Noise nuisance/barking dog

Hi folks

Got a problem with our neighbours which is a really getting me down. They are elderly and one of them is in hospital which we only found out about last week. Well, their dog had been barking constantly every night for a few hours at a time so I went round to speak to them about it because it is driving me mad and he told me that his wife was in hospital and that was when visiting times were. Fair enough. I'm trying to be sympathetic about the situation but it has been going on for 4 weeks now, every single night, and is likely to carry on for the next few weeks for sure. Last night it was barking again for 4.5 hours till 8.30pm, so my husband went round this time. Got the same story - yeah we know it barks but we don't know what to do about it. Great.

Right, so what can we do in this situation? We've tried being nice about it, and got nowhere. It's got to the point where I dread going home because I know it will be barking and it's so loud you can't ignore it. The neighbours that aren't attached to them (they're semi-detatched houses and our house is attached to theirs) are being driven mad by it as well and have had words with them too. We've said to them now that if they won't do anything then we will have to contact the council or RSPCA to do something, but we don't really want to do this in case it ****es them off and they make life even more unpleasant for us.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Cheers

Amanda

IIRC this is something for the Environmental Health Inspectors. They should have an audible measuring device to see if its loud enough to warrant action.
Is this is becoming regular then the officer can witness this him/herself.

I think you can get a contact via the Council or Police.

HTH, you have my sympathies as I experienced this with an old neighbour.

[fizzwheel]

My sympathies, I had the same trouble with my neighbour. It was only solved when my neighbour moved out taking the dog with her. I spoke to her a few times about it but she would always go out and leave the dog by itself all day and the dog didnt like it so it barked all the time. Not the dogs fault.

Try the RSPCA but I suspect it'll take them ages to do something about it if anythign at all. I think Jabba might now about this kind of thing because of his job, Might be worth a PM ?

I know somebody who could help but I believe he's out of the country at the moment

Amanda

Been there done that ! Firstly play fair - go around and say politely. "Look its been four weeks now and the noise is too much - if you will not take steps I will have to call the council's dog warden". That way you have informed them of your intentions and its something most councils recomend - next wait say three days (and in this time find the dog warden's telephone number at the council and also visit your neighbours). If nothing changes step up a gear -

Phone the dog warden and let them know the situation - there is a relatively new act regarding environmental pollution (its covers noise and lights too).
At the same time speak to all your neighbours that are affected and ask them to write indiviually to the dog warden to state their issue (ask the dog warden what would be an effective form of words so he/she can act on it) also don't bother with a petition. Most people don't realise that a petition only counts as one compliant - better to have lots of individual letters, far more impact.

Almost finally, be prepared for the long run: We got our neighbours using the council's recording microphone system (they had denied any noise !!!! Cheeky bar stewards) and they had to move their dogs. One year later it has started up again - this time we will be going in hard with three neighbours lined up to really make sure they know they are a pain to the neighbourhood (not just us).

and finally stay calm (I know this sound stupid from where you are right now) but you are in the right - the council have a duty to investigate as this is noise pollution and affects your environment. Most dog wardens work to find a resolution that solves the problem without bringing the neighbours into further conflict - sometimes just the dog warden turning up on there dorr "for a chat" gives people the kick up the pants they need.

Perserve with this route (or the one recomended by the dog warden when you contact them) and you will have it sorted.

Regards, Graham

[timwilky]

Amanda

Firstly you need to stay on good terms with your neighbours. They and their dog after all will be the ones who unknowingly keep an eye on your house/property when you/Steve are out.

As you know I am a dog owner. Mine does bark. but only when there is somebody in the area. Never out of bordom, for attention etc.

Talk to your local dog warden. They can work with your neighbours to analyse why the dog barks and advise how to correct its behavoir etc.

I hope they are simply not dumping it in the back garden etc whenever they go out. I suppose Jabba is the man who can give you best info as to what your rights are with regard to a noise nuisance. give him a PM to wake him up

[Luckypants]

I don't know the exact situation, but the dog is barking because it is on it's own while the hubby is visiting his missus, right?

You could do the neighbourly thing and offer to look after the dog while he is out? The dog is now quiet and the old guy is very grateful.

Just a thought.

Ask them to maybe leave the radio on (quietly). I know it has helped my dog and also my parents dog. It just kind of fools them, sometimes, into thinking that someone was in.

If they are elderly people, it may be the first time the dog has been left alone for any length of time and is probably very upset and nervous.

I know this doesnt help with being disturbed by the noise, but even with some dog training from the dog warden the problem wont dissappear overnight.

We were suffering from this too. My neighbour has 2 young kids & her husband is a long distance lorry driver, he's often away for weeks at a time.

His idea ?? Buy the Mrs a dog to keep her company.... Great, but when is she going to get the time to exercise a Staffy ???

We are on very good terms with them and she apologised even before we complained. We solved the problem... (no, I didn't shoot the dog ). As I need more exercise I take the dog for a walk most evenings. Maybe not the answer to your problem, but it does ahow how you can work with people to solve your differences....

.

Thanks for your advice everyone.

Luckypants - Yeah, the dog is on it's own whilst he goes to visit her. The dog hates everyone apart from it's owner on sight and pretty much attacks anyone who even tries to speak to him. They have to lock it in a back room to stop it going for people if we go round, so there is no way we would look after it in case it attacked us. I think that is why no-one else will look after it either. We have an old cat too and we don't want him upset by the dog, so it's not an option.

As for leaving the radio on, they leave the TV on which makes no difference at all to it's barking. They left the TV on so loud once that we couldn't hear ours over it plus the dog barking, but that's another story... Fizz, we have explored that option but I don't want to get into trouble Tim, they leave it in the house when they are out, if they left it in the garden it would be the entire street getting annoyed, not just a few houses Maybe that would be better...

Cheers again everyone, I will see how it goes and contact the dog warden if it continues. I'll give it a couple more days in the hope he sorts something out for it, because it's not fair on the dog as well as us neighbours.

Amanda

Originally Posted by Luckypants

...

Presuming Amanda M likes dogs, I think this is a great solution ... As it is a hospital stay, this isn't indefinite (we hope ).

Or suggest that neighbour takes dog in car during hospital visit.

If all else fails, a bullet (or arrow) in the back of head should do it!!