The be angry at neighbour complaint

[leopardsponge]

I have been contacted by the council because one of my neighbours has complained about my dog barking. I don't know which neighbour, but I have a strong feeling who.

My dog goes outside first thing (around 7am) to pee and then is out during the day at various times. The garden backs into a footpath so people do pass and yes he does bark but he's a dog, that's what dogs do.

At least complain to me?

Pathetic and idiotic response frankly.

You are so obviously clueless about the responsibilities of dog ownership you should not have any.

Get the dog rehomed and don't get another unless you are prepared to do the necessary for a dog.

We used to have a neighbour like this

He'd have a new baby with a new girlfriend after breaking up with the last one (last count he'd fathered 6)

Each girlfriend would bring a dog with her and he had one too

They would leave the dogs alone all day so they'd bark endlessly

Then they'd come home,and the dogs would carry on and their idea of training was to wetly shout 'cookie!pax!pack it in'

Both dogs would ignore them so they'd shrug and walk away

They'd encourage the kids to scream for hours in the garden,leave babies to scream in the pram (I have kids of my own,I get the screaming baby but the difference was,I'd be feeding/cuddling/winding them and trying to get them to stop-they would leave the baby to scream) and where just noisy twats in general

We didn't use our garden or have a lie in for 5 years thanks to these arseholes

I was just about to contact the council when they moved out suddenly

Thank god for the new family who have moved in and seem to be quiet (will find out in the summer and if its a repeat,I will contact the council a lot earlier-we didn't want a dispute on our hands,but fuck it)

When will people learn that having a dog isn't a basic human right? It's not like air, water, shelter etc. Only a small minority of the population actually need a dog for their health and safety. For the vast majority it's a "bonus extra" they choose to have, which is great, if they can do it properly. People should only get a dog if they have the wherewithal to look after it adequately, and that includes ensuring it doesn't bother neighbours.
OP allowing your dog to go outside unattended, where it can drive your neighbours crazy, is not responsible dog ownership. If you're too busy to manage this situation, you should re-home your dog.

Well you are making your neighbour's life hell. You have a dog, train it. It isn't what all dogs do. Responsible owners train their dogs not to be a nuisance.

"Why can't they just tell me instead of making it formal? "

I suppose they're assuming (correctly) that you already know and have done nothing about it.

Dogs don’t speak English, you have to train them with treats. Hope your poor dog gets proper walks, he sounds bored out of his mind.

FFS. Read the Facebook group files I mentioned way up thread. Saying ‘stop it’ is pointless, the dog cannot do a ‘stop it’, and doesn’t speak english, educate yourself on basic dog training and behaviour.

My dog will have a tendency to bark if he senses someone is walking by on the other side of the fence.

We started only letting him out on the lead and the second he barked he was back inside. We have managed to stop it about 90% of the time and if he does bark, he comes as soon as I call him so we hopefully keep the noise to a minimum. It's time consuming but worth it for neighbourly relations.

@leopardsponge go onto the dog's trust website and fill in their form, they will call you and try to get you into their nearest centre. The advice line is free and the training/behavioural support is heavily subsidised. You can't just let this behaviour continue, it's not fair to your neighbours. I have one nervous dog who uses her voice a lot, it's been hard work but she doesn't bark in the garden now. Barking at the doorbell is a work in progress though, but at least that's inside and just inflicted on me

You say to him to stop?

Genuine question here - are you winding us up?

Your dog does not understand!!

You think you can just say shhh or be quiet or stop barking to your dog and they know what they means? 🤦

A dog knows what the sound "walk" means because you make that sound then put their lead on and take them out.

They know what the sound food" means because you make that sound then feed them.

For an animal to understand what a sound means they must hear that sound then link it to an immediate thing. Over time they learn to associate that sound with something that happens, something they are given, something you want from them.

Training.

They need training.

I can't believe this actually needs explaining tbh. Are you sure you're not having a little fun with us here?

well, you need to stop the barking or get rid of the dog. a dog that is barking all day I'd incredibly disturbing. Your neighbours didn't get a dog. why should they have to put up with it because of your lifestyle choices. You act as if it has nothing to do with you.

What are you going to do about it?

We have a barky/ anxious dog but have trained him not to bark in the mornings by taking him out in the garden on an extender lead and treating him every time he comes back in without a bark.. we keep the lead close if we hear noise .

I have a Beagle most backyard of dogs. When we adopted him from a rescue he was a nonstop barker. So we trained him. He rarely barks for no reason now. Yes it takes work to train a dog. But you can't just have the attitude of he barks nothing I can do.

You can definitely train the dog out of this behaviour, my next door neighbours have done the same. I didn’t even know they had a dog until I saw it sitting in the window one day. I’ve heard it bark maybe twice in the eight years they’ve lived next door to me.

You're either going to have to suck up the cost of a few sessions, apply for subsidies via the dogs trust or keep the dog inside.

You can’t seriously expect the neighbours to be woken up early every day even on weekends and days off? That so unreasonable and anti social behaviour.

Well don’t have a dog then if you can’t be a responsible owner

Several things to unpack here.

1. It sounds like you need to supervise your dog when he is outside. If he likes being outside, but is brought in when he barks, he will soon learn to stop barking. You may need to supervise him on a lead while he is outside.
2. It is probably worse than you realise if the neighbours have gone straight to the council.
3. It is definitely worth extra effort to stop this and be seen to stop it as a complaint to the council needs to be disclosed in a house sale, which could affect you and / or the neighbours.

I have had neighbours whose dogs barked at every passing person. It’s awful to have to put up with. If you can afford a dog then afford the training to make it a well behaved one.

This has to be a reverse

Your dog is a nuisance. End of.

Sorry OP, although I understand barking is what dogs do I absolutely hate it when I get barked at when walking past certain houses. Dog owners will know better than me how to prevent this from happening. I'm just saying I also understand how your neighbour feels.

Omg, train your dog ffs. Nobody can be bothered with complaining to the council unless they’ve really reached the end of their tether. I live in a cul de sac where more than half of us own dogs and none of them bark excessively. It’s not normal, you have to train - distraction and treats. And yes, go in the garden with him each time while you train him.

Or a complete wind up, no one can be this selfish can they or ignore all suggestions of help, what a pointless thread.

Sorry but you are being unreasonable. The neighbour should not have to confront you over a noise nuisance. They were right to go to the council, that is what council tax is for. You need to get your dog trained.

OP, what would you do if it was a behaviour that was affecting you?
Such as peeing on your doormat?
Or scratching up your sofa or chewing up your cushions?

Would saying 'stop it' be enough?
Have you even googled how to train a dog to stop barking?

Oh! You could get one of those collars that give a small electric shock whenever the dog barks, but you wear it and you might realise how annoying it is for everyone else.