Fence Wars

The_Honeybadger

Hey folks. We have a terrier that we got from a rescue last year. She is generally a good dog around the house after we put a lot of effort in to her training but we are having a big issue over the past month and I was wondering if anybody can advise.

Our neighbours on one side recently got a second dog that barks in their back garden constantly and barks / snarls at the fence when our dog is outside and more recently even when she is inside. This is causing ours to bark back naturally. There was never an issue with their initial pet dog until this second dog arrived.

Initially we did our best to ensure they weren’t out together but it has gotten to the point now where our dog is on alert all day long. Since the weather has improved recently our neighbours have started leaving the dogs outside all day so the problem has escalated and even leaving ours out for a wee is becoming a nightmare. I have spoken to the neighbour about it but they don’t have a lot of English and they just shrugged their shoulders and said something along the lines of ‘they are just being dogs’. They are away at work all day during the week so I don’t think they fully appreciate how bad it is. Leaving the dogs outside suits them from a toileting point of view I would imagine. They bark all evening as well inside, and at anybody passing the house etc, I don’t know how they put up with it.

With our dog we have tried counter conditioning with food etc and have had some success but she will still explode with barking from time to time throughout the day as her frustration builds up. The house is not that big and keeping her away from any area where she might hear the neighbours dogs is not really possible.

We both work from home since the pandemic so this is becoming a huge issue when we are on business / video calls. We are at our wits end at this stage and don’t know what we can do. I will approach my neighbours about it again but they really didn’t seem to care last time. I’m well aware that my dog is part of the issue as well but we have done all we reasonably can to minimise the issue from her point of view I think. She can’t be out enjoying the garden during the day now which must be frustrating for her as well.

Does anybody have any advice or maybe dealt with something like this successfully in the past?

HalfAndHalf

If it was myself I’d go speak to them again and say if they don’t cop on then you’ll be reporting them, which can be done here:

https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/1e785c-dog-control/#barking-dogs

The_Honeybadger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842082#Comment_118842082

Thanks I was really hoping to avoid that route as I have to live alongside these people. Just to be clear, my dog is barking back and is part of the issue but I think they are being highly irresponsible leaving them out all day knowing there is a problem. I will ask / tell them to stop doing that for a start, but it still doesn’t resolve the issue.

We we’re hoping it’d get better over time but it isn’t so far

HalfAndHalf

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842424#Comment_118842424

I get the whole ‘having to live next to them’ side of things but the fact is, you’ve mentioned it and their response is to shrug and carry on as they like. People like that aren’t gonna care if you mention it again, they’re gonna carry on doing what they like. They don’t care about living next to ye so why give them any care and attention.

Do the dogs have anywhere in the garden for the dogs to shelter in bad weather? If not then alongside the noise issue they’re also not providing safe shelter for them and they deserve to be with people that will care for them. It’s yourselves and the dogs that are suffering.

The_Honeybadger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842607#Comment_118842607

They were inside during the day up until this nice stretch of weather the past week. The situation was very frustrating but somewhat manageable until then.

Graces7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118842082#Comment_118842082

Agreeing fully. When I was new here I was kept awake all night many nights with a barking collie at the farm nearby. Finally I called them around 2 am in sheer frustration. When they got mad at me the next day claiming they could not hear the dog and told m to wear ear plugs. ? I told them the law and at the mention of Gardai? They sorted it. That was the way you can take a noise nuisance causer at night to court for E20 and no solicitor. They are fine with me now too ...