Neighbours dogs waking me up before 7am

[HappySausage]

Next door neighbours on both sides have dogs and both let them out in the garden early in the morning, and they all bark! Sometimes just a few barks, sometimes a lot of barking. We like to have our bedroom window locked open a crack to reduce condensation, so this doesn't help, but we often get woken up at 6.30am or sometimes earlier, with the dogs barking in the neighbours garden. We have tried closing the window completely, it is quieter, but they still wake us up. DD knows to stay in bed until the sun comes up on her growclock at 7am, but I'm starting to get quite annoyed with these dogs! Last year, one neighbours dogs woke me up at about 5.30am, so I did go and speak to them and they apologised and said that was too early. I explained we wake up at 0700, but they need to leave for work before then so said they need to let the dogs out.

AIBU to expect peace and quiet until 7am? Has anyone dealt with this? I don't want to fall out with the neighbours about it. Thanks!

Dog owners often think that neighbours just have to put up with the nuisance they cause. Keep a diary and report it to the council - they sometimes take action.

Before 7am is very antisocial.

If they have more than one dog, then letting them out one at a time may well stop the barking.

Also taking them out on a lead instead of just opening the back door and letting then run out helps.

I get up at 6 and our old dog was always straight to the back door to go out (although at the weekend he managed fine until 8). Very occasionally he would bark at a fox in our garden and fly down the garden chasing the fox with a flurry of barks.
I was always mortified when he did this at 6am, but at the same time, I wanted him to chase the fox off as we had chickens.
our only saving grace is that our closest neighbour is a postie, so he let his own dog out about 4 am and was gone to work before I got up.

But there are ways to take them out without barking.

My boy loved a bark in the garden. It’s really antisocial to allow it for any length of time and certainly early morning. In his case he never barked if I took him out on the lead so maybe you could suggest this?

Keep a record and speak to environmental health they will send a letter to the house owners.

I have a dog and he goes out via a dog flap he doesn’t bark early in the morning. The only times he ever barks early is often when my sons having an asthma attack to let me know.

Not unreasonable, no, however you could ask that they accompany dog out the door rather than wait till they bark to come in. (But then we are tolerant of next door's basketball games at 7.15am)

I think if it is only one or two barks and then the dogs go in it's not an issue, it could be likened to somebody slamming car doors, but if it is persistent barking then it is a problem.

Every single house on our road has at least one dog and usually somebody is barking before 7am, unfortunately. There is one dog with a very big bark that sets off every single dog in the road. Most people take the dogs out around 7 - 7.30am as well.

The only time I have necessarily had a big issue with it is when dogs are barking continuously and nobody bothers to call them inside, accompany them outside, that sort of thing.

Don't the birds wake you up beforehand? They were chirping at 5.30 this morning and I'm shattered

We have a barky dog next door too though so I do get how annoying it is

I can understand it’s very annoying but what can they do?

They should walk the dog rather than let out in the garden, especially if they are leaving for work.
Poor dogs

Dogs barking for long periods is avoidable - responsible dog owners don't leave their dogs to bark outside. Can you speak to them first though?

We had a similar issue with a resident couple of doors up taking three dogs out for a walk 6am every day. It seemed to take them a while to get going and the dogs would be barking like crazy for 10 mins in the garden in the meantime.

In the end I spoke to the neighbour when I next bumped into her (I knew her name, had stopped to chat occasionally) and she was really good about it and apologised. They've now tried not to take them out before 7am (still not great on a weekend but better than 6am) and try to quieten them (they are youngish so still being trained).

We've occasionally had an issue with the dogs being left outside to bark late at night (11pm), usually when the couple are away and their adult daughter seems to kick the dogs out and leave them....another neighbour spoke to the couple though and they had a stern word with the daughter.