To buy my neighbours a voucher and put through letterbox?

[tertrisnblox]

My neighbours are attached to us. They are renting and moved in around 3 months ago. They are two males, I've spoken to one briefly who has introduced himself, the other guy is quieter.

I have two chihuahuas, who honest to god, are really well trained except the fucking barking. It's actually a nightmare, I feel constantly on tenterhooks. They are fine as long as no one else is in their garden, but if they are, so help the neighbourhood.

So full disclosure, I can't afford a trainer at the moment, so I have been trying to train them. I find this very difficult when I just want them to shut up quietly so not to upset the neighbours.

One of the men are really friendly and always smile at them and have mentioned coming over to say hello so they're not too scared of him.

I try and only let them out when no one else is in their garden. However, tonight I didn't see the quiet neighbour sitting in his garden. Let the dogs out and they went MENTAL. The neighbour looked visibly annoyed and quite right. Until he seen me then started smiling, I apologised and he smiled and said it's fine but he was on the phone and immediately went inside and slammed the door.

I feel absolutely awful and honestly don't know what to do. I know they may smile at the dogs but in their head they'll be thinking fuck off noisy dogs (and worse I'm sure).

I have tried the spray from pets at home, I have tried positive reinforcement, I have tried distraction tactics etc.

Would I be unreasonable posting a voucher and an apology letter to the guys? Or will they be thinking, fuck the apology, get it sorted.

I hate the thought of rehoming my dogs. I utterly adore them but I honestly hate the thought of upsetting my neighbours.

What if I went over and knocked their door and asked them how much this was upsetting them with a promise to do something about it? Like they could give them sausages when they see them to make them not scared?

What's the voucher for?

If you can't afford to train them how are you going to afford a vets bill?

Sorry OP but your sound like a fucking nightmare, there’s nothing worse than barking dogs, it’s psychological torture to always hear yap yap yap and a voucher won’t cut it. Put the money towards training and make it a priority. Neither you nor your neighbours can live like this anymore!

Take them for walk more often then?I know people with dogs who don’t have gardens so it’s not an essential, an adult dog can hold it between regular walks. If occasionally they do need to go out there for the then they’re only going to be out for 30 seconds to a minute in which case I case that’s not such an unreasonable amount of time.

Did you do no research before getting the dogs though? Everything I have ever read about getting dogs said not to get two siblings as dogs at the same time. Do you have any dog experience or experience in training them? Why didn’t you start by getting one dog? If you can’t afford basics such as dog training, why get two expensive dogs? You should have gotten one and actually put money into training it properly.

It sounds like you’ve been very naive and gotten these dogs without actually researching anything beforehand or putting the effort into training them properly from the start. If you can’t do this then rehoming them with responsible, capable dog owners willing to put in the time, work and money needed to train them properly would surely be in their interests. For you it’s a lesson in not getting designer dogs without actually having the inclination or money to do a good job training them.

Agree re. the sausages! Graeme Hill has a good dog training podcast and 'The Book Your Dog Wishes You Would Read' is also helpful.

fuck the apology, get it sorted.

This.
I live next to a yappy dog, they never tell it to shut up. I can’t so much as step out into the garden without setting it off.

Its difficult with litter mates. Best thing is to take them out separately ona long line and reward for quiet when they notice a distraction. You can also train a solid recall so you can shout them in if they start barking. Littermates must be trained separately. It's surprising that a breeder let 2 go to the same home, littermate syndrome can be a real problem

Good news is that with work, you can massively reduce the barking. It's not an impossible task. Do the dogs bark at the sound as well as sight of the neighbours? Do they bark if they go outside without the other one?
I've found with every dog I've ever trained that repetition is the key. This will take time, you will need to do the same thing each time and commit. Put them on leads to go outside. The moment they bark you turn and go inside immediately. Wait for them to stop. Go outside. Rinse and repeat until they go outside and stay quiet then give a treat. You can use a clicker alongside the treat. Chihuahuas are intelligent and will pick this up if you treat them like dogs and not babies (like lots do). Persist with training inside as well - keep their brains busy, get the basics down like sitting, laying down, stay. You can find videos on YouTube with more advice. Good luck.

Yes. These. 100%

@MolkosTeenageAngst okay miss pretentious. You have a point regarding taking them out for the toilet to the park as I have one just around the corner.

However, everything you have read about not getting two dogs at the same time, fair enough, I did read about littermate syndrome. I didn't get them at the same time though, I bought one and about 4 weeks later the breeder contacted me saying she was struggling to sell the last pup. I ended up buying the pup. She was being clearly maltreated and I needed her out of there, the two dogs get along swimmingly and there is no drama.

I can afford my dogs treats, food, toys etc. I also have them both insured. But yes, thousands of pounds for a trainer isn't something I have to hand.

And your comment, 'designer dogs' lol. You do realise the names these poor pups get brandished with on a daily basis.

Good God if you can't afford to train them then rehome them, one of our old neighbours had dogs like yours and the constant howling and yapping had a serious impact on my sons mental health. It was none stop.

Keeping dogs you don't know how to care for properly is just selfish, it isn't fair on the people who have no.cjoice but to live with the consequences and it isn't fair on the dogs who aren't having their needs met.

DO NOT FOLLOW THIS ADVICE electric shock collars are cruel and abusive. and ILLEGAL!!!!

God the stuff I read on here sometimes!!!

It’s a good job the dogs don’t understand what people say then.

THOUSANDS?!

Average cost is about £50 per session.

They don't like your dogs and I really dont think them giving them food is a good idea, they'll pester them more as they'll think they like it.
Just bring them in every single time and reward every time they are quiet, starting when noone there and build up. Maybe read up on behaviour shaping online. And don't use sausages all the time unless you are made of money!

Actually it is probably one of the more likely to work solutions!

I’m guessing the OP is going to provide the dried sausage from the pet shop to help with this.

Yes, this. It sounds like you can’t afford to look after them properly. Your neighbours deserve better and so do the dogs.

But OP ignore people telling you to rehome your dogs. Ridiculous suggestion

And TBF I love Chihuahuas and would be all in on the sausage idea if I was your neighbour. But it seems I’m alone in this. 🤷‍♀️

Did you even click on the link @justgettingthroughtheday ?? It’s not a bloody electric collar 🙄🙄

It’s a handheld device that emits a beeping noise fgs

But won't they bark more, to be rewarded by sausage?
You can only keep them in, I suppose. Would muzzling work?
We live next door a 5 dog family. There is one in particular that would never shut up, but they haul it in, thank goodness.

That’s nice. Except that’s not what was posted

You’re not alone. I think giving the dogs positive experiences of the neighbours is a good thing. We’ve never asked our neighbour to do this, but she buys treats for our dog. Whenever our dog sees the neighbour, her tail wags like mad… and no barking!

Something to keep in mind is that training might not actually stop the barking. Sometimes even several trainers struggle to stop barking. Some dogs just love barking.

Please don't have too much faith that a trainer will fix the problem.

Until you can get it sorted you need to never let your dogs in your garden unsupervised so that they never have the chance to bark for more than a moment without being taken back inside.

In your position OP, I would walk your dogs out several times a day, instead of letting them loose in the garden until
you can tackle it. It’s obviously upsetting you. If they need to have a wee in the garden at short notice (as little dogs do sometimes!) take them out on a lead in the garden. It will keep your neighbours happy to see you are trying to do something to avoid the barking.