Neighbours from hell advice

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Would you class this as a nuisance ? If you were living next door to somebody with dogs that bark all day every day for upto 15 minutes at a time? Going in our garden makes them bark, doors shutting outside, people knocking on the door, garages opened and closed, every little noise it reacts to. It's making our home life miserable and getting to the point we don't want to live here anymore.
People are telling me this is a nuisance and something should be being done about it but why am I doubting myself ?

Any advice please for a very stressed woman 🤣

I am a dog behaviour consultant and yes this is excessive barking, a noise nuisance and indicative of the dogs needs not being met.

Normal - a couple of woofs at the door being knocked on/letter box rattled, then stopping when they know someone in the house is aware and dealing with it.

A couple of woofs when playing or at a strange noise outside (fox barking, cats fighting/shagging).

Carrying on for 15 minutes after the slightest disturbance and non-stop barking outside is not normal.

I honestly do not know how people tune it out - I know they do, but I can't figure out how.

My two dogs (both hounds) have a really annoying habit of having a howl, they're not distressed (the main culprit is often still lying down flat on her side or sometimes upside down!) but do a 'did you really leave' howl if my DP leaves the house. She starts it, he joins in and once they go I can't stop them with food or shouting at them (not that thats an appropriate option anyway), they'll stop when they stop. I have timed it, it has never been more than 1 minute 10 seconds, usually half that - it FEELS like it goes on for fucking ever though. I do not know how people can be oblivious to minutes and minutes of dog noise!

Fortunately they rarely bark and if they do they stop as soon as I say 'yep I know', if we're not here they don't bark at external noises. It is purely to tell US they heard something so if we're not here.. no point!

Anyway, diary of dates and evidence of duration/volume - don't be surprised if the council don't take your sound/vol. recordings seriously, they may want it measured on their own equipment, it will vary from LA to LA.

We had this with 4 gun dogs in outdoor kennels - drove me mad as a SAHM and when we needed to sell I went round and burst into tears - it worked!

The Councils have a dog warden officer, there's also the RSPCA. I understand it could feel a step too far and you have to weigh up pros. You can ask to speak to someone anonymously in both organisations and ask their advice ref what could be done.

It's not ok. The sound is awful and drives you insane and the anger it can trigger based on the neighbours arrogance and sense of entitlement is difficult. A sense of control will help you if you're doing constructive things to try address it. Good luck 🤞

yanbu. I couldn’t stand this. Good luck OP.

I'm a dog owner and your situation would drive me mad too. The purpose of a dog barking is to alert the rest of the pack to the presence of a 'threat' but it takes a few barks not 15 minutes' worth! Dogs which bark excessively are untrained, bored and sometimes of a nervous temperament. If you know the dog's name, try saying (happy voice) "Hello, Fido." The dog will soon become familiar with the sound of your voice and your scent and this should lessen, or even stop, the barking. I used to walk my dogs past a farm which had a German Shepherd on a chain at the entrance and the dog would go mad whenever it saw us. I found out the dog's name from the owners and used this technique. After a couple of weeks it stopped barking at us altogether (by then he would recognise my scent as we approached the farm.) I still continued to greet him. I wouldn't bother trying to reason with the owners again, they sound completely irresponsible.

Yes huge sympathy Op, I have the same bloody awful neighbours who have put their house up for sale. Their previous buyers pulled out, but we have our fingers crossed.

We experienced the same gaslighting - if you can - moving is probably the only solution.

To be fair you shouldn’t have 2 border collies as pets. It’s cruel. These are working dogs and should be given tons of exercise and stimulation. I’m not surprised they bark but you should have more sense.

They are very irresponsible and shouldn't own a dog. They never take them for walks and they are just in the house all day long. You may get the odd shout from the owner telling them to shut up but it is very rare. We can't see the dog because of the fence between gardens. Just at our witts end with it now and even considering moving because some people are just past the point of being considerate to others

Yes I am really considering moving now, even though we don't really want to, as I was happy here if I'm honest.
I'm just so drained and fed up with it all now 😪

I had this. Reported to council. They got a warning letter.
Then it all kicked off between them and other neighbour who had enough. Housing association got involved. Dog rehomed

If you are seriously considering moving I would avoid complaining to the council at this stage. You will have to declare it and it will put some buyers off.

I feel your pain, we had to move as my mental health couldn’t endure all the barking, having a word with neighbours didn’t help, writing to council just caused a further rift. I have no idea why some dog owners think it’s acceptable, they are incredibly selfish people and selfish people with dogs are the worst!

Who the Hell do you think you are talking to in such a condescending manner? I'm sorry, but who ARE you apart from a judgemental keyboard warrior hiding behind a screen, who is so insecure/miserable/judgemental, that you feel the need to waste time on social platforms being rude to complete strangers - I actually feel sorry for you.

You know absolutely NOTHING about me or my life and for the record, I've had Border Collies all of my life and know a lot about the breed thankyou very much, especially as my grandfather and my dad were farmers.

