Issue with dogs barking

childsplay

Hi all. I have an issue that exists between myself and my neighbour. I have three dogs, which we place in an outdoor run when my boyfriend and I work. We leave them out roughly between say 9 and 5 not more than 3 days per week. My neighbour complains that they bark. I am finding it hard to believe as they don't seem to bark when we are home and they are outside in it. We tried moving the run and turning the position of the kennels in it to prevent the dogs seeing too much from them. Still the neighbour complained and called the dog warden on us. We explained the situation and in fairness the warden was okay about us. Next thing we get a call from my parents. We were away at work and they called over to check out the dog situation and deal with any barking that was happening. Again they said that the dogs weren't barking. The neighbour came and attacked them and said that he was going to take a court case against us. He also said that we were cruel and neglected our animals, which is not in anyway true.
We are now at our wits end. We love our dogs to death and want to keep them. But our neighbour is driving us nuts. Like we can't even go shopping at this stage but he's complaining. It's at the point where we lock them into the house when we are away, which I feel is close to being cruel to them. The neighbour has been seen peering over our back wall and spying in to our property and watches every move we make.
What can we do here to resolve the situation? I acknowledge his rights and if the dogs are causing him a problem, that he has every right to complain. But the situation is at boiling point and we need a resolution. It's making me sick and I can't sleep with worry. Any advise would be appreciated.

Farcear

Isn't there some sort of collar you can get that stops dogs barking?

chops018

Let him do what he wants, he will need to bring proof of all his allegations and if you are not cruel to your dogs and they don't bark like you say you don't then you have nothing to worry about.

Procrastastudy

Cam corder pointing out the kitchen window and see if they are barking. If I was living next to dogs barking all day I'd take you to court aswell. That said some people have too much time on their hand so check it out for yourself. If he's attacking your dogs then he's not going to do himself any favours come court time.

Some breeds do bark no matter what (Jack Russels) but in most other breeds its a sign they aren't getting enough exercise. We never had an issue with out dogs being left in the house or barking as the bloody things were knackered from a 5 mile walk in the morning and a walk at night. Three at the weekends.

Does wonders for your health too - my father has been over weight for aslong as I can remember and at 71 he still gives me a run for my money given all the exercise he does!

There are collars that spray lemon juice or something similar. A mate used to have two dogs and one with the barking problem had one. Until he realise the other one was walking up yo him and barking at him to spray him. Dogs are smarter than people give them credit for.

Also - chill out - the Dog warden would have advised you if there was a major issue - and if you put your mind at rest that they are not barking your neighbour isnt going to be able to rely on some magic to win in court. In all likelyhood if he is just being a busy body it will never even get that far. Even if it does nuisance requires something to be out of the charater for the area - its possible that even if they are barking a bit during the day that will be considered acceptable.

Ken.

Do you have neighbours on the other side of you or behind you?. If you do ask them do the dog's bark all day. If they say they don't hear anything then the other guy hasn't a hope.

childsplay

We did ask the neighbours around us. No body else had an issue. The neighbour in question has had it in for me since I moved in there. I was a single girl when I bought the house. It has always felt to me that he didn't approve of me.

The dogs are a boxer, a springer and a border terrier. The terrier can be loud and vocal but as I say, I have not heard him bark outside when I'm around. I will look in the collars and see if they help.

The animals are walked. Maybe not everyday but at least 5 days in the week anyway. Plus they are up and down the yard with us when we are there and working outdoors, which is a lot of the time.

As I say, if this mans quality of life is being affected, he has every right to complain. Like I would too. Witht he spying and constantly watching us, its hard to put this thing out of my mind. Thanks everyone for your help. Its nice to have people help you out when you cant think straight with annoyance.

alibaba12

Dont get the dog collars, tbh they are cruel. If you neighbour has a problem they have to prove that there is an issue. CCTV is your only way to see if there is a problem and if your neighbour is harming your dogs. I know my dog can bark quite a lot if left alone so we leave him with the oh's parents as a) not fair on neighbours but also b) not fair on the dog as he is stressed when barking at evey little noise.

Indricotherium

alibaba12 wrote: »

Dont get the dog collars, tbh they are cruel. If you neighbour has a problem they have to prove that there is an issue. CCTV is your only way to see if there is a problem and if your neighbour is harming your dogs. I know my dog can bark quite a lot if left alone so we leave him with the oh's parents as a) not fair on neighbours but also b) not fair on the dog as he is stressed when barking at evey little noise.

No they are not cruel.

They are an effective and humane way to control nuisance barking.

For the sake of €300 the op could leave his neighbour with absolutely no comeback on the barking.

davmol

SOmetimes barking can be subjective.I know our neighbours had barking dogs and this used to happen at night between 1am and 5 am.Needless to say it affected my quality of life so i approached the neighbours and told them this couldnt go on.
As i prefer to have a civil relationship with my neighbours, i wasnt aggressive and wanted to come to a mutually agreed resolution.

