Dog barking

It always amazes me how the owner of a dog isn't bothered by it's barking.....they are conviently somewhere else when the barking is taking place.
 
I have a great deal of sympathy for the letterwriter's concerns, somewhat less for their anonymity but can understand why they would not want to make the complaint personal - and why should they ?

I have had to make two face-to-face complaints regarding barking dogs in gardens backing on to ours. Both owners keep their dogs (a pair at one house and a single at the second) out in the back garden permanently and have done all winter, including during the cold snaps and snow. The complaints I made were for regular barking up till midnight in one case and two nights out of three when the lone dog went through a 45 minute barking fit at 2am. In confronting the owners, I was polite and politely received but did get the impression that their attitude was - well they're dogs, what do you expect? I'm entitled to ask the same question back - you buy a dog as a "dog lover" then stick it out the back garden in all weathers - explain where the love is there, exactly?

Then a few doors down there is another category of dog owner - this dog seems well-cared for and is walked regularly but is relegated to the back garden every time its owners go out for the day or night, which is frequently. It barks incessantly, mostly in response to noises of cars, people, planes, front doors, magpies etc. The real 'fun' starts during Hallowe'en when the fireworks start up and the mutt barely pauses for breath. I'm sure the owners don't realise there's a problem because mutt is always quiet when they're around. So that's OK then.

I would be ashamed to be either of these two types of owner, really ashamed. We never got a dog because we realised it would be inappropriate and unkind to have the dog left alone most of the working day but this seems to escape a lot of "dog lovers".

But back to the nuisance factor - for as long as people work shifts, work from home, have babies and sleepless nights to contend with etc, there is no 'acceptable' time for regular barking outside the house. What is ridiculous about the current situation is that in addressing the problem, if a face-to-face meeting has not produced a resolution, the only recourse seems to be to go to the district court which is most likely a disproportionate response and also makes it a personal issue when it should be an environmental issue.
 
While I'm normally the last to advocate taking a measured approach, or try to be the voice or reason , can some of the posters please be a little more restrained?

I agree that a dog being kept in the back garden all the time is not ideal and, depending on the dog, can cross the line into cruelty (both to dog and to any neighbours). However, the OP has made efforts to determine whether the dog is causing nuisance, and has made arrangements so that the dog is not left alone and bored all day.

Stories of your own evil neighbours and their wicked ways are no doubt interesting (and I'm largely in agreement on appropriate treatment for such neighbours, and on the potential for cruelty) but perhaps we could ease back on extrapolating into an assumption that the OP is in the wrong...
 
OK, back to the OP's question in a nutshell: whilst the OP has taken steps to investigate and/or minimise the nuisance caused, the complainant has every right to pursue a complaint, maybe not for cruelty, but for nuisance if the dog's barking constitutes a regular disturbance. This would be through the district court. At this point the anonymity would have to be waived.

Remember that this complaint has been made about what may well be a persistent daily problem to the letterwriter, not an occasional party etc.
 
Absolutely - and I've had dog-barking nuisance myself, and know it can be infuriating, disturbing, and stressful. Fortunately, mine was intermittent and I was (just about) able to tolerate it. Had it been daily (nightly, actually, in my case) I would not have been able to, but I would equally not have made anonymous complaints.

You speak as though there's a right to make anonymous complaints - I don't agree. Making anonymous complaints, the results of which you are then not accountable for, is at best rude, and certainly doesn't entitle someone to a full and careful examination of their complaint. IMO.

There is a legal route (which is not anonymous), and a complainant with a serious grievance should normally first approach the animal's owner to see if a satisfactory solution can be found, and if nuisance persists they could activate the legal route.
 
I'm not an advocate of anonymous complaints particularly - that's not the way I've gone about it anyway. First port of call should be a face-to-face meeting (there's something vaguely threatening about unsigned letters) but where I do believe there should be an intermediate step between (failed) resolution and district court. Perhaps at this stage the local council should investigate.
 
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About the anonymous letter writing

- if someone is annoyed enough by a barking dog they will not perceive the owner as deserving any courtesy
- I think people are afraid to complain in case the dog owner is abusive etc and it causes hostility and therefore more problems


I think it's pretty inconsiderate to everyone around you to have a barking dog in your back garden, even if it is not incessant. Fair play to the OP he/she seems to have made an effort to make sure it's not barking all night etc. but it doesn't solve the problem. Do you think this neighbour who complained is making it up and put a note through your door out of boredom? Maybe so, but it's more likely that your dog is barking too much and annoying at least some of the people around you and they don't want to say it to you directly.
 
Green party published some literature a while back...part of it included a bill in which dogs that were barking could be reported to local authority I think who would then have the right to take action.
 
legend99 said:
Green party published some literature a while back...part of it included a bill in which dogs that were barking could be reported to local authority I think who would then have the right to take action.
Click to expand...
Doggy ASBOs?
 
Can anything be done about those dog-owners who let the little pooches trail across the cycle-lane, and then get very surprised and offended when they get a shout from the rear asking them to clear the cycle lane?
 
If someone is walking your dog for one to two hours a day, is it not possible to leave the dog in the house with toys water and
have a raido on for company? I have a dog who barks when alone and do this when i am out. It works well if he does bark he is not annoying anyone. I am very aware of barking dogs having lived beside a dog that barked all day, nearly drove me crazy.
 
We do be driving insane with dogs at the back of us and our next door neighbour. Our next door neighbours have 2 small dogs and she had a baby about 6 months ago, which meant she was at home with them and they where in the house with her. So now since she is gone back to work they are outside all day and are going mad, and if they are put outside at night they go mad. So we just higher the volume on the telly to drowned it out. We told them last summer about the constant barking throughout the day and night, the heat must have been getting to them.

I have never seen them out walking them plus our size backs are too small for the bigger dogs at the back. My boyfriend knocked in and the attitude of the owner was not nice so i can see why some people would not sign their letters.
 
A good tip, if you can get within reach of the dogs to to squirt them with water whenever they bark - usually makes them think twice about it - invest in a supersoaker !!!

Also to the original poster, i would certainly not ignore this problem, if I were in your position I would be worried about what extremes these people will go to quieten the dog - poisoning comes to mind.. there was an incident in our estate some time ago, where several cats belonging to lovely lady were deliberatley poisoned.

Just a thought
 

yea, if one dog suddenly keels over and dies though like could you actually prove it was killed. Is there an inspector morse of the doggie world?
 
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