New neighbor's dog never stops barking!

[emer95]

Any advice?

Our next door neighbors moved in two months ago. I've only met the parents once, but the kids hang out with my kids. The problem is their big dog (don't know what kind, I think it's a mix). They tie the poor thing up outside at 7 am, and the barking begins. They go to work, and leave the dog tied up outside ALL DAY LONG. The barking continues until they bring him inside. Last night it was 10:45 pm and I could hear it. The dog is tied up to a huge barn, so it has the option to go out of the sun if need be. Also there is a bucket of water for it to drink. Still, I feel very sorry for the poor dog.

However, I feel more sorry for ME! Since they've moved in, I cannot sit outside, keep my windows open, or relax. It is the most horrible, annoying, non-stop sound. I've been wearing headphones and listening to music from 7 am to 11 pm. If I take my headphones out and the dog happens to be quiet for a second, I enjoy the silence, and then he inevitably starts right up again. This is really causing me great anxiety. Other neighbors have complained about it too. Until this point, everyone around us with dogs was overly considerate. You barely knew any of our neighbors had dogs because as soon as they barked, they'd bring the dog in.

Can you make an anonymous call to the dog warden? Would they take that seriously, or do you have to leave your name? I don't want a bad relationship with these neighbors, even though they are ruining my peace.

Alternatively, I started looking into dog repellant sound emitters, but the reviews are pretty mixed on those.

Has anyone actually had success with getting a neighbor's dog to stop barking, either by talking to them about it (which is the least favorable option, in my opinion) or having a dog warden step in?
Thanks.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Subscribing. I have looked into those devices as well and am wondering if any of them work. It is so annoying that so many of my milestone videos with my kid are inaudible because all you hear is my neighbor's schnauzer losing his mind in the background.

 

[AJ1983]

I would be an adult about it and speak to the neighbours directly. I think an anonymous complaint, if it did trigger an investigation, would CERTAINLY cause the issues you want to avoid. Honestly, I don't think the humane society/animal control would do anything because the dog has adequate food, water and shelter...the poor dog is just lonely!

You could just mention it to them like "Oh I just wanted to let you know that your dog is crying all day, I don't know if his collar is too tight,etc"...makes it seem like you are concerned for the dog's well being while letting them know that the dog is constantly barking.

You mention you hear the dog all day and have to wear headphones from 7 am-11am. Presumably you are home all day. This could me a good money-making opportunity if you like dogs-maybe they would pay you to dog sit or take the dog for a walk once a day. The dog might be happier and you could make some money. Of course, this is not a feasible option if you are on maternity leave and caring for a baby all day, or recovering from surgery,etc, but its an idea if you like dogs and are able to do it!

Hope it works out! There is a dog near us always barking because he is left outside and I feel so bad for him-its certainly not HIS fault.

 

[mom2rtk]

I feel for you. We had that very problem and honestly, it didn't get better until she was sent to prison (on an unrelated charge. )

I tried talking to her, but she said the dog only needed time and once he got used to us, he'd stop. Uh, no. He didn't. I couldn't walk outside without the barking driving me nuts.

Maybe you could video it and see if they would watch?

 

[aprilchem]

When you say "other neighbors have complained about it too," do you mean that other neighbors have spoken to the owner of the dog about it? I think that the first thing to do would be to speak to the owner directly and say "your dog is barking all day and it is disturbing us." Since the owner isn't there all day they probably don't realize it's barking. Submitting an anonymous complaint without talking to the neighbor first is really a bad choice, in my opinion. It's not the mature choice to make and will probably make the neighbor feel targeted in the new community.

 

[scrapquitler]

Any advice?

Our next door neighbors moved in two months ago. I've only met the parents once, but the kids hang out with my kids. The problem is their big dog (don't know what kind, I think it's a mix). They tie the poor thing up outside at 7 am, and the barking begins. They go to work, and leave the dog tied up outside ALL DAY LONG. The barking continues until they bring him inside. Last night it was 10:45 pm and I could hear it. The dog is tied up to a huge barn, so it has the option to go out of the sun if need be. Also there is a bucket of water for it to drink. Still, I feel very sorry for the poor dog.

