neighbours complaining about pets

deger82

my wife and I have 2 dogs who are let out to the garden at roughly 9 am and taken back inside at 8 pm .because we live in a cul de sac we are the last house and only have one neighbour beside us who works from home he doesn't like the dogs and shouts at them when we are not there so they bark at him .now he is complaining about there barking but they only bark when they hear or smell someone strange in his back garden as people come and go all day there.this is a residential area and not a industrial estate .I am sure he is not paying council rates or water charges for his business and none of the other neighbours have an issue with the barking .he has said he is going to take it further.The dogs are pets and only bark when they sense someone strange.
any advice
the dogs are a basset hound and a cocker spaniel both nearly 4 years old

toadfly

If you could leave them inside with some background noises they probably wouldnt bark?

Whispered

How are you sure they only bark occasionally? Or that they only bark when the man shouts at them? Do you be at home when it happens? I'd be very upset at someone shouting at my dog.

11 hours, out the back with no new stimulation is a very very long time and the dogs are probably barking at the people coming and going because they could be bored?

dvet

Deger, This is unfortunately a common problem. The main ways to stop dogs barking are:

(1) increase their exercise - i.e. walk them before you go to work in the mornings and again when you get home. Good long walks, tire them out! Some people also get friends/hired dog walkers to come in the middle of the day and walk them then - this can really help. As whispered said, they are alone for a very large portion of the day, which is very likely a huge part of their problem.
(2) plenty of toys to distract them - rawhide chews and food releasing toys e.g. kongs are the best.
(3) if they are barking at other dogs/at something in particular, prevent them from seeing and hearing the dogs/that thing - this usually means keeping them inside the house. Is this possible for your dogs? If not for the full day, even to bring them inside for half of the day? You might think it is cruel to keep a dog confined to the inside but with plenty of exercise and toys most dogs don't mind at all.
(4) (Please don't jump on this point and not the rest) you can get anti-barking collars, there are a few types, citronella spray collars, ultrasonic noise collars, and electronic shock collars. Many people jump on these as they seem like an easy fix - However for various reasons these collars aren't the best choice, particularly the shock collars - they don't address the cause of the problem, and can make dogs even more distressed than before, so they can end up barking even more then usual, even after the collar is removed.
(5) It can also help a little to brush up on their general obedience training, and to address any separation anxiety issues they may have (a dog trainer or behaviourist are good for extra info on these.)

The first 2-3 points above are the most important as they actually address the causes of the barking, which are usually boredom, anxiety or territorial.

As this may turn into a legal issue it might be an idea to record them during the day and establish how long they are barking for, and also what triggers it. Your neighbour has rights under the control of dogs acts to have the issue investigated and even have your dogs seized.

boxerly

sorry OP ,and I dont mean to sound mean xx BUT thats an awful long time for doggies to be left alone Could you get someone to let them in after a couple of hours and bring them for a walk?If you say where aboutish you are someone may be able to help xxx

portgirl123

same as what others have said 11 hrs aday is along time out for any dog. and as much as i love dogs i have 3 myself it would drive me mad if my next door neighbours dogs were constintely barking. in all fairness you dont know how long they are barking for, and as others have said most of it is prob out of boardom. in all fairness if you were at home trying to work the barking would prob drive you insane as well
Have you no one that could come in and walk/play with the dogs. 11 hrs without food is along time maybe there hungry as well.

deger82

just a couple of points
1. the dogs are brought for a 5km run every night
2. the dogs are trained on a gun whistle (not for hunting or sports )
3.i am home from work at 4pm daily so the dogs are in and out untill 8pm when they go for there excercise then its in for the night except for a toilet trip around 10:30
4.the other neighbours are relaying the information back to me about there behaviour
5.i have asked the neighbour to not shout at the dogs but to use positive reinforcement (ie. i will give him some doggy treats but he said he cant go out to them every time they bark)
if he spoke to the dogs softly instead of shouting at them they might respect him .

TooManyDogs

To be honest it's hardly fair for either your dogs or your neighbour. Your dogs are clearly bored and frustrated if they're barking, could you consider a dog walker during the day to give them more exercise?

My neighbours dog used to bark whenever we were in our back garden at all and it got very old very quick. We couldnt sit out in good weather never mind have anyone over for a bbq cos the dog barked non stop the minute she heard our voices or footsteps. I ended up loosing the head when my mam was dying of cancer, we turned her room into a hospital room but it was at the back of the house so everytime we opened a window or the dog heard us do anything it would start off barking and not stop. It really upset my mam so I went in next door to ask them to keep the dog inside and was told 'sure it's only barking, that's what dogs do'. I pointed out that I had my mam's dog plus my own 3 in my mam's house and you wouldn't hear a peep out of them, and that my mam should have the dignity of dying without constant barking in her ears.

