Dog barking complaint - be gentle I’m upset

[Nugg]

Looking for advice as well as letting it out. I received an anonymous letter from a neighbour posted through the Royal mail that basically said my dog barks too much at antisocial hours is left alone outside on its own for too long and I don’t walk enough

None of this is true. I hate barking dogs and the minute she starts I’m out there but there has been the very occasional time where for example I’m on a teams meeting and the back door is open and something has spooked her that she will bark for longer.

I literally say “quietly” which I’ve trained her to realise means do not bark in the garden as I opened the back door, I say “enough” in a very strong voice, which also stops her immediately should she start.

There are triggers to make her bark constantly because we’ve only lived here for a few months. She’s still getting used to the noises and the people outside.- She literally never barked at my old house unless a cat came in the garden or something like that which is to be expected.

So say my neighbour and her son are out and the little boy starts going woof woof talking to my dog she will bark back but I pick her up and we say hello however if her husband walks up and down the garden repeatedly near the fence and doesn’t interact it really frightens her I guess so she’s barking and I bring her in.

I sat and cried when I got the letter because I’m a really really responsible dog owner, my dog is even a therapy pet. If I ever have to work in the office, I have a wonderful dog sitter that either walk her or take her for the day. She doesn’t bark in the house ever and I can check this to make sure she hasn’t started, which I have because I have a camera.

I’m a very quiet responsible neighbour and dog owner and this has really upset me that they didn’t feel they could just knock on the door because I would’ve obviously have apologised for any upset and been even more attentive to her barking if that’s even possible because I really can’t stand barking dogs.

i’ve read the Battersea dogs home training guide on barking and none of it really applies to her. She doesn’t even bark at the front door.

I’ve only told a few people who all know me and my dog well and they have said it’s ridiculous and I should ignore it, But it’s actually made me frightened to let the dog in the garden for example after work yesterday I let her out she ran down the garden did two small woofs I said enough that was it but in that time one of the neighbours shouted shut up at the top of their voice.

I feel quite bullied that one of my neighbours is spying on me every move because they’ve got it all wrong they obviously don’t see when I take my dog out because a lot of the time I put her in the car and take her somewhere for a really good run. People laugh about how pampered my pet is because she is literally spoiled within an inch of her life.

Do those dog Barking colours work, are they unkind? I don’t know anything about it because it’s literally not been an issue but I don’t wanna be an annoying neighbour and it’s really upset me as I said.

Close the door.

Don't use a barking collar, it will exacerbate the situation.

Don't be so sure your dog is not barking inside the house when left alone, I had a neighbour with an incredibly barky cockapoo that had cameras all over the place but it could still bark and howl for hours and she was none the wiser. Your dog is annoying someone, they chose to let you know, albeit anonymously for their own reasons. Use the information for your good, rather than take offence.

You need a camera in your garden filming all the time. The neighbours husband walking up and down the fence when your dog is out is trying to get a reaction out of it. Same with their child saying woof woof at it? I’d be VERY suspicious it’s them frankly and they clearly know what they are doing and are trying to get the council to put a noise thing on your dog! By having cameras out recording what he’s doing you’ll see he’s deliberately antagonising your dog and also by you ONLY being out with the dog when it’s out and never letting it out without you then you will see more of a picture and be able to stop the barking an before it starts

Or maybe they’re just in their garden and OP’s dog barks at the noise and the movement? We have a dog like that near us - if it’s out and anyone walks past or talks, it starts yapping constantly.

I’ve had this twice. Don’t let it upset you. For me it was just arsehole neighbours. Animal welfare came round and looked at my dog and garden and just left saying everything was fine. As for the barking, they are exaggerating and it’s not true.

I’ve had rspca round numerous times as well. Again, I have neighbours they hate me due to having lots of cats. I just invite them in, show off my animals and they leave.

if you’re a responsible owner, you have nothing to worry about. They get false accusations every day.

I don't think you should worry about it, it doesn't sound excessive, noise to some extent in an urban/suburban garden is to be expected. My neighbours had church meetings in their garden with lots of noisy kids, every bloody Sunday afternoon after church, where I couldn't have my dog out as the kids would purposely wind him up with woof woof noises etc.

Being woken up at 7.30 by a dog barking? Who says it wouldn't easily have been a child screaming, a neighbour drilling or cutting grass, a cat miaowing, a loud delivery. Our garden bins gets emptied at silly a clock on a Saturday morning, should I complain? People love to moan.

