Barking dogs and Possible Council involvement

[Woofofwallst]

More of a WWYD because I really hope we are not BU (but welcome all views, please).

Semi detached houses, next door have three dogs which are untrained. We moved in six months ago and since then have regularly been woken between 5am and 5.30am every single day when they let the dogs into the garden, right outside the bedroom windows. I like sleeping with open windows but this is impossible. With windows closed it still wakes us. I have chatted to the owners, on three occasions (we don’t see them as they are out all day - and dogs are in). Each time they say there’s nothing they can do, but they sympathise….

I have had enough of broken sleep, and having this hang over us with no end in sight. We’re all very stressed. I’ve contacted the council and they’ve sent me the diary to complete. Until I send it back, nothing will happen.

Would you warn the neighbours that this is going to be taken out of my hands soon? Is this naive of us to consider? We won’t be moving for many years to come but we think they are divorcing so they may want to sell - but I have no firm evidence of this. The neighbours on the other side are less willing to get involved because they are planning on selling end of this year but are supportive.

We are in Scotland if that makes a difference(don’t think it does). And namechanged but been active user for a while.

Thanks in advance.

I wouldn’t warn them because they could send the dogs to kennels or make alternative arrangements for the dogs for the time period and make it hard for you to collect evidence.

They also might find an excuse to report you for something and you will end up in a tit for tat situation. It’s best they don’t know it’s you.

Are they only barking for a short amount of time at 5/5:30?

We had issues with neighbours dogs in our last home and the council are pretty much useless unless they are barking for hours all day & at unsociable times, it is really tough.

Ime it depends on which council you have. Many years ago one place I lived dealt with it very effectively.. Recent one not so well. Speak to them and see what he or particular guidelines say. That early you may have some clout....

Yes, it’s about five minutes or so, followed by someone yelling for them to come in. But that’s long enough to not be able to go back to sleep. And the stress comes from listening to them, having not had quite enough sleep, and wondering when the barking will stop….

My guess is that, as we are the closest neighbour, it would be pretty obvious it’s us. Plus we have talked to them about it!

You’ve not got a chance of the council doing anything at all to resolve that. 5 minutes once a day isn’t going to come anywhere close to the unreasonable level of noise required for a nuisance.

The council are unlikely to do anything about that. I’ve had experience of it and my councils criteria is incessant barking throughout the day. The fact they call the dogs to stop relatively quickly will go in their favour and the fact the other neighbour won’t officially back you will go against you.

100%, I wouldn’t even bother OP. All you’re doing is giving yourself a dispute to announce if/when you sell, and you give them the satisfaction of being told they’re doing nothing at all wrong.

Why is there nothing they can do about it? That sounds like a poor response on their part. They don't have to let the dogs out on their own to bark. Why can't they go outside with them til they've done their business then take them in?

Council won't do jot on someone letting their dogs out who bark for 5 mins.

My mum has a dog that barks when it's dark. So she only goes out into the garden with him on a lead. There is definitely things they could try

They don’t sound like good neighbours - I have two small dogs and I would be mortified if neighbours came to me informing me they were waking them up every morning and would definitely put something in place to make it stop, like taking them out separately, training them not to bark with positive reinforcement etc.
That being said, I think you are fighting a losing battle with the council if it’s only 5 mins a day unfortunately. I know people who haven’t had any real response even when proving their neighbours have been playing loud music at anti social times for hours on end- for 5 mins a day you may have to just learn to live with it.

Thank you all. @Pastelhp I wish they were mortified! We’ll just have to hope they speed up their divorce. And perhaps on reflection doing anything to hinder their sale would be a bad idea….

We have a several dogs round here left out to bark for various lengths of time when you'd expect most people to be asleep in bed. The selfishness of it used to enrage me but when my infant grandchild started to stay overnight regularly, I had to find a practical solution. I started to run a desk fan all night in his bedroom so that the barking wasn't so noticeable and didn't wake him up. It works really well but I still can't understand the mindset of certain dog owners round here. Are they oblivious to the disruption they cause or do they genuinely not care? When particularly pissed off, I've been tempted to post through their doors, links to some of the numerous YouTube videos showing you how to train excessive barking out of your dog but it's passive aggressive, probably pointless and potentially would cause me more stress in the long run, so I'm working on some mindfulness techniques and use a fan myself if it's particularly bad. Sleeping with an open window? No chance!