The neighbour ended up bring in his dog at night and got muzzles which prevented the dogs barking at inappropriate hours so now we're both happy.

Try and relax,he has to prove alot before any action will be taken.as i sadi barking can be subjective,if hes sitting at home watching TV and teh diog barks for 10 seconds this may be enough to annoy him.If the dog barks again 20 misn later this may be enough to further irritate him into a frenzy whereas normal peolpe could ignore it,hes obviously easily irritated.Ask him when the dogs bark-record the dogs at that time and u have evidence to counteract what he says.

i think getting a camera to find out the extent of the "problem" and if it is a problem is in order first

pawrick

Like the others posters suggest definitely get a camera to record what's going on. I've had pets who never make a sound when they know I'm around but I know they make a lot of noise when I'm not there. Also your neighbour going around his own garden may set them off esp if he shouted at them in the past. Don't wait for him to have to prove it to you that they bark, get your own evidence in order on if they do or not and the cause.

childsplay

Thanks to you all. :)Our plan at present is to get some anti-bark spray collars and to set up a camcorder to watch what happens. Is it a good idea to keep the man in the loop so at least he knows that we're trying?

DarkJager

childsplay wrote: »

The neighbour has been seen peering over our back wall and spying in to our property and watches every move we make.

This stood out to me and could be the very reason the dogs are barking during the day. If this miserable loser is intentionally aggravating them and peering in to your property while you are away, of course the dogs will bark. They are territorial animals after all. It sounds to me like that apart from being a very sad individual, he also has a dislike for dogs and might be trying everything to make you get rid of them.

First step is a camera as others have said but I wouldn't focus it in the dogs. Instead, see if you can record the spot at which he is looking in to the property or would have a view of it. This would instantly give you proof that he is intentionally instigating the dogs to bark, along with video evidence of invasion of privacy. The Gardai will take a lot more notice of a peeping Tom than barking dogs.

Ken.

childsplay wrote: »

Thanks to you all. :)Our plan at present is to get some anti-bark spray collars and to set up a camcorder to watch what happens. Is it a good idea to keep the man in the loop so at least he knows that we're trying?

I wouldn't tell him. Record the dogs over 3-4 non consecutive days.If you get a camera make sure it only shows your land or you could get in trouble.

Procrastastudy

You really should be walking the dogs at least once a day and more on week ends imo - however this isn't the pets forum so unless there is a problem, which you can tell by recording the dogs, you don't need to worry. If, however, you do find them barking - more walking will help.

childsplay

There should be no issue in terms of setting up a camera. We can look at the top of the wall and not include his property, which I figure should keep us legal. If the collars work, hopefully we will reach the end of this saga.

Thanks for the advice regarding walking the animals more. We are pretty busy people but we'll try to fit it in more if it'll help.

Pidge96

Oh, I can relate so much to this. We had an absolute ass of a neighbour, who would come to the house, intoxicated, blowing smoke in my face, shouting all about how he would call the guards and the ISPCA etc. None of our other neighbours ever seemed to have a problem with our dogs barking. They're far from neglected, Vaccinated, licensed, they live outside and have a kennel each (there's two) and get walked, fed every day.
Of course, this is a man who loves to complain, he would come up to a pensioner two doors down and give out to her for playing her classical music too loudly during the day? Ridiculous. I completely understand the concerns of the user who posted this thread. It really does make you sick with worry thinking someone can make baseless accusations against you. The only time I ever hear them bark is if there's a siren and that only lasts less than a minute, or when the neighbour's King Charles runs out the gate (which is seldom).
I would say that as long as nobody else has a problem, he doesn't have a leg to stand on. Some people really just do love the attention, I think.

Ned_led16

Make a circular treadmill for the dogs to wear themselves out! A springer will bark if not walked three times a day or let out to run around in an open space - terriers bark all the time! thats my humble opinion from experience with owning these two breeds of dogs for many years.

Maybe you could walk the dogs a min twice a day once in the morning and once in the evening and pay someone to walk them lunch time? if you havengt time to walk them perhaps you should reconsider your position. A Springer should be on a farm not in a cage! I have a Border Collie which is a working dog like your Springer - if he was left in a run all day he would bark!

My neighbors dogs are walked maticulously - however when i walk my dog passed theres - they always bark - thats what dogs do they bark!

I can almost guarantee any dog will bark if not execrised enough - sorry but i reckon your neighbor has a point! and i am totally against those big dog cages!

Pearwhyne

i do have a problem with neighbour's dog barking at times.. drive me nuts.. this is the time when your hands go light to pick up the phone to call local authority.. has been a year now but hasn't actually make the call..

jasonpat

If this happen then its your right to stop this disturbing activities,