I wouldn’t worry either - and I really wouldn’t entertain them. If they truly believe that it’s gone beyond the normal limits for neighbourhood noise then let them report it to the council who I suspect will do precisely FA because it’s not barking continually. If you live beside other people there will inevitably be some noise.

They also need to stop winding your dog up if they don’t want it to bark.

@Nugg- whatbreed is your dog?

The level of barking you describe is actually acceptable. Just keep doing what you are doing. Distracting and calling the dog in when barking.

I've been there with neighbours complaints about barking ... it took over a year to establish that a) it was not my dogs that barked continually outside b) the neighbour in question actually got reported for harassment by the dog warden on our behalf. (Dog warden did it, because every time they complained they have to investigate.... obviously there was a pattern emerging and dog warden fully backed us up!) Neighbour has been quiet ever since!
But the interim was very upsetting with having a van parked outside with noise recoding device and letters threatening the removal of the dogs if we don't stop the barking. No amount od telling the dog warden that the times given by neighbours were actually times I was at home with the dogs or we were out for walks.

It really depends on what type of dickhead your neighbour is.

I have to admit I find it interesting that so many people are telling OP that it’s fine and she doesn’t need to worry when she admits the dog has lots of triggers and is left to bark unattended in the garden while she works on another floor of the house

It may be unpopular on here but I think too many dog owners laugh barking off, or convince themselves it’s normal dog communication and therefore everyone else just has to suck it up.

I agree. I love dogs but I hate dogs barking. I can’t have my window open at night at the moment - even when it’s absolutely boiling - because so many people on our road just let their dogs bark. It’s really miserable when your sleep and peace is disturbed by it.

Keep a note of every bark your ddog does in a day..bet it's more than you realise..
I reported ndn but because they shut their yappy fucker out for at least 30 mins several times every day. Including 9.30 pm. My mh was shot. One letter and it's quiet now. I often heard the humans raising their conversation to talk over it instead of shutting it up.
Let your ddog out under supervision for a week. Take it in at every bark. Honestly won't take long to sort it out ime.

Yep I would be interested to know this too.

Also, I work from home regularly with two dogs in the house and would never let them into the back garden unless I was sat in the kitchen with the patio doors open able to go and get them in if they start barking (they aren't really barkers anyway but occasionally a squirrel jumps up on the fence or a noise spooks them). If I am on a work call or meeting then they are inside the house where there are no distractions. They have a big walk in the morning and then another early afternoon so there's no need for them to be in the garden all day too.

So, your dog has only barked a couple of times, yet “There are triggers to make her bark constantly”, and “if I’m having toilet break and she darts out mid flow she might then bark” - so clearly, it’s not just once or twice. Why are you leaving the door open so your dog can get outside when you’re in the loo or in a teams meeting? I live next door to a very yappy dog - it drives me nuts (not that I’ve ever complained). Barking dogs are infuriating to those who have to put up with them - I could never let my DM’s dog into the garden without being with her, because she would bark. I think you’re just going to have to get used to being with your dog when she’s outside if you don’t want your neighbours to hate you!

It is an absolute nightmare living next door to a barking dog. Putting the dog in the garden so it barks and annoys neighbours is very inconsiderate. Barking dog at 7.30 am. Totally unacceptable. Sorry. This needs to be sorted out. Your poor neighbours.

I hate the anonymous letter approach! But someone has clearly had enough. I do think you are probably minimising the situation. Don’t take it personally.. there’s some good advice on here so make a determined effort to reduce her barking

Do those dog Barking colours work, are they unkind?

You mean shock collars? Yes, they are very unkind.

From what you've said, your dog doesn't bark excessively at all.

My mum and dad had a similar letter from a neighbour once. Their dogs barked for a few seconds when someone came to the door and that was pretty much it. If they barked in the garden, my parents stopped them immediately because, unsurprisingly, my parents didn't want to listen to barking dogs either! My mum actually spoke to the council to find out what would constitute a nuisance when it came to barking dogs and the officer confirmed that barking at that level is totally normal and acceptable.

We lived next door to a couple who left their dog in the garden while she was at work and he slept (night worker) from 8.15 until 4am . The dog (springer spaniel) rarely got walked and barked continously, probably from boredom. We put up with it for years then eventually said something. Our neighbour replied "my dog doesn't bark"

I truly don't believe someone would send an anonymous letter just to be vindictive.

Putting up a camera is a great idea. Maybe your dog barks more than you realise and if so you are not a responsible dog owner (sorry)

I can sort of see both sides.

