Neighbor's Dogs Barking

you can get a little birdhouse from pet stores which has an ultrasonic thing in it - when the dog barks it gives off an ultrasonic noise which dogs dont like

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-Outdoor-Ultrasonic-Bark-Det...

You can make an annonymous(sp?) tip to animal control. The first time you call they will recieve a citation (just a warning) stating that if they are reported again for the barking they will be fined. If their dogs are barking as much as you say, they will have no idea who reported them.

I had the same problem and I am a dog owner. I left an anonymous note on my neighbors door, asking them to please be considerate of others, especially night hours. I nicely told them that if the barking continued I would have no choice but to call the police. It worked, no barking at night, and the day barking is not that bad once the dogs got used to us and our presence.
best of luck

you don't have to be mean or have a big confrontation about it. make some brownies or something, go over and introduce yourself. you said yourself the daytime barking is simply annoying. so let it slide. break the ice, be the good neighbor, then nicely bring up your daughter, and how you think she's having trouble sleeping. "nicely" mention that you're worried she's scared of the dogs, because the other night when she woke up you went in and they were barking really loudly right by her window. my son is the same way with trains - after a fire, we had to move into an apartment right next to the railroad tracks...it's awful and he's now terrified of them. (thankfully we are moving in two days - WOO HOO!) but we've been here a year and it's only gotten worse. i think that when it comes to interrupting your daughter's sleep schedule is when you should step in. they might even be happy that you spoke to them instead of calling the police. i had this happen once with some loud young men in the apartment below us...playing loud music under my son's room at 1 am on a tuesday night. they were just young and didn't realize how loud it was. he actually thanked me for talking to him instead of getting mad and calling the police. just my two cents! you can get real brave when it comes to your children. just think of her.

I agree with Cecilia. I had the same issue. I'm not the confrontational type, so I left a note, too. And, like her, it worked. My issue is that someone new moved in behind me. None of my neighbors had dogs, so I was used to a very quiet backyard. The barking angered me like crazy, but after I left the note, somehow the dog quieted down. I hope there are laws in your area protecting your rights if you do need to call the police about the noise.

Good luck.

B.

Boy have I been in your shoes. We have lived in the same house for over 10 years, and had never had a problem with our neighbors or their animals, until last Summer when a new young gal moved in behind us. We live on a hill, so we can see into her backyard from our deck as she is below us. She brought with her a jack russel and some other small dog. She also has a roommate. I would go out onto our deck to talk on the phone or water my flowers, and there her dogs would be looking up at me barking non stop. So, I would come inside. If my kids would go out to play in the backyard, the dogs would constantly bark at them. My husband and other neighbors would yell at the dogs to stop, but of course that didn't work. After a couple of months of the barking we just couldn't stand it anymore. We hadn't gotten the chance to meet our new neighbor yet, so we tried going over there to talk to her, but no answer at the door. A friend suggested that we video tape the dogs barking just in case we ever needed the proof. That was the best advice. One afternoon while my husband and kids were out on the deck BBQing my husband got some great footage of the dogs going crazy barking up at him and the kids, and in the rain no less. So, my husband broke down and called animal control. The neighbor got a warning, but by law (in Idaho at least) the complaints are public record, so the new neighbor knew we had called. The roommate came up the next day to apologize and said the owner would be home Friday and would want to talk to us. Friday came and the owner showed up very upset because she just didn't believe her sweet little dogs would do such a "horrible" thing. I forgot to mention that they figured out a way to get up into our yard too, so we had put them back down into their own yard several times as well. So, we took the owner into our backyard to show her where they were coming through, she didn't believe her dogs would do that, and low and behold as soon as they heard us, 4 little dog heads popped up. She had gotten 2 more dogs! We found out that she is gone Monday-Friday and only home on weekends (my opinion of her owning animals when she is gone all week is beside the point, but I'm sure most of you out there would agree that it isn't fair to the animals). So, she said she was upset because a neighbor told her that my husband had been yelling at the dogs, and we told her that we were not the only ones upset and trying to get her dogs to be quiet. We told her we had video and she wanted to see it. So, as soon as she saw what her dogs were doing in the video she apologized and said she would take care of it that weekend. Bonus...the neighbor who told her we were yelling at her dogs, was on the video yelling at her dogs to "shut up." In the end, she got bark collars for all the dogs and blocked their passage up to our yard. I wouldn't say we are "friends" with the girl now, but we do have a "neighborly" relationship. I know this got long, but I just wanted to give you the full picture of what you may be facing if you #1 go over and talk to your neighbor, and/or #2 call animal control. It is never fun to have neighbor issues, but sometimes there is just no way around dealing with them. Especially in your case when it is affecting your daughter's sleep. Good luck! You shouldn't have to deal with barking/annoying dogs no matter if you just moved to the neighborhood, or have lived there your entire life.

