Dog Barking!

Let them know about the barking and the times that it is really a problem. They may not realize the barking is a problem.

I would call the police and tell them you dont want the neighbors to know you called but the dogs are barking in the early morning or all the time. The police will tell them they have to keep them in until a certain time in the morning or if they get more complaints they will get a fine. That way the neighbors dont know who called and cant single out anyone. Maybe they think everyone is up at 6 am, so i would call the poice. Thats what they are there for.

Hi M. S.

I have the same problem. New neighbors moved in about 4-5 months ago and they leave their dog outside all the time !
Throughout the day, during nap time and late evening hours till 11 pm even!!! Drives me nuts. The dog loves to bark for no reason too, just sits there barking....

I have called the cops a few times, the first time they got a little better, as soon as the dog would start barking they would let him in, but after a couple of weeks, same thing - barking for long periods of time.

I called the cops again, it was after 10 pm - the cops came, but it turned out they weren't even home, just left the dog outside and went somewhere.
The cops sat out there in front of their house until they came home at 11pm and that's when they talked to them.

Few days later.... same thing- dog barking.

I went on to the village website and found the village noise ordinance and found out that it is unlawful to make noise for extended periods of time, including leaving animals outside.... so I emailed the person listed as village ordinance enforcement with the details and asked if they could give them some kind of a fine so they learn..
They said they would send them a letter and give them some time to reach compliance. Then we would go from there.

They still let the dog outside all the time, but at least now they call him in as soon as he starts barking.

I didnt want to say anything to them myself, because I don't know what kind of people they are, don't want to make enemies. Like this the cops/village take care of the problem and I remain anonymous....

Up until last summer I had a dog myself and never left her outside barking I didn't want to disturb the neighbors. Drives me nuts that there are people that just don't care...

Since they are newer neighbors and if you intend to live in the same house for a while, I would go and talk to them. Please don't leave the "anonymous" note, or 1st step call police or law enforcement. As I was guilty of doing something in a neighborhood that I didn't realize was a problem for others and all the visit from the police did was make me feel uncomfortable to live in my own home. I would have welcomed an introduction to them and being told. As I didn't realize 2 neighbors felt my compost pile was attracting animals even though it was covered, compost does put off an odor occasionally as it breaks down. I would have welcomed them talking to me about their concerns rather than opening to door to police thinking the worst had happened to someone. I probably put up with alot more loud noise by them on an every weekend basis than my issue but I never want to make anyone feel the way I did that day. You should however not have to lose sleep and there is a way to train a dog to not bark at every little thing.

IDK? We all sometimes have issues with our neighbors. You do what ever feels comfortable to you. My neighbor on our left, which is where all our bedrooms are, mows his front yard every Saturday at 6am, his backyard every Sunday at 6am....ALL SUMMER LONG! We have lived next to him for 8+ years....never have said a word about it! It only effects myself and 1 of my kids (everyone else just sleeps right thru it) so we just roll with it and try to do something fun with our extra time together:)

I can see how every day could be inconvenient.

some villages/towns have an ordinance. I would either drop a note and let them know if this continues, you'll go to your village/town police dept. and they can ask them to keep their dogs quiet or they can just do it themselves. That's why I have cats, they are quiet

Good luck! We now have a neighbor who's dog howls all night. I think we are just accustomed to it because we have always lived next to neighbors with noisy dogs. It is annoying and frustrating, though and unless my dog is barking in a strange way (after all I do want her to scare off intruders) then I always ask her to be quiet. She listens.

I agree with going to them first. My parents had this problem with a neighbor and had told them about it and the neighbors did nothing to stop the issue. My parents ended up calling Animal Control who then confronted the neighbors and things got better after that. I hope you don't have to do that but it's an option if talking to them doesn't work.

First, meet your new neighbors;) Then tell them. Maybe it does not bother them so they don't think it bothers anyone else. I love and have dogs, but i can't stand when dogs bark incessantly. It's so easy to train them. They can read books about it, hire a trainer, or simply use a water spray bottle until they get the message. It's natural for a dog to bark, it's their voice, but non-stop barking can be just a way of getting attention. Maybe they can let the dogs out a little later?

It depends on your relationship with your neighbors. We are on the third set of neighbors (same house) with a barking dog. Almost as if it is a requirement there! Their backyard is all along our bedrooms. There was one time I went out there, my son was woken up from his nap, and the family was out in the yard with the dog just barking incessantly. One of the others would leave for the weekend with the dog outside!

We mentioned it to one of the neighbors, who seemed friendly enough, and they actually had the nerve to come over and blame it on our dog. (Inside dog, doesn't bark, only out for about 5 minutes at a time.) I ended up just calling animal control. I got to know the lady really well, and she said that the neighbor was very rude to her when she would stop by. Make sure that you tell animal control that you are willing to sign a complaint. I didn't know about this until after that neighbor moved.