Our previous dog was a barker and we did have to put a lot of effort into keeping him quiet. Fortunately, we had no complaints, but we did occasionally apologise to the immediate neighbours if he had barked in the evening. He was never left out alone however, and people local to us knew this. I think really it is our responsibility to monitor our dogs and ensure that issues do not arise.

Yes, of course there are grumpy neighbours; most of us have probably experienced this at some point, and I agree it is annoying when tiny kids repeatedly bark at your dog to get a reaction. But, without knowing more detail we have no way to know if the neighbour is just tending his garden, watering, weeding etc. when he walks up and down beside the fence. We also do not know if this was the same neighbour that wrote the letter. It may not be.

The OP's dog is a therapy dog, but in what capacity? Any of us with health issues can refer to our dog as our therapy dog, it doesn't always mean it is trained. The fact that she says she puts the dog in the car to take it for exercise has me wondering if it isn't well socialised enough to be lead walked from the house. The letter mentioning that it isn't walked enough would suggest this also. Obviously if it is a trained therapy dog that won't be the case.

She also says she can pick her dog up and that it is pampered and spoiled. And I'm sorry to be sizeist, but around here, the dogs that everyone moans about are always the tiny, yappy ones that are treated like babies. For most people, a shrill yap being repeated over and over is far more grating than a big deep woof. Yes, it may be unfair, but it is true and it could be a factor here.

@Nugg I am a bit confused. Does your dog have open access to the garden? How does it get outside when you have a Teams call? Surely the obvious thing would be to keep the dog indoors until you can let them out? This is what I do and I am usually in meetings for much of the day. Most dogs just need one or two good walks and brief access to the garden to have a zoom around and do their business the rest of the day. If my dogs start barking I let them in. In fact, it is usually their way of telling me they want in!

I say this as someone with over 40 years dog ownership under my belt, of which all were rescue dogs/fosters and arrived with "issues".

Be careful you are bot overthinking this and then think through how you can more proactively manage it. It isn't a biggie and easily sorted with some consistency.

@Nugg I've sent you a PM as I've had a similar experience, which was all resolved.

Imo, you don't need a behaviour specialist. I don't like barking dogs, they drive me mad. My dog doesn't bark and if she does we say quiet, no barking and she stops.

If something spooks her in the garden we have to be a bit more harsh in tone but she barks for less than 30 seconds.

Thing is, dogs will bark. It's what they do. As long as the dog isn't barking for minutes/hours etc then I don't see the issue. I don't think the council would say it's excessive barking if what you say is true so just keep doing what you're doing. You can't police a dog bark all of the time.

A dog barking can be annoying to people--so can a baby crying. They are living creatures and I think some people don't get that.

I think the reason you are so upset is because you really love your dog. I get it. When I was younger and living alone in the city, I had two small dogs and the girl across the hall worked nights. Well, when she would get it super early, it would rouse my dogs, who would bark. Also, when I left for work, they would bark for a bit until they settled down. One day I came home from work to see this terrifying letter taped to my door with the word "WARNING" in huge red letters, and it went on to be a scathing, hateful letter telling basically threatening me to make my dogs stop barking, but not saying what she would do to me if it continued. I was shaking and crying, I was so upset. Meanwhile, she was the type of neighbor who would talk loudly on her phone and I could hear everything she said if both of our windows were open and she was on her balcony (but you didn't see me complaining!) and one night when I was reading in bed with my dogs, I could hear her through the window telling someone on the phone about what a horrible dog owner I was and that I never took my dogs out.

NOW...I did take them out, because I had a rear door from my apartment, unlike her. Obviously, I used that!

But I think what hurt the most was the injustice of it all. This woman didn't know me at all. And those dogs were my entire world. I cooked for them, I walked them, I gave my one little dog IV medication for the last four years of his life, and starting at only age two, I gave him 9 pills a day to keep him alive. Those dogs meant everything to me and I did everything for them, happily.

We did try a barking collar but it felt too cruel for me and so I ended up moving.

Like others have said, I wouldn't let the dog out unsupervised. Some dogs bark more than others and with new sounds they can definitely be triggered.

Can you determine who sent it? If it's the neighbor with the child saying Woof, Woof to get a rise out of the dog, then maybe you need to gently ask her to make her son stop triggering the dog! And of course many dogs would bark if someone does that or comes close to their territory, as you described with the boy's father.

I think you have to look back and be really honest with yourself exactly how much your dog is barking

If he has unsupervised access to the back garden, I’d stop that and only let him out when you can be out there with him.