you can check the laws where you live. I know where we live there are specific laws about how long a dog is allowed to bark before it is against the law and I have called to complain to the police and they took care of the issues.

WOW!! As I type the neighbor dog is barking-as always!!! I have called Animal Control several times while IN the backyard to they actually hear the dog barking! They have come out several times and talked with the neighbors. All to no avail. They will be fined the next time AC is called! We can't go in our backyard without the barking! I have a pool and teenagers!! It really messes up any enjoyment we get from our backyard.
The dog has gone after 2 kids, one was my 17 1/2 yo son but a 'responsible parent' wasn't home to witness it and the other was the neighbor on the otherside son. That boys father went to get a gun! The wife talked him out of it and the two neighbors had a verbal argument. The dog did not bite either of them BUT.....the other boy is only 8! I have been outside when the dog has charged me (he's chained up outside 24/7 in a fenced backard) and he has tried to jump the fence to get to me on my side.
It is illegal where I live to chain a dog in a fenced backyard BUT if the dog is known to escape, then it becomes legal! They don't play with the dog, he just sits out back on his chain. The other dog is a small yappy thing and we can usually get him to quit with yelling at him.
My dog barks when there is someone walking by the house or when the same neighbors are near the fence line. She also barks when she needs in if we've let her out back, We respond to her barking almost immediately.
If I called everytime that dog barked, I'd be on the phone almost all day with AC. I call when I've had enough. They have on record the barking issue and do send someone but rarely is there anyone home.
They have been outside when we've yelled at their dog to shut up. They've heard us yell at our dog-we tell her to be neighbor friendly and STOP barking!- loud enough to be heard! Some just don't get it!
We were told audio and video were inadmissible in court OR as proof as the dates can be tampered with, etc. I disagree with that but I can't argue with the cops!

good luck with your barkers!

my sister has a neighbor who has 13 barking dogs. She bought a little device for about $20 that lets out a high pitch noise that only dogs can hear. Once the dogs hear that they stop barking. I bought one for my dogs because they bark as well. We have 4 acres so I'm not worried about neighbors but I don't like them barking and the device works great. And the best part, the neighbors don't even know you have it. You can buy them at pet stores or on line.

You should approach the people nicely, and if that doesn't work then call the police/animal control. It depends on where you live as to whether it's anonymous or not, but almost EVERYWHERE has noise ordinance laws about constant dog barking and dogs barking after certain hours.

I have a very young child myself and can totally relate.
I've had neighbors like this before. It went on for a very long time. They would leave their small "Yapper" outside all day, every day and evenings and he would bark constantly at nothing. I've read that it's because people either, obviously aren't getting attention, (Much needed), and or they're not providing them with enough food or water.
At any rate, after putting up with it for way too long and just not wanting to have any ill feelings created, my husband stopped the owner one morning on her way out the door just after she put the dog out again, told her that she better go back and handle it before she left that day or he would. We never heard the dog bark again. Shortly after that, they moved. Thank God!
To me, it's the same as disturbing the peace or playing very loud music. Just flat out being inconsiderate of others. I would contact the police and the humane society as well. It's like someone dropping off a crying baby at your door and being expected to deal with it without question.
How can they not be aware of this? Are they deaf? Good luck and stand up for yourself.

we have the same problem. We have tried to talk to our neighbors 3 times about their dog, but they seem to never be home. we ended up writing a letter and leaving it on their door. It basically said that their dog barked the entire time it was outside and if they could take it in when they leave the house their neighbors would appreciate it. That worked for a while but now it's back outside 3-4 hours at a time barking (from 8-11pm) and now my 3 year old is scared of the dog. we tried to make contact again, to no avail, so we left a copy of the homeowners covenants that addresses barking dogs, along with a copy of the city ordinance addressing nuisance barking. We also suggested a bark collar

if ur rea;;y good friends with them im pretty sure they will be understanding with you let them know that its starting to cause a sleep problem for your daughter and if there is any possible way they can help keep the dogs from barking so much there are ways to do so..