However, I feel more sorry for ME! Since they've moved in, I cannot sit outside, keep my windows open, or relax. It is the most horrible, annoying, non-stop sound. I've been wearing headphones and listening to music from 7 am to 11 pm. If I take my headphones out and the dog happens to be quiet for a second, I enjoy the silence, and then he inevitably starts right up again. This is really causing me great anxiety. Other neighbors have complained about it too. Until this point, everyone around us with dogs was overly considerate. You barely knew any of our neighbors had dogs because as soon as they barked, they'd bring the dog in.

Can you make an anonymous call to the dog warden? Would they take that seriously, or do you have to leave your name? I don't want a bad relationship with these neighbors, even though they are ruining my peace.

Alternatively, I started looking into dog repellant sound emitters, but the reviews are pretty mixed on those.

Has anyone actually had success with getting a neighbor's dog to stop barking, either by talking to them about it (which is the least favorable option, in my opinion) or having a dog warden step in?
Thanks.

You know the kids. Tell the kids that their dog barks a lot when nobody is home. Maybe they'll mention it to the parents. I really don't understand the hesitancy to say something to the people, especially since it seems like you at least know them enough to let the kids hang out together.

Definitely call Animal Control. Dealing with this stuff is part of their job. They ran a big campaign around here this year about telling people NOT to leave their dog outside all day, the heat can be a problem for the dog, even if he has access to water/shade, and being on a leash all day like that can cause accidental suffocation, plus there are wild animals that can cause danger for a tied dog. In your case, animal control would come out and check the safety and talk to the owner. They won't give your name.

 

[emer95]

I would be an adult about it and speak to the neighbours directly. I think an anonymous complaint, if it did trigger an investigation, would CERTAINLY cause the issues you want to avoid. Honestly, I don't think the humane society/animal control would do anything because the dog has adequate food, water and shelter...the poor dog is just lonely!

You could just mention it to them like "Oh I just wanted to let you know that your dog is crying all day, I don't know if his collar is too tight,etc"...makes it seem like you are concerned for the dog's well being while letting them know that the dog is constantly barking.

You mention you hear the dog all day and have to wear headphones from 7 am-11am. Presumably you are home all day. This could me a good money-making opportunity if you like dogs-maybe they would pay you to dog sit or take the dog for a walk once a day. The dog might be happier and you could make some money. Of course, this is not a feasible option if you are on maternity leave and caring for a baby all day, or recovering from surgery,etc, but its an idea if you like dogs and are able to do it!

Hope it works out! There is a dog near us always barking because he is left outside and I feel so bad for him-its certainly not HIS fault.

I'm a teacher so I'm home during the summer. I honestly wouldn't mind taking the dog for a walk (for free) just to help the poor thing out, but they have two teenage kids at home during the day who should be doing it. I appreciate your suggestions though. Approaching it in a way that makes me seem concerned about the dog's well-being rather than just outright complaining could be a good option. Thanks!

 

[emer95]

When you say "other neighbors have complained about it too," do you mean that other neighbors have spoken to the owner of the dog about it? I think that the first thing to do would be to speak to the owner directly and say "your dog is barking all day and it is disturbing us." Since the owner isn't there all day they probably don't realize it's barking. Submitting an anonymous complaint without talking to the neighbor first is really a bad choice, in my opinion. It's not the mature choice to make and will probably make the neighbor feel targeted in the new community.

No, no one else has complained to the new neighbors, that I'm aware of. I was out taking a walk, and the woman across the street stopped me and said that the dog was driving her crazy, keeping her young kids awake. She said that people on either side of her were complaining too. Yet we're all hesitant to say anything to the new neighbors. We're a neighborhood of wimps, apparently. I know for sure I am!

 

[scrapquitler]

I'm a teacher so I'm home during the summer. I honestly wouldn't mind taking the dog for a walk (for free) just to help the poor thing out, but they have two teenage kids at home during the day who should be doing it. I appreciate your suggestions though. Approaching it in a way that makes me seem concerned about the dog's well-being rather than just outright complaining could be a good option. Thanks!

