To report my neighbour's dog without speaking to them first?

[Applescruffle]

My neighbours bring their dog outside on a lead every single morning at 6:15am without fail. Even weekend and bank holidays. It barks from the minute they open their door, as they walk down their drive, undo their gates, walk down the street, bark bark bark bark. Every morning I hear it and then hear it fade away as they walk down the street. This is usually how I am woken up and how my day starts. Sometimes it's earlier, the other day it was 5:55am.
In addition to this, they bring it out the front on a lead at several intervals throughout the day, and quite often though the night too. It's never not barking when it's out. Recent examples are 1:30am, 4:10am, and 2:15am. It's so loud, it echos around the street. At these times, they often don't even walk it, they just stand at the end of their drive with it.
It pulls and pulls at the lead while barking, almost dragging them along the street. It seems to very clearly have no training whatsoever. They did have another dog (I posted about that one here too) but they couldn't handle it as it was too aggressive so they got rid of it and we all had a few months of peace thinking it was over, now they have this one and it's just as bad so clearly the issue is them.
Anyway, after the 1:30am incident our children have asked us to do something about it as it's waking them up and affecting their concentration at school. I was ready to go round and speak to them but my husband stopped me and said I should just report them to the council instead so they won't know who it is and can't cause any problems for us.
So I have submitted a full report to the local council, with dates, times and recordings.
I feel really guilty though because surely the neighbourly thing to do would have been to speak to them but maybe my husband is right and also surely anyone who is fine with letting their dog make all that racket in their front garden in the early hours of the morning is not a reasonable person and so is not going to respond reasonably?

That sounds awful! And here was me texting apologies to all my neighbours last weekend when my dog went nuts when I rolled home at 4am after a night out (as he should, I could have been an intruder at that time). Luckily they all just laughed and checked their ring doorbell footage for my drunken stumble home 🤣

YANBU to report, a good neighbour would explain the situation and apologise. And at least try and stop it!

You can try sleeping with the fan on or white noise machine in the bedrooms. Not ideal but it’s how myself and three year old have been coping with noisy neighbours for over three years.

Ear plugs.

It’s more likely the dog heard a noise during the night which triggered the barking. No one takes their dogs out twice during the night, only to wake up at 6 am to take them out again, after 3 hours of disturbed sleep - unless it was a one off and the dog had a stomach problem.
Maybe try sleeping with a pair of ear plugs? I lived next to a construction site for 2 years as a student and ear plugs saved me from an unnecessary daily 8 am wake-up call.
What would you do if you lived next to a new born baby or a construction site? Unless you can afford to live in a bubble some noises you have to just accept. And it sounds like your husband would rather have you write to the council rather than go through the embarrassment of starting something with the neighbours, which might be wise if they’re not objectively doing anything wrong.

They will know it’s you who complained and neighbourly relations will be over.
My neighbours kept complaining to the council whilst denying it was them and accusing another neighbour of doing it. The council then let slip who it was.

You’ve lost me. I wouldn’t wish re-homing a dog on anyone. Hopefully they can be encouraged to train it.

We have a yappy chihuahua/Jack Russell Cross who was rescued from a puppy farm, she can be very noisy (especially as there are sooo many cats here!!) so we got a bark collar that vibrates & makes a beeping sound, this has helped massively. There are things people can do to ensure the dog isn't a persistent nuisance, they just cba. I happen to like my neighbours, so as soon as it started, we looked into solutions. We also have her crate trained, so she's put away when we're out, so she can't sit in the windows reacting to everything. We have a dog cam too, so we can check in on her, plus she's rarely home alone anyway! She's a total nut-job, but we love her!!

The people across the road have a Springer Spaniel. You wouldn't know it. Never hear it barking, never see it greeting visitors, never see it going out in the car or being walked

EXCEPT

5:30 every day, the woman takes it out for 15 minutes around the block. It gets hugely excited and squeals/whines & the woman open the huge misaligned wooden gate (big enough for a car to drive through) which scrapes across the driveway. Rinse & repeat a short 15 minutes later. Fortunately I'm already awake by 5:30, but I feel for the neighbours that aren't.

its the dog I mostly feel for though, 15 minutes around the block, once a day, it's no life poor thing.

I feel for you. Although somewhat rural, how properties have been designed means housing is close where we live. One CF moved in 10 years ago, and brought ‘working’ dogs with her.

she admits she doesn’t have enough for them to do, but essentially just doesn’t exercise them and is frequently away leaving the dogs chained or in a small kennel.