We had an issue with a previous neighbour who would complain about our “constantly barking” dog. However, dog went to work with DH all day so was out of the house from 8am - 6pm. He’d bark occasionally in the garden but were always out there with him so would stop him and bring him inside. He came out and about with us most of the time and was very rarely home alone. I asked around and none of my other neighbours could hear him - including the semi detached house we were attached to

It came to a head when we’d been out all day, and had taken my dog to my Mum’s - he’d been there from about 7am that morning and was staying with her overnight. Neighbour came round screaming and shouting about my fucking dog barking all day again. I pointed out that my dog had been out of the house since about 7am and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow so whatever he thought he was hearing clearly wasn’t my dog.

I spoke to the council Environmental Health in the end for some advice, explained the circumstances and was somewhat reassured that the odd bark wasn’t something they’d be interested in - excessive barking yes but day to day noise, including occasional dog barking is not a problem

Thanks everyone I’ve had a morning of meetings, despite the weather I’ve kept the door closed

i’m sorry to sound so contradictory. It’s just me trying to respond too quickly because I knew I had a busy morning what I’m saying is I recognise the triggers when we moved here which is why I try and alleviate them as much as I can but yes, she has darted out when she’s heard something and I’m on the loo, but it’s literally seconds. The same as when she’s seen my neighbour who does pace up and down the fence looking over at her but not speaking which I found a bit strange and I always go straight out and say hello And retrieve my dog.
She’s never left outside alone and the door is not normally open when I am upstairs. It’s literally happened once or twice when I didn’t think I was going into a call but unfortunately, Work demanded that I got called but I’m talking once or twice in six months.

She literally hasn’t barked for 36 hours not a single sound that is normal for her. She is a very quiet dog everyone comment somehow quiet she is and I mentioned the triggers because I identified them and try mitigate against them.

I have a Ring indoor camera in my kitchen and my living room and it’s triggered by noise not movement she doesn’t bark at anything. She just climbs up and looks out of the window. Wags her tail like mad if the postman or the dog walker comes, but that’s it.

However I have two more and I will put them up in the garden just in case it is a vindictive neighbour for some reason as I literally have barely spoken to anybody, For my peace of mind as well, and for evidence, should it come to that.

I do deal with the barking the best way I think to do - example, my really friendly neighbour on one side had a barbecue a few weeks ago and him and his friends were constantly putting empties into the recycling bin and wheelie bin lids are one of the things that she’s scared of and barks. So I just said X would you mind using this recycling bag - that I handed him - and I will put them in the bin when you’re finished because otherwise she’s gonna drive you and me crazy today because it was a really hot day and I wanted to be in my garden as well - He laughed because his parents’s dog is the same which I knew from her staying with him and it wasn’t an issue.

I haven’t taken it personally and I’m not offended. I’m just disappointed they didn’t come and speak to me and I found it quite upsetting that such a bordering on threatening letter was sent to the only person in 35 houses that has a woman living on their own. Not very neighbourly as they claimed they were being.

Lots of really good advice most of which I’m already doing but always ready to learn. I’ve had dogs for the last 30 years on and off and never ever had a barky dog because I literally cannot stand it.

For the ones that asked about therapy dogs, if you go on the Pets as Therapy website it’s more about being assessed than it is about training. It’s really rewarding to do. I do it at my workplace as well as a local schools, hospice and care homes.

Thanks once again.

So, from the update @Nugg , you do come across as a responsible, caring owner. It does sound more like a grumpy neighbour problem. And if that's the case, then I'm sorry. It isn't a good situation for you to be in.

If you get into conversation with other neighbours, it may be worth mentioning that your girl is a PAT dog. People may be more tolerant if they know this.

I hope things settle down for you.

I have a barker ..... and it drives me potty. I constantly worry about him annoying the neighbours.

I won't let him outside unless I am with him, but he is slightly barmy and runs into the back garden with absolute glee, woofing in triumph that he is out there.

It doesn't help that our house has a public path than runs down the side of my house, and whenever a person walks past .... he woofs. I just want the ground to swallow me up.

The worst though is that he is sooooo thrilled in the morning when I get out of bed, that he goes bark-tastic when I come downstairs. I literally fly down the stairs (I will break my neck one day) to get there as quickly as humanly possible so he shuts up. I'm in a semi detached - and I'm sure the neighbour is thrilled at 6.40am every morning to be woken up by a furry alarm clock.

Personally, I'm keeping my head down and praying that I don't get evicted.