Neighborhood Dogs

[kelleigh1]

It seems like 90% of the residents of my neighborhood own dogs. It's been like this since I moved in. I live in an apartment where the landlord does not allow pets, which is fine with me because I'm just not really much of a pet person and I know that I wouldn't have the time needed to take care of them properly.

And I don't believe in just leaving them alone all day. Which brings me to my issue. Two houses down from us, they have a new puppy. It's a husky, I believe, so it's not exactly a small puppy. Our house is set back from the road, so we our apartment actually overlooks the backyards of a few houses next to us. The owners of this dog will shut him/her outside in the backyard for hours on end all by itself. Without fail, the dog whines and whines and whines.

Now because of the house being set back, all we hear all day and night is this whining dog. (Note: the dog is not in the yard overnight, but is let out fairly early in the morning, so there's no such thing as sleeping in at our house anymore.) I have had to call the dog officer on two separate occasions because when we looked out and saw the dog, we could see that he/she was clearly choking itself because of the way the leash was tied up. The first time, the owners weren't even home. The second time, they either got home before the dog officer arrived or they finally looked out to see what was happening.

Now as soon as someone goes into the yard, the dog stops whining and just loves to play with whoever it is. Honestly, I feel sorry for the dog. But seriously, I can not imagine having to listen to the whining and yelping all summer long. As it is right now, our windows are pretty much still closed, but we can still here the dog quite clearly. I can only imagine how bad it's going to be once summer hits and the windows are open all the time.

So my question to all of you is this...is there anything we can do to get these people to do something about the whining dog? As it is now, they just keep leaving the dog out there to whine. Even when he/she is scratching at their back door whining, they don't do anything. Is there any legal obligation that they have to keep their dog from disturbing the neighborhood? My husband fears that because the dog is in the house overnight that there isn't any noise ordinance that they would have to adhere to.

And please don't suggest that I go speak to the neighbors. That is not an option. I overheard the guy complaining to one of our other neighbors because I called the dog officer when the dog was choking itself. Yeah, I saved your dogs live. You're welcome. The families in both houses next to us have lived there practically forever and they have the attitude that they own the neighborhood.

 

[kelleigh1]

Oh and just for the record, the other dogs in the neighborhood don't bother us at all. They bark on occasion, but it's not hours and hours of whining and howling. And this family owns/owned another dog who never bothered us either.

 

[Marseeya]

Have you checked on your town's dog ordinances? That was the first thing I did when I got my own dog. Our law is something to the effect that you can't let your dog bark continuously for more than 10 minutes, or intermittantly for more than a half hour during the day. It's a lot more strict at night, after 10 p.m.

Something to look into!

 

[Christine]

I don't have any answers for you, just wanted to say that people like that really disgust me. Why even get a pet if you are going to treat it like that?

The most you can do is keep complaining to animal control and if you have a neighborhood association.

 

[Evil Queen]

Also, see if there are any local tether laws.

I know here, they have guidelines, of when and how long your dog can be tethered.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I would also check on the noise ordinances in your area. Ours are pretty strict and it doesn't matter if it's daytime. We are supposed to document the time barking and then call animal control and they will send an officer out to talk to the owners. We have neighbors who tie their dog outside and leave the dog to bark sometimes for hours (they used to just let the dog run loose, so I guess I should be happy ). They also let the dog out early in the morning. The dog will bark at anything that is outside, including kids who are playing outside, so when the dog is barking it is continual and very annoying.

BTW, we have dogs and I have nothing against them. Ours go outside, but when they see something and bark I call them in and/or tell them quiet. I never let them bark and bark. Usually their barking consists of the "woofs" at the door to alert us that they want inside since they are primarily indoor dogs. They do bark at people who are walking by the house (esp people with dogs or strollers), but that's when they are inside and it's us that they are bothering and we don't let them continue to bark then, either.

Obnoxious dogs are really a people problem and as much as the neighbor dog drives me crazy, it's really the neighbor who I'm frustrated with. They tie the dog outside because they don't want the dog inside barking and they don't want to take the time to properly train the dog. It's very irritating. At least the dog doesn't poop in our yard anymore (and I don't have to fling it in their yard... ).

 

[kelleigh1]

Thank you for all your replies! I just didn't even know where to start.

Their backyard is at least fenced so that the dog can't get out.