Before I said "mention it to the kids" I thought you were talking about small kids. Now that you mention that there are teenagers who are home during the day while the dog is barking, I'm going to ammend my comments: I would call the house and tell the teenagers "Your dog barking is disturbing me, please bring it inside or make it stop". The parents probably assume that the teenagers are taking care of the dogs and the teens are ignoring it. That would irritate me even more than thinking the dog is home alone and left outside.

 

[emer95]

Before I said "mention it to the kids" I thought you were talking about small kids. Now that you mention that there are teenagers who are home during the day while the dog is barking, I'm going to ammend my comments: I would call the house and tell the teenagers "Your dog barking is disturbing me, please bring it inside or make it stop". The parents probably assume that the teenagers are taking care of the dogs and the teens are ignoring it. That would irritate me even more than thinking the dog is home alone and left outside.

You're right. I've been assuming that the whole family is deaf to the sound of the barking (which I do NOT understand) but maybe the parents think the kids are engaging the dog/walking it during the day, when in fact they are not.

 

[AJ1983]

I'm a teacher so I'm home during the summer. I honestly wouldn't mind taking the dog for a walk (for free) just to help the poor thing out, but they have two teenage kids at home during the day who should be doing it. I appreciate your suggestions though. Approaching it in a way that makes me seem concerned about the dog's well-being rather than just outright complaining could be a good option. Thanks!

Oh my God I completely agree! That is so unfair that they put the dog out while the teenagers are lying in bed or playing video games. My dogs are lazy are are quite content to stay in bed as long as we do, so I'm sure this poor doggy would be content to curl up with the teenagers.

This makes me more emphatic that you should approach the owners. They may be at their wits end with their children, and if a neighbour complains (in a nice way, showing concern for the dog), they may FORCE their kids, or pay them, to walk the dogs, or they may offer to pay you to do it. I would be so bold as to say "The poor dog is barking, I don't know what's wrong with him, but I thought I should mention it because the kids don't seem to be keeping an eye on him"

The poor dog is probably barking more because he KNOWS there is someone home and he is hoping they will come get him. My dogs are put in their room or kennel every morning when we leave for work and there is never an issue, because they know we are gone. Leave them in the backyard while I run inside to grab a drink or answer the phone? They bark like I'm leaving them alone on the side of a highway.


Good luck and let us know how it turns out, you have my sympathies. So does your neighbour actually, if she is stuck dealing with a dog that the lazy teenagers probably begged for and now don't want to care for.

 

[kmb584]

Before I said "mention it to the kids" I thought you were talking about small kids. Now that you mention that there are teenagers who are home during the day while the dog is barking, I'm going to ammend my comments: I would call the house and tell the teenagers "Your dog barking is disturbing me, please bring it inside or make it stop". The parents probably assume that the teenagers are taking care of the dogs and the teens are ignoring it. That would irritate me even more than thinking the dog is home alone and left outside.

I agree. When I hear of a dog being left outside for long hours I presume it's because no one will be in the home for an extended period of time, but if there are teenagers present there's no excuse for leaving a dog to bark all day. It's an act of irresponsibility.

 

[mom2rtk]

Before I said "mention it to the kids" I thought you were talking about small kids. Now that you mention that there are teenagers who are home during the day while the dog is barking, I'm going to ammend my comments: I would call the house and tell the teenagers "Your dog barking is disturbing me, please bring it inside or make it stop". The parents probably assume that the teenagers are taking care of the dogs and the teens are ignoring it. That would irritate me even more than thinking the dog is home alone and left outside.

With teens at home there's NO excuse to make the dogs someone else's problem.

 

[Disney st8 of mind]

We have a neighbor two doors down like that! Every time the dog is out it is constantly barking. It even knows the sound of our sliding door opening and immediately runs to our side of his yard. But this dog not only barks.....he jumps at the chain link fence while he's doing it!!! This neighbor is retired and in the house while all this goes on for hours at a time!!!! I've tried talking calmly to the neighbor and his response was "That's what dogs do".... what a dumb***! He KNOWS it's an issue because at least now he's kind enough to put a bark collar on the thing after 10p.m. I considered a privacy fence but our house has a walkout basement so our deck is a level above ground so unless my fence is 20 ft high the dog can still see us I looked into our township ordinances and clarified what I read with the police and it is something that the police can be called on. They said they actually have to be called and come and witness the dog in action, a video of the dog won't do. First time is a warning but I think after a couple visits they can issue fines. Good luck!