As for my dogs - I had them (rescued them from approved rescue centres who verified me and my home) when I was in perfect health. One of whom, I had to teach to not be afraid of women as she was a victim of disgusting and cruel physical and mental abuse.

When I became disabled, what should I have done in your eyes? When they're old and used to me and love me and TRUST me like I love them? Given them up? Put them BACK into overfilled animal rescue? Put them down?

They get plenty of exercise and stimulation every single day including very long walks, runs along the beach and in fields, they have stimulation toys designed for Border Collies, they go to socialisation and they lead very happy and fulfilled lives - they bark because they have become reactive after we had drug addicts living next door and they (and we) are getting help for that and it's working.

Just because I've become disabled and my mobility has reduced, my husband's has not, so our dogs have not suffered - the only difference to them is that sometimes I don't accompany them and my husband.

I don't usually respond to people who annoy me but you really have with your judgemental attitude and pure ignorance.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I hope you have the weekend you deserve!

This can be useful if the Council DONT take action

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/anti-social-behaviour-asb-case-review-also-known-as-the-community-trigger

There really needs to be some sort of 'Naughty Dog Owner Course' that you have to go on of you own a dog that makes a nuisance of itself.

IE Not everyone is interested in your dog, if the thing is barking all day it will annoy the neighbours etc

The minute you email the council, you devalue your home as you have to declare the dispute when you sell. Do you think they'll actually do anything?

Perfect advice.

I use similar techniques if my dogs start - I never shout or raise my voice when they bark and I used to make the mistake of saying "stop" until the behaviourist told me that that was too vague a command.
I now say "Quiet" in a calm but firm voice and they both respond to it a lot quicker than they used to (at most I have to say it twice) and I always say "Thankyou!" in a slightly lighter tone and give them a quick stroke as soon as they stop.

It's working for us and today has been an excellent day with them where they've not barked at all, even when my husband went out (which used to be one trigger. The other trigger was loud noises which only started when the woman who owned the house next door, rented it out to a pair of drug dealers and we had excessive noise day and night and it stressed my girl out).

I'm lucky that my neighbour has been wonderful as I agree, nobody deserves or should have to listen to dogs barking. She actually thanked me for raising it and acknowledging it because she knew that I knew there was an issue that was my job to resolve and I'm on it.

Despite me being accused by a PP of being cruel for having two Border Collies, I'm not - Border Collies can be barkers anyway as a trait of their breed but they can also be trained out of it and exercise and stimulation and reward are all massive parts of that.
I think if I'd ignored the sudden barking episode, instead of seeking help, which included a visit to the vets to check for any neurological issues would have been cruel.

Too many people get dogs and don't do anything with them, they just leave them to get on with stuff and then wonder why they have bored dogs chewing and barking etc.

My partner is worried about the tension that it will cause too but if I'm honest I really couldn't care at this point. It's their own fault and they should be rectifying their problem or rehoming the dog to someone that will actually put some time or effort into it. My mental health is crippling by the day 😫

I had an issue with a neighbours dog.

Long story but it reached the point where something had to be done - and they were well and truly done.

By the time it came to sell though they and/or the dog had gone so no issue

Well said👌

I've had three farm-bred Border Collies in the past and my existing dog is a Black Labrador x Border Collie. All my BC got tonnes of exercise, were obedience trained to Advanced Level and two of the three also went to agility classes (the third didn't enjoy them.) Sadly, they've all since passed away due to old age. So long as a Border Collie is given plenty of physical and mental exercise and companionship, there's no reason not to keep one as a pet.

I really hope this resolves for you.

As I've said, I'm a dog owner who has two dogs that have become reactive and were barking (not a lot but more than they should) and I despise dog owners who don't bother to try and find out why and resolve it. That's a key thing about loving your dog, finding out why they're stressed etc.

I knocked onto my neighbour's house and had an honest chat with her, explaining that I'd noticed a change in my dogs' behaviour and I was dealing with it and I did - they both went to the vet for an assessment for any pain they may have been having (my boy has arthritis) and neurological issues - apart from my boy's occasional pain from his arthritis, all was good, so we knew it was purely behavioural.

Started sessions with a dog behaviourist and they're working and pretty quickly too - there's a massive improvement and my dogs are now quiet most of the time. Today they've been perfect and yesterday a guy walked past our large front room window with his two dogs (who used to be a trigger as one of them attacked one of ours during a walk) and although my dogs pricked their ears up and watched them pass, for the first time, they didn't even bark or rush to the window and I immediately praised them.

The main issue in things like this is the owners - the ones who can't be bothered to deal with the issue or even more annoyingly come out with a flippant "dogs bark".

I'm really sorry that it appears that your neighbour is one of those. I can totally understand how it must affect your mental health. Your neighbours dogs sound as though they're bored beyond belief and bark out of frustration.

How awful. Does it annoy other neighbours?

Wow! Triggered or what?!

Thanks for your good wishes re my weekend; it’s been very good so I obviously deserved it. 😀

There was a case in my part of the world a few years ago where a dog owner just didnt 'get' that their dogs constant barking was disturbing the neighbours.

Sadly we no longer have asylums for the feeble minded