Animal control were called in initially and they paid her a visit. Apparently it’s everyone else’s fault her dogs bark but she was warned. Since then we have mutually had 3 new neighbours moved in and out, and each one has had a word with her about the dogs.

nothing changes, only her ability to say how busy she is with life.

so I feel for you and wish you a positive change…

It sounds as though the dog has a stomach issue at the moment.

I’m sure they don’t want to be out with it at that time either. If you asked them about it, they’d tell you and then you’d know whether a temporary job lot of foam ear plugs was in order, or to go further down the noise nuisance route.

I need to hear my alarm in the morning and I need to hear if my kids need me in the night. My youngest has night terrors and my eldest has health problems meaning he sometimes needs painkillers in the night.
I wouldnt feel safe risking not hearing something like the fire alarm or my own dog barking at an intruder.
I also can't put earplugs in my children's ears and they have told me it's bothering them and disturbing their sleep.

What type of dog is it?
It sounds unbearable.

I have a dog who is so quiet she doesn't bark when the door goes- I've never had barking dogs as the sound drives me mad.

Also, living with neighbours, they are really selfish and foolish as people have taken it upon themselves to harm barking dogs permanently as they are so fed up with the noise.

An Australian woman who allowed her dog to yap constantly found the poor thing deceased -the dog had been poisoned.
A UK man despatched his neighbour's dog for endless barking.

He was driven mad by the noise.

The fault is the owners.

They clearly are hopeless owners and get the wrong type of ''reactive'' dog.

It sounds like utter torture OP, and anyone being unsympathetic on here is being a dick frankly. Being woken up regularly just as you’re drifting off is literally a form of torture.

I think it's some sort of spaniel.

Their last one was a dachund and it was even worse but they got rid of it because it was aggressive and wouldn't stop biting them.

For me, neighbourly relations are over at the point where you let your dog bark so much I have to make a complaint.

You are absolutely right to complain to the council and I really hope the council do something that will get rid of that nuisance for you. We’ve had to move house twice due to barking dogs and we actually have the same problem right now, (though not through the night), so I totally sympathise. You cannot reason with these types of people ( I’ve tried in the past). It is most definitely the owners who are at fault here. I hope things improve quickly for you. Stay strong.

Did you actually read OP's post? I wonder what your reaction would be if your neighbours let their dog disturb you and your children's sleep.

This is correct. Good luck with your complaint and don’t feel guilty for reporting - keep safe.

Thank you. 11:30 last night, just as I was drifting off, and then woken again at 5:30am. By this point, all guilt has gone and I'm ringing the council today to chase up my complaint.

My neighbours do this.
One of their adult kids comes over numerous times a week with their dog. Which they leave outside in the parents’ garden for hours, barking. It drives me absolutely nuts. If we have the temerity to go out into our own garden, it goes insane. This has gone on for years. They must wonder why we don’t use our garden much in the summer… unfortunately, as soon as the sun comes out, they are here and the dog is in the garden, usually barking.
i have never complained to them about it, for all the reasons mentioned, but it is selfish and arrogant in the extreme.
so, yes, I would complain without speaking to them first because anyone reasonable wouldn’t behave like this in the first place.

We had a similar problem. Council not interested until my niece who is a solicitor advised it was an ASBO matter. Barking in the late/early hours is unreasonable.

OP, just to say we had an almost identical problem last year. Ours was more that they shut the dog in the conservatory from 9pm and sat smoking weed playing computer games in the front of their house while the poor thing howled intermittently all night. Also disturbing my children, including SATs week which I remember vividly.
We did speak to them (wrote them a letter because of the stupid hours they keep) because they are not unpleasant per se, just stupid lazy stoners. The letter achieved nothing. Sometimes we would knock on the door and they would react with surprise to the news that their dog was barking.
Anyway, we then contacted the council. I am pretty sure other neighbours did the same. Anyway, about six weeks later the noise all but stopped!!! We do still hear barking, but v rarely. So, it's just to say, I'm pretty sure it was multiple letters or visits or whatever from the council that did it. So, it's worth pursuing, there is hope, and it doesn't have to be hugely acrimonious. We've taken in parcels for them and vice versa since (although unlikely to invite them round for a drink any time soon, they are pretty fucking stupid!)

Oh heck..Dachshunds are hellions for unbearable, piercing yapping- and Spaniels can bark relentlessly, too.

I really hope you get some good results.
It's completely unreasonable to allow a dog to bark relentlessly and inanely like that.

Yanbu, however the council won't do anything. You would be better asking your neighbours nicely.

Allowing the dog to bark loudly at periods throughout the day and night suggests that these are not reasonable people. For those who suggest having a kindly word with the offending neighbours, have they considered that these people might become even more anti-social and make the OP's life a misery?