Do you live in a community with an HOA? If so, check your covenants; there is likely something in there about this exact situation. Report it to the HOA and let them be the bad guys. Also, I'm not sure what county you live in but most counties have ordinances for barking dogs. It usually outlines a time limit. If you don't want to go this drastic, next time you see them just say something. It doesn't have to be nasty or accusatory but those dogs are their responsibility. As a dog owner myself, I would want to know if my dogs were bothering my neighbors.

Tell then you have a baby and its rude and wakes her up, but in a nice way.

I would record my daughter screaming and crying . I would then place speakers towards the neighbors house and blast them with a screaming child. Most towns have a noise ord about dogs barking but I'm not sure they can do anything about a baby crying. When they mention it to you , you could say if your dogs weren't barking in the middle of the night my daughter wouldn't be up crying.

I get where you're coming from, because we've had the same issue. When we addressed it with the neighbors, they were actually pretty reasonable, so things are better now. HOWEVER, they have a child, too, so are predisposed to be understanding about the barking issue.
My suggestion would be that if you're not comfortable with a person-to-person confrontation/meeting, you could call the police to report a nuisance. You don't have to tell them who you are -- just that there are dogs at such-and-such address who are raising hell. If they are particularly stubborn or defensive, you might have to call the police a few times for the neighbors to get the message that they are allowing noise pollution to affect the quality of life around there. However, if they are like most decent people, if the police show up even once, they'll probably be more mindful of what they're letting happen.
Good luck!

K.,
Call you local police dept (non emergency number) the next time they are baring at bedtime/night/etc. They will call their house and say there has been a complaint about the barking. It will be anonymous and they will get the hint. Repeat if necessary.

I have dealt with a very similar issue before. Your options are to either have a talk with your neighbors, and hope they are nice and considerate people who just haven't realized that their dogs barking at 2 AM might be bothering someone, or you can call animal control and file a complaint about nuisance barking. Animal control will come out and talk to your neighbors about it and suggest some solutions. I tried talking to my neighbors several times about their dog with no luck. I ended up having to call animal control and saw some improvement after that. Not perfect, but better anyway. I feel your frustration! Good luck!

Okay I went thru this EXACT situation. People moved in behind/beside us and put their two dogs out. The dogs barked incessantly, a big dog with a deep persistant bark and a little dog with a high pitched nonstap yap. The worst part was their positioning was right across from my baby's window. They began waking my entire family up at ALL hours of the day and night. 3am, 6 am, 4 am, nap times, everything! It was horrible and stressful and invasive. I tried everything you tried (comforter over window, drown out noise in the room things) but the LAST THING I wanted to do was go to the actual neighbors and complain. I tried everything. Finally, one night at 3:30 in the morning with my entire family awakened and sleep deprived, I trudged over to the neighbor's front door in my pajamas. The dogs were barking their heads off even as I persistantly knocked and woke up the family. The man (who was a bit intimidating) came to the door. "I am SO SORRY to bother you at this time of night sir, and I realize there may not be much you can do but is there anyway you can encourage your dogs not to bark? They're beautiful dogs but they're literally keeping my entire family awake every night and we have a small baby? If there's anything you can do?" THat's what I said. He took it very well and turned out to be extremely reasonable (wasn't really expecting that) and actually started keeping the dogs inside at night.
During the day we were still invaded by their annoying yaps but at least we could sleep at night. There is no other solution really, you have to find a way to approach your neighbor. They'll probably surprise you. Good luck! I'm SOOOOO glad I do not live next to outdoor dogs anymore! (I loveeee dogs but not noisy outdoor dogs that keep the neighborhood awake!)