AIBU to refuse to move in my garden so that a neighbour's dog stops barking?

[Motnight]

I'm fairly certain I am not but my neighbour's attitude has made me wonder.

Earlier today, just after 7 am, I was sitting at the bottom of my garden on the bench drinking tea and just listening to the birds and looking at my flower bed. Our garden is that of a typical London Victorian terrace, surrounded on 3 sides by other gardens. I was probably 2 feet away from the fence separating our garden from opposite neighbours.

The neighbour's kids were out playing, Not particularly loudly but I could here them (I often do and it's not a problem at all, we are all living in close proximity, that's part and parcel of it). Suddenly their dog starts barking very loudly. It goes on for a couple of minutes. I then hear a male voice saying "is there anyone there?". I say, yes, your neighbour, hi (we've never spoken before). The man then says my dog is barking at you. He knows you are there. I don't know what to say so say nothing. The man adds can you move further up your garden please so my dog stops barking. I say, sorry, what did you say as I can't quite believe he is asking me to move. I have been completely quiet, minding my own business and just enjoying my garden. He repeats it. I say no, I am having my tea (!). He says, but your garden is as long as ours, there must be space for you to sit elsewhere, and if you don't move we will have to take the dog in. I reply, look I am sitting in my garden and I am going to stay here for as long as I want.

The man sighs loudly and says thank you for nothing, I'll return the favour some day. I hear a bit of rustling and muttering and then silence. Kids and dog and man have obviously gone back into the house. And I am left thinking WTF.

Wow! Unreasonable, entitled and bloody rude! And he’s not doing his dog (or his kids!) any favours either. ‘Lord and masters of all we survey’. Wow. Again 😵‍💫😮 It’s such a shame (if it was a regular occurrence and he gave the dog some guidance it would be used to neighbours anyway!). FGS. Stand (sit) your ground (YOUR ground), and hopefully it all blows over soon

Sit there every day, twice a day til the dog gets used to you 😆

Keep a note of dates and times, saying return the favour is a threat, give him two more chances, and if things are the same, report the issue to your council

YADNBU
It’s actually quite scary how idiotic people can be.
Ignore the arsehole.

The man needs mind his business and kee his dog in doors. Fucking arsehole.

DogPeople™️ are not just owners of dogs. They're a very specific type of owner. Thick, selfish, rude and lazy. Never train their dog worth a shite but expect you to put up with all of their failings. Won't keep their dog away from other people and must bring it with them everywhere they go. These people are exactly why, when my pets die, I will never get another. The sheer absurdity and ridiculousness of them and the way they act has sickened me of it all. I wish they'd piss off onto an island where their dogs can all bark and shite together and leave us all alone.

I can well believe this. We had neighbours who would complain if our children were in our garden as it made their precious dog bark. They weren’t even being noisy! They would often knock and ask us to bring our children inside as it was upsetting their dog! Batshit. We ignored it.

Not your problem if their dog is barking, OP. The onus is on the them to sort it out.

He's an entitled twat ....
You've done nothing wrong x

Unless it's in pain.

In fact, the more i think about it, the more i think an absolutely fantastic example of male entitlement....

You did well @Motnight to not tell him to fuck off x

I also own a dog and 2 children, my children were never aloud to play in the garden before 9am and as soon as the dog barks he is brought straight in. I would never dream of asking someone to move in their own garden because of my dog! Stand your ground, he was incredibly cheeky!

One woman in our pub used to have her dog perched on its own seat during the quiz even though seats were sometimes in short supply!

What a twat. ( Ndn not you) we have a dog that might bark if he sensed someone. He gets one woof. No more. He can stop or come in. Same as my kids they get one high pitched squeal- stop or come in.
Never in a million years would I ask a neighbour to move.

I totally agree with OP but this is a weird take. Also, O P was not asked to accommodate the dog, she was basically asked to accommodate the human who can't be arsed to sort out their dog.

Somebody needs to train that man in some manners!

No doubt about it, your dc would have defo been smirking 😂

This. And in your own garden too! Absolutely not. In fact please make sure you sit there more often.

This is exactly why I hate dog owners. The amount of them that expect you to walk in the road or expect your kids to move out of the way so their little snuckums can stay on the pavement. Get fucked!!!! My kids and I are waaay more important than a barking, smelly, molting mutt. I just walk in a straight line, just like I do with entitled men who expect you to move out of their way. They can all get fucked as well. 😂

The neighbour needs to walk and socialise his dog more. Excessive barking is normally a sign of low stimulation and built up energy.

What a prick of a man

🤣😂 I feel this!

My neighbour's dog is very aggressive and barks and snarls whenever I'm in our garden and tries to break down the fence, but I forgive it because I know that our two cats use their garden as a toilet, and they'll never know because the dog eats it all up straight away 😀

No, stop making this the OP’s problem. It is not up to her to pander to the dog or her neighbours IN HER OWN HOME. She shouldn’t have to be put in such an awkward position. Fair enough if she was playing techno at 100dB at 7am - then he might have cause to complain, but sitting having a quiet cup of tea should not require any movement or compromise on the OP’s part. If the owner can’t train it properly then he takes the consequences.

No, this makes no sense. She'd have every right to complain about a barking dog. It doesn't matter who complained first. Dogs do not take priority over people. And dog owners need to take ownership of training their dogs. Yes, it takes time and effort, but it's worth it.

Everyone has the right to be in their house or garden without having to listen to barking dogs.

And the cheek of that prick to ask her to move instead of automatically taking the dog inside! Couldn't imagine being that cheeky.