harm can it do to alert them to the extend that the dog barking is affecting your life? It might make them think. It might not. They might respond by telling you they're sorry and that they've booked training classes which start in x weeks? Or they were simply unaware of how often it disrupts you but will now be better at addressing it.

Give them the opportunity to change the situation and be good neighbours.

A dog thar continuously barks is just grating. It really gets on your nerves.

Our old neighbour had a dog that barked all day (I was at work so didn't hear him) but another neighbour reported them to the council. They were told either train the dog or they would have to get rid of him. They were council tenants though so the council did have that authority.

As an owner of two dogs, any owner that tries to tell you they "don't notice" their dogs barking is completely full of shit.

I'm so sorry you're having to put up with living next door to people who seemingly make minimal effort to keep their dog quiet, and the impact it's having on your day to day life. Definitely make complaints and take it it the council If you can. It's unacceptable.

Take heart op a woman had her ddog seized recently and fined for allowing her ddog to bark incessantly. Keep reporting.