If you have an HOA, you can also call them. I'm not very confrontational, so I prefer the other methods to talking directly to them, and I don't want open antagonism between neighbors. We aren't friendly with them, but at the same time, we are civil. I think if the neighbors were friendlier and we had a good, talking relationship, I would be more likely to mention it in passing.

If you hear them barking, then they hear them barking. They already know there dogs are barking and they are not doing anything about it! Call animal control. If you go talk to them and then call animal control, then they will know it was you. If you just call animal control, they won't know which neighbor did it.

We used to live next to people who did that with their dog. We casually mentioned the problem one day and they appologized and became more conscious and considerate of their dog's behaviors.

I agree that you should go talk to your neighbors, however the one thing that hasn't been said is that sometimes you just have to deal with things. You can play music in the kids rooms to mask the sound a little. My kids sleep through just about anything now. My dogs bark, my neighbors dogs bark, but nothing consistant like this. I think the person that expects their neighbor to not mow the lawn when their child is napping is a little excessive. Not to say that I wasn't annoyed last year when we had teenagers set off firecrackers during nap time. Nap time is not a universal time though, your neighbors should have to run their lives by your schedule. Sorry for the rant, but I really feel like sometimes people get really wrapped up in their own little world. (me included) Obviously you need to talk to your neighbor, and have a good relationship with them. If my dog was bothering someone, I'd want to know. But to expect your neighbors to completely change their lives might be expecting a little too much.

I would just talk to them, maybe they arent even aware of it! I would hope if my dogs bothered someone that they just come talk to me. I would just go have a chat with them. good luck

You should talk to them - us pet owners are a lot like parents sometimes - we can tone out anything our 'children' are doing.

Or if you are a wimp like me and hate anything that might end in confrontation, you can buy this device that emits an annoying only heard by dogs noise after a few barks (I've seen it in Solutions magazine so you might google it). hang it near their side of the house. I've seen them work very well, but it might depend on the dog.

I don't think you're being picky at all. We have neighbours that listen to their music full blast at 6 am and it really isn't appropriate and neither is a barking dog at that hour. If it were me, I would write them a friendly note or even pay them a visit to their door. If you don't let them know it's a problem, then they won't try to fix it. Maybe they can send their dog to obidence school on the weekends or something. I am sure you are not the only family that is disturbed by this either. If it gets to be a real problem, you can always call the bylaw and have them fined.

I agree. You should go meet them and let them know. When my dog barks like that, I tell her to stop. If it was bothering my neighbors, I would want to know for sure! No one wants to be the annoying neighbor, especially when you're new.

I would say that even though it's awkward, you should confront them in person. If it were you, wouldn't you just want someone to tell you? I'm sure if you approach them nicely and explain your concerns they will be receptive to them. If not, well then I guess i would start filing official complaints with the city...but I'm sure it won't come to that!

If you feel comfortable enough to drop a letter at their door I would go that route. I have 2 dogs, and the second I got from a shelter in July of last year. My husband and I had NO IDEA that the dog would go bonkers barking and yelping (very loudly) when we would leave the house. A neighbor left us a signed note on the door...immediately, I was angry but within minutes I realized that they weren't trying to be mean but rather helpful. I kept my windows closed for the rest of the summer and really worked with my dog to help him over come his fears, etc...We never approached our neighbors about this issue afterwards but I am grateful for their honesty and feel like we all did the right thing so that everyone in the neighborhood was comfortable! Good Luck

I totaly understand, Ihad same problem with a neighbor cutting grass when my baby was napping. I talked to him nicely, and he changed his routine.

Obviously you need to say something to them. My advice is do NOT put it off. Just do it. I had a neighbor when I lived in Maryland (where our county had no ordinances against barking dogs) and we made the mistake of putting the conversation off. The barking dog became routine and eventually two other neighbors got dogs (who also barked) and they left them out routinely often until midnight. This went on for 6 years. You need to nip this in the bud. Good luck.

I know it's a PITA, my own dog barking has disturbed my own children in the morning and at nap time. Unfortunatly, you have to live next to these people and need to try to be friendly. A note could bring about some animosity. To be honest, I got an anonymous note last year about my kids playing/yelling outside and my dog barking in play with them (in the middle of the day) and how to be more respectful of my neighbors or they would call the police. My kids were (ages 3,2,1). I called the police myself and asked if I could be fined for it and they said no. So being the bad neighbor I guess I am I encouraged my boys and dog to go out and play and yell and scream and bark all they wanted. That's what you get when you move within a block of a park, a bunch of kids for neighbors!

However, in the morning if it's before 7am then I would nicely go over and just inform them that their dogs barking is waking your child(ren) before they are ready to be up for the day and is there any way they could let him out later? They may let him out and go shower quickly or something and that's why they don't let him in right away. My husband used to do that but I yelled at him for it for all our sakes.