So you never know what's going on behind closed doors, give your neighbour a break and keep your dogs inside unless you can control their behaviour. I'm not a cruel person but I ended up shouting at that dog and turning the hose on and pointing it over the wall in an effort to get it to shut up. Next step was going to be one of those high-pitch emmiters that's triggered when a dog barks, it's a noise that's really irritating to dogs.

deger82

am i being unreasonable to ask my neighbour for help to resolve this matter
i dont complain when he is fighting with his wife at 10:00 in the evening
i dont complain about all the noise coming from his house
i dont complain when his clients come and park outside my house and i have to park up the top of the road

Cherry Blossom

OP, make your neighbour aware of the fact that you are trying your best to try to find a way to solve the problem, the next time any of the following occur do not hesitate to knock on his door and complain!

deger82 wrote: »

am i being unreasonable to ask my neighbour for help to resolve this matter
i dont complain when he is fighting with his wife at 10:00 in the evening
i dont complain about all the noise coming from his house
i dont complain when his clients come and park outside my house and i have to park up the top of the road

dvet

deger82 wrote: »

am i being unreasonable to ask my neighbour for help to resolve this matter
i dont complain when he is fighting with his wife at 10:00 in the evening
i dont complain about all the noise coming from his house
i dont complain when his clients come and park outside my house and i have to park up the top of the road

Other than reiterate the points I made in my first post, all I can tell you is that all of the points you have just mentioned will make NO difference to your legal case should your neighbour decide to unleash the Control of Dogs Act. Under this, they could possibly get removed, and be put down.

You've been given some good advice about how to reduce the barking, all you can do is take some of it on board and tell your neighbour what you are doing to rectify the problem. You may feel like telling him where to stick it but that is a bad idea. The best route is to keep him on side, be reasonable, and honestly try to rectify the problem. Communication is key!

And while you may bring them for a run in the evenings etc, the problem is boredom during the day. So walking/toys etc early on during the day will help.

P.S. I'm not trying to sound harsh at all - but these are the realities of the situation.

TooManyDogs

deger82 wrote: »

am i being unreasonable to ask my neighbour for help to resolve this matter
i dont complain when he is fighting with his wife at 10:00 in the evening
i dont complain about all the noise coming from his house
i dont complain when his clients come and park outside my house and i have to park up the top of the road

Unfortunately your neighbour has no obligation to help you train your dogs. In your first post you said your dogs were out from 9am to 8pm but then you said you were home from work at 4pm so how about keeping the dogs inside until you get home at 4pm, then you would be on hand to correct the dogs whenever they barked. It can be as simple as a sharp 'no' or call them into the house. It needs to be consistent though so even if your neighbour was willing to give them a treat when he went outside it would never be consistent, especially if he has clients coming and going. So the best way would be the dogs only to be in the garden when you're there to supervise and train them.

As regards your neighbour being noisy, that's an entirely separate issue so it has to be dealt with separately, like others have said approach the neighbour and either talk to them about your dog problem or them being noisy but don't get into a tit for tat discussion, it won't end in any kind of resolution

fortuneteller

SNIPPED

amiable

Hi OP, it sounds like there are underlying problems in your situation. But i do think you have to take his complaints seriously cos if you are not there during the day you can't be sure how much barking they are actually doing.

daenerysstormborn3

You could look into using one room of the house for your dogs (to avoid total destruction) or crate training them, although I don't know how successful you might be if they are adult dogs.

I definitely would try and keep them out of the garden for longer periods. There could be any reason for them barking at your neighbour, one simply being that when he is in his garden and so close by (in their estimation), he doesn't play with them. It could really be that simple. Obviously i'm not suggesting your neighbour should play with your dogs nor do I think he should feed them treats, aside from anything else this will confuse the dogs as regards who their master is.

Shouting at them won't help though.

If it's not possible to bring them inside for at least some of the time between 9 and 4 you could look into training them with collars that help deter barking. They'll need to be trained properly with these, simply putting the collar on and leaving them to it won't be enough.

I had problems with a neighbour before. She lived 3 doors up from me with her elderly parents. She seemed to be a bit unstable and would kick out at my dog or throw slaps not caring where they landed. One day she threw a slap and it caught him on the arse and he jumped forward, eventhough she was obviously standing behind the dog she tried to say that he tried to attack her. My dog is a great dane so you can imagine how this looked. I sought legal advice from a few different sources and was assured by 3 different people with actual experience with these cases that judges are very unlikely to even entertain the case unless there's evidence that the dogs are barking during unsocial hours (night timel or in the case that a neighbour works shift work and sleeps during the day. Try not to let your neighbour bog you down too much but for your own peace of mind it will be worth it to sort out the dogs barking.

seamus

deger, can't really add much to what's already been said by others.

Although fortuneteller above is no doubt blowing hot air about what he'd do, the sad truth is that there are plenty of people out there who wouldn't hesitate to harm or kill your dogs for disturbing their precious peace. The kind of man who goes out into his back garden to shout at dogs, doesn't sound like the most stable person around.

The ball is in your court here, it's ultimately your problem because it's your dogs who are barking. So you need to sort it.

amiable

fortuneteller wrote: »

Be glad you dont live near me, i pity your poor neighbour...i work nights and any dog barking will wake me.... id ask once then poison the ****

There's always a solution that can be found without having to resort to that kind of thing. Thats just being silly