Neighbours dog woke me up - got told it's my fault for having my windows open??

[Sophiehoney]

My neighbours are a retired couple with a very barky dog.
They walk it around our street several times a day, the last walk is around midnight, presumably before they go to bed.
It's very barky and barks all the time on walks, at what? God knows. But I hear it most nights.

Last night it took me ages to fall asleep due to the heat. At 12:15am, just as I was managing to drift off, right in that comfortable place between sleep and awake, it starts right outside my house - BARK BARK BARK BARK. So fucking loud!

I was hot, tired and really pissed off at being jerked awake and I got out of bed, stormed across the room and slammed the windows shut.

I was so annoyed and so hot that it took me until 2am to fall asleep again, and it was a terible sleep in this heat. I get up at 6am and have a full day of work ahead of me.

At 8:15 this morning, as I was leaving with the kids, neighbour comes out of his house with barky-arse dog, barking as usual and I asked him, as politely as I could if he could please do something about the noise at night because it's disturbing us.

He gave a little chuckle and said "well, keep your windows shut, then you won't have to slam them closed" and started to walk away.

I was gobsmacked for a second but then called after him "I shouldn't have to - it was 31° last night, you need to train your dog!" And he just waved a dismissive hand and walked off.

Did I have a right to complain?!

Sounds like my ex PILs 🙄 They get up at 6am or earlier and bang around completely unnecessarily, then they do nothing all day, have a nap late afternoon, and go to bed at midnight or after.

That’s your issue - them making a noise so late. There’s no need to walk the dog that late, especially if they get up early, and they should have trained it not to bark like that anyway. I bloody hate people who don’t have to work and then make noise at unsociable hours 😡 Fortunately, there are rules around the times you can make noise, so I’d contact your council stating the time more than the barking.

Dogs bark. As long as he's not doing it relentlessly, there's not much you can do about it. I get woken up on weekends by noisy drunks arguing and singing in the street. I sometimes get woken by cats fighting and screeching. It's a pain but noise is part of life, unless you live in the middle of nowhere.

The council will not be interested in this. And nor should they. It's a non-issue.

Yes you do have a right to complain. Keep a record of when it barks and for how long. That way you can supply the council with as much information as you can……….they’ll normally ask for it anyway and that can delay their response to the issue - hope that makes sense.

We have a similar problem with our neighbours who regularly entertain in their garden right next to our bedroom window - a bungalow so we’re on ground floor. The bloke is ok but his batshit crazy, demented, vile girlfriend is a right cow with the mentality to punch first and asks questions later even when she knows she’s in the wrong! Good thing we are retired though I guess.

are they leaving it to bark for long periods excessively?

One of our dogs is quite barky in the garden if she hears stuff, which we discourage and bring her in, and another dog likes to bark when she goes on a walk to tell everyone how excited she is. Its a bit stressful, but we are working on it.

Of course you shouldnt have to close your windows at night if you dont want to, but on the other hand, if you sleep with your windows open, youre more likely to hear whatever is going on outside, so if youre not someone who sleeps deeply, you need to decide whether its open windows, or a fan.

I was replying to the poster who said "Nobody needs to walk their dog at midnight. It's extremely antisocial".

Considerate owners often walk their dogs early morning and late evening when it is hot.

We don't make any noise and neither does our dog

My neighbours dog did this but at 6am or earlier. I was so glad when she moved.

If they can't keep him quiet then they need to walk him at more sociable hour. It has been very hot so most doggies are going out early and late at the moment but after midnight is ridiculous.

I think your kids need to start playing v loudly in the garden at 7am. That might make him rethink.

I hate dog owners that are like this and show absolutely no consideration for anyone else. I have two puppies (almost a year old now) and I go to great lengths to have them not barking in my garden at any hour. If they bark then they are sent back in. At that hour of night then surely it's classed as anti social and not within the hours where noise is acceptable. I would report this as it's no different to a party going on at that time.

Another entitled dog owner are you…?

And make life even worse for all the other neighbours, as well as teaching your kids to be inconsiderate little shits? This is not the way ...

No-one should have to tolerate that amount of sleep disruption for a dog issue. You have my sympathy.
It sounds like you’re not the only one in your neighbourhood struggling with it
Midnight is an antisocial hour.
Good luck with your complaint to the Council - I hope it gets sorted

No I didn’t say that at all so not really no.

They told me I am not the only one and several other neighbours have also complained

Sure they did.

So what, we shouldn't close our own windows lest noisy people be forced to acknowledge that they are noisy?

Dog owners are a breed apart. Just report.

WTAF? They seriously expect people to keep all their windows closed in this heat? They're mad.

Ah Trovinda, I see that you have decided quite arbitrarily that wherever the OP lives, the air is cool enough by 9.00pm in the evening, for a dog to be safely walked?

I doubt very much that you have taken into consideration what breed of dog the OP's neighbours have, and therefore whether it has long thick hair, or maybe short tightly curled hair, or even whether the neighbour's dog might be something like a pug, with a muzzle that is far too short to make breathing easy, even during the best of weather conditions?

Presumably you somehow know that there is plenty of cool grass in the OP's neighbourhood for any poor dog to walk on, in order to protect it's paws from being burned? Tarmac and stone, etcetera, can, and often does, absorb an incredible amount of heat during the day, which will have almost certainly not cooled down enough by 9.00pm to safely walk a dog on it. Therefore, cool grass, or some similarly cool surface, will be essential for any dogs to walk on at that time in the evening. Otherwise her neighbours are just following pet safety guidelines during this heatwave. In cooler weather the OP can hopefully keep her windows shut...

No, my dogs are told to quiten down, when they bark. I just have a personality and sense of humour, unlike some.

It certainly has not been cool enough by 9pm this week to walk our dog (too warm for me let alone the dog). One evening we walked him at 10pm and it was still too warm and muggy so that it why we then walked him close to midnight.

There's nothing wrong with walking your dog at midnight as long as it doesn't bark all the time.

I was surprised too, but that's what she said!

I know people are probably just being lighthearted when they say make loads of noise back but like, my other neighbours have done nothing to me 😄
And according to the council lady, are also sick of barky dog people.
I'm not lowering myself to their level

You can complain to the council. I did about a dog that lived in a neighbour’s garden that would bark all day long. And he had a stupid rooster too on a bloody small estate!

It was summer, I had a baby and it was driving me and my other neighbour mental so we contacted the council. He got rid of them very soon after.

But does your dog bark the entire walk? Because that’s fine, walk your dog whatever time you want!

No of course he doesn't. I was replying to a poster who insisted it was cool enough to walk at 9pm when it most certainly was not