Dog barking driving us mad...move or report?

[OUB1974]

We're at the end of our tether with our neighbours in our new house, which we moved into a year ago. Next door has one large dog with a very deep and loud bark. The other side of them is a household with 3 or 4 small very yappy dogs. .

Barely half an hour goes by without them barking, sometimes for hours on end. None of them seem to make an effort to stop them and they wind each other up when it's warmer and they are all in the garden. Next door leaves theirs at home alone and once it starts it doesn't stop.

DH has been round to be met with quite a defensive attitude. We have both been woken up from much needed lie ins as they start early.

He wants to move, I want to report to the council, which would make it difficult to move. What would you do?

We are in a beautiful end terrace with a large kitchen, period features, 3 double bedrooms and a 40m long garden. We love it so much and it was really difficult to find one that suited us after losing our jobs during the pandemic. We are about a minute's walk from school and we gave up parking for our dream house, which hasn't been a problem.

If we moved it would be a downsize to a smaller 3 bed semi with one tiny box room and probably a much smaller garden. I think it's too big a risk as we could end up with bad neighbours even if we moved. We can't afford a detached, but even if we did, our neighbours to the back are detached and I think they get annoyed with the incessant barking too, so it's no guarantee.

I think we need to tackle it head on. Maybe go round once or twice more (write a letter?) and then report to the council as a noise nuisance. At this point I don't care about neighbourly relations! But obviously this would stop us selling for a while at least. I don't want to leave our lovely home and disrupt our children for a second time. DH would prioritise peace over the size of the house and garden.

It is all making us very stressed. We are snappy with each other and the children and very anxious. My usually good natured husband has really been got down by it. I've got some earphones that are supposed to make it more bearable and I'm trying not to let me get it down, but it's hard.

What would you do - move or report? And have any dog owners got any insight on how they could stop winding each other up through the fence? Thank you!

Are the dogs being neglected? Can’t imagine letting a dog bark for hours on end if they were mine.

Its just as antisocial/inconsiderate as playing loud music for hours on end.

I don't think so. Next door is quite excitable, running up and down next to the fence, wagging his tail and barking at the 3 neighbouring dogs. He can't see them but knows they're there.

I think part of the problem is the quantity. We are end terrace and in the next 6 houses there are at least 9 dogs (not sure about 1 if them). So although our 2 immediate neighbours are the ones driving us mad, I'm sure they all set each other off. We will have to stay for a while but probably looking to move in the next year or so 😟

I can really sympathise.

We have lived for 8 years with a dog right next door who also has a very loud deep bark and barks in a similar fashion when let out.
Having been very friendly with them, dinner parties, bbq's etc, we actually fell out over it and now barely speak, as our polite requests for them to try to time letting him out at a time more convenient to everyone, were met with defensiveness and no effort ever to manage it.

We now have a dog of our own and a huge part of our decision on breed was how prone to barking the breed is/or isnt. So far she is fairly quiet but if she becomes more vocal I have done my research and will work with our trainer to manage it. Not managing the barking is sheer laziness.

It seems so unfair you should have to move from your dream house because of this.

My only suggestion is trying to find other neighbours who feel the same as you do and hope that a group approach has more impact.
You could also slip a print out through their door with advice on bark training and the council's web page on anti social noise? My husband has been so close to doing that many times!

Whilst I sympathise and agree that you should not have to put up with this, even if the council or whoever go round following a complaint you make, it will not be easy for this noise to stop. It's not like they are drilling at midnight and can be told easily to stop drilling at 9pm or whatever - there are a lot of animals and they seem pretty out of control. even the council saying "control your dog" is not magically going to stop this racket.

It's hard to stop dogs barking. If you put a muzzle on them people will say that's cruel. We bring ours in if we're there, but obviously sometimes we're out.

Do they bark when they are on the street side too? Our neighbours dog doesn't, as his barking is territorial (terrier!) so although at this point it would be very hard to train him to be quieter, they do have the option of not letting him out in the garden and taking his out front instead for quick toilet trips. So it can be managed in that way.

Unfortunately we don't have front gardens @Yamyam13 . Generally it is when the 3 are outside when it's a problem, but sometimes they are set off when people are walking past (although not as bad as the old neighbours dog who used to bark every time a dog walked past the window, we were so glad when they moved...little did we know!). And of course as we live in a cul-de-sac with probably more dogs than people, a lot of dogs walk past...I am coking around to agreeing @Dillydollydingdong and @jytdtysrht . They should have trained them when they were younger and even if everyone were willing, I'm not sure how juch it would do. I'm beginning to accept we will have to move again. In a way it's worse when they're out, as at least when they're in we can go around if it gets too much. Argh. I love this house and garden.

I registered just to tell you that I completely understand what you go through.
I can't even go to my bedroom because I am afraid that the dog at the next apartment will start barking. I can't rest at all because of this fear.
My advice is to get out and move away.I am also at the point that I hate going back home from work because the damned barking will be there. Over time your husband will become seriously depressed if you stay there.
I think that life in hell will be very similar to what we are going through because of barking: moon stop fear and anxiety.

Same here. My dog gets to maybe five barks and it's " right. You're coming in now." She doesn't do it often. Does my own head in let alone anyone who lives near me and doesn't have a dog. Why are people so inconsiderate.

Hi there

I am in the same situation and I would love to know what you did??

We moved ... have been in our new house a year now and it was the best thing we ever did! Despite having a mortgage again, but we're OK.

I've heard that one of the old neighbours has moved, so I'm glad our buyers won't be putting up with what we had to. We'd never have settled there though.

I think you do have noise anywhere and it's taken a while for me to recalibrate myself so that I can not get wound up by normal noise. So many people have dogs now, including a lot that shouldn't, but luckily our 2 neighbours have lovely dogs that are well trained and not noisy at all, I'm particularly fond of the one over the road. There are one or two on our new street and an awful yappy pair that walk past once a day and go absolutely crazy if they see so much as an ant, but generally it's very peaceful in our new home and we love it. I'd say move if you can.

I did sit outside our new house in the car for an hour or so on multiple occasions before we put an offer in, different times of day with the car windows open, just to make sure it wasn't as bad!

Sorry to hear your dillemma, horrible neighbours, I sympathise!. (I've had the same problem, neighbours got 2 small yappy dogs, but theyre kept "reasonably quiet now). Problem comes from HUGE dog lovers which bark at an adjacent airb+b next door to me... plus local pub, right on my doorstep. I honestly think these owners think everyone absolutely loves the noise of their precious pets!. (Or should that be "pests"?, lol!). I would play Beethoven's 9th directly aimed at them.. blast the speakers and use ear plugs. They'll probably get the message then?. Either that, report anonymously via council. Good luck!. Seriously, those people are so rude, or lacking in any moral/mental capacity. My sympathies.😢😡