Just received a barking complaint...

[Candre168]

Okay, so I just received a formal latter from my council (I live in the UK) saying that one of my neighbours has complained about my Dogs barking.

This is completely unfair because my 6 month old GSD barely ever barks. There are two periods in which he barks...9am and 6pm, when the dogs OPPOSITE come out and start barking...these being small dogs with high pitched barks.

We try and stop him from barking as far as possible, but on the other hand, he's not really doing anything wrong. They aren't unsociable hours and he doesn't bark for long at all.

There's not much a neighbour can legally do at the moment, but on the other hand I was wondering if anyone has any advice or experience on how to deal with this.

Thanks.

[Caledon]

Respond to them back in writting stating what you just did above. Mention dates and times.

Could be that the person doing the complaining is a complainer and not a very tolerant person.

Dogs bark, kids scream, car horns go off. All part of community living.

[MaggieRoseLee]

You need to be a good neighbor. I know though I may think MY dogs aren't barking too much, or a normal amount, or it's not my fault.....

If someone is complaining then it clearly shouldn't matter what I think. Big dog do bark loudly and can bother people. If I have neighbors, and it bothers them, I need to be a responsible dog owner and show I'm trying to minimize the problem.

How are dog classes and socialization going? Is your dog doing well in class and listening learning well from you? Is he responsive and WILL he stop barking immediately when you ask him to?

Are you NEVER leaving him in the yard unattended? That way you can stop him BEFORE he barks or after one or two bark?

I know I can't use my yard to 'exercise' my dogs if I leave them out unattended. My yard is for the brief eliminations they need to do, and I am there with them. For exercise, I put them in the car, and go places for fun dog classes, fun training, socialization (so they don't want to bark at EVERYTHING), and to wear them out so they will be quiet and want to stay in the house.

This is just a training issue! And one you can help (while training) by changing your dogs (and your) behaviors.


It's like if I'm in a restaurant and someones kids are badly behaved and ruining my meal running around and being loud. Should the parents NOT be responsible cause they are 'just normal kids'? Or should they NOT take them to a restaurant until the children have learned how to behave?

[Bismarck]

i agree with MRL

however....

check into getting a security camera or two, and recording the daily content.
that way, you can go back to whatever date, and review it, to ensure the complaint is warranted, and if it's not, you can drop it on a disk and show it to them and the board.

[Candre168]

He is unattended in the garden, but someone is nearly always at home to stop him when he barks. He responds to us telling him to stop barking most of the time. Our garden is quite big so we let him out there because he's proven he can stay in the garden without damaging anything.

Combined he barks no longer than 10 minutes throughout the day. I know because I work at home some days and I wouldn't tolerate continuous barking.

We live on a busy street. There's loads of noise and there are also loads of neighbouring kids around screaming in the garden. Complaining at our dog who is quiet most of the time is very unfair imo.

[Zoeys momma]

What is your city or county or jurisdiction law on barking dogs
I know where I live- day hours- it's not illegal. I think hours of quietness in my county is after 10 pm or something like that.

Dogs bark- can it be irritating heck yes- to the neighbors and the owners, but if u are not letting your dog just outside and it's spending it time outside barking( then u bring inside) but if it's out and barks a cowpoke of minutes and then ceases. That to me is normal

I have neighbors behind me where they had a dog that lived outside- omg- that dog barked it's head off all night. Now inside I couldn't hear it at all.

I never complained. Because what in the heck am I doing outside hanging out in the middle night. Iam inside sleeping. LOL. Now we live on land..so the neighbor behind me was a good 1/2 mile away- but in the dead of silence at night the dogs bark sure can carry.

All that being said, some people I swear just love to complain for any little thing.

Respond back and state the facts. Then just be sure your dog only barks a couple of minutes here and there. If more then that your dog needs to be inside. Now if u didn't live in a community and their couldn't be letters sent to u that would be another story. But neighborly love is important and many here have given u some great advise and words of wisdom

Good luck to u

Shoot I get calls that my chickens are in their yard and they don't appreciate it. Or my mini pig wondered up and down the road or my goats are walking with a stranger down the road. lOL they would sure love me as their neighbor. Hehehehe

My peacocks make some funny noises too.

I live where technically nothing can be done to me. But I do need to respect my neighbors and do the best I can
Hugs

[Bismarck]

Originally Posted by Candre168

We live on a busy street. There's loads of noise and there are also loads of neighbouring kids around screaming in the garden. Complaining at our dog who is quiet most of the time is very unfair imo.

which is exactly why you should get a camera that records the daily activities.
i know some people don't like dogs (or other people), and having a recording of where he's at will help you (if he's not doing anything wrong)

[crackem]

another dog barking is not an excuse for my dogs to bark, ever.

[Holmeshx2]

Originally Posted by crackem

another dog barking is not an excuse for my dogs to bark, ever.

I agree with this (to an extent) I live on a military base and we are crammed in here like sardines! My neighbors house is connected to mine the neighbor on the other side is around 30-40 ft from me and across the street is MAYBE 80-100 ft MAX (probably less) theres tons of noises constantly and during the day there are dogs going off ALL day long and it drives me nuts however Jinx is not allowed to bark! Other dogs are barking because they are alone outside and no one cares doesn't mean mine gets to contribute to the problem.. something big like the door bell ringing or something hitting the house from outside yeah great bark however only for a minute as soon as I stand up to address the issue or figure it out she is to shut up and let me handle it. Middle of the night even though I keep her under control I still hate the dogs barking because I should not have to sit here and correct my dog at 1 in the morning because you have allowed your dog to be outside for an hour barking non stop without correcting them or bringing them inside (and this is in the distance I hear it so no way the owners aren't hearing it)

I do believe in this situation I would make sure he was brought in at those times when the owners little yappers come out just to prevent it from happening and also maybe have some sort of camera on for a week so if there are other complains when it wasn't your dog you can handle that situation as well.

[holland]

Where we used to live I talked to my neighbour and ended up getting a bark collar-also going out with them helps