 

[usnuzuloose]

The law does state an animal can not be tied up for more than 3 hours. He barks because he is tied up and lonely. No food? He would probably fine if he was not tied up. I would kindly speak to the neighbors and explain. I get worried about the animals to. Sometimes I place a call to the spca, not to get the animal taken from them but to make sure things are okay. And this may be a case of that. Who knows if he is allowed to run in the yard he may become your best friend.

 

[Luv2Run]

I had a friend who went through this situation recently (although, she's in Canada, so the rules/laws may be different). She documented every incident in a MS Word document (i.e. "Monday, 08/04/2014: Barking commenced upon owner's departure at 7am, continued intermittently until 11am. Barking commenced again at 12pm, continued until owner's return at 4:30pm. Spoke with Mr. & Mrs. Neighbor about barking at 6:30pm."), which she used in conjunction with audio recordings that showed date & time of the dog barking. After several times of speaking with the dog's owners about it, she decided to go to Animal Control. Animal Control basically told her that since th dog is, in fact, being cared for (food, water, shelter) that they couldn't reprimand the owners, but she could file a noise complaint with the local sheriff's office, which she did. She gave the police the evidence, they came out and gave her neighbors a verbal warning. Barking continued. She called the sherriff's office back and referenced her case, and they came out and fined the neighbor (I want to say it was somewhere in the range of $250-$500, but I can't remember exactly how much), and the barking stopped.

Moral of the story: it's not just an animal control issue, it's also a noise complaint. If your neighbors were, say, having constant parties after-hours in the middle of the night with loud music, you would file a noise complaint wouldn't you? Because it's a disturbance. If your neighbors ignore you when you mention it to them, then don't be afraid to file a noise complaint, since it is disturbing how you live your day-to-day life now that you're having to make efforts to drown out the barking of THEIR dog.

 

[Luvchefmic]

Laws re-dogs vary from state to state there is no " one size fits all ". I would talk to the adults in the family as I'll bet they have no idea the teens are not taking care of/ignoring the dog. I have this same situation next to me. I spoke to them and for awhile it was handled. Years later we are back to the same situation. Now the baby of the family is the teen. They just don't care. I hope you have better results.
In our case I'm not sure why this particular family even has dogs.

A noise complaint would not work here unless it was after 10 or 11 pm.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

So you obviously understand this is not a dog problem, it's a people problem.

They are being neglectful by, as a pp stated, breaking noise ordinances.

Unfortunately, it has become a sad way of life for this family, and this poor dog.

A complaint to the police should put pressure on them to begin to take a look at the problem.

Just a thought, but often, in a situation like this, there is power in numbers, and less burden on you indivdiually, if you attack it as a group. This means all neighbors affected call a meeting with police to address it; that way it becomes a "neighborhood thing" as opposed to a "you" thing. Hopefully it will take care of the problem pretty quickly.

Please keep an eye out for the well-being of this dog if you can, though. They might go from tying him outside to tying him in a cellar or something, or worse. Just my .02. Hope you can find a resolution that makes everyone happy, including the dog. He is starving for attention and a life, and barking is his way of pleading for help. It is not unusual in winter time to find some of these dogs kept on chains in the yard literally frozen to the ground and forgotten. I always feel badly, too, even in better weather, thinking of how they're probably being eaten alive by mosquitos and other bugs.

 

[rszdtrvl]

We have that issue with our neighbors dogs also. It is frustrating.

 

[HelenePA]

I'm starting to have this problem. My neighbor 2 doors away lets her yappy dog out at 6am and its just barks and barks and barks... it woke me up today and it didn't stop for over an hour. She'd yell out to it every now and then to shut up so obviously she can hear it too.. just let your freaking dog in already. I hesitate to say anything since there are a lot of kids in my back yard making noise while in the pool sometimes but that stops no later than 730-8pm but it sure as heck doesn't start at 6am!!