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Neighbour filed a complaint about my dog

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I see your neighbors side but there was no reason what's so ever to get the Court involved this early. He could have spoken to you again about it rather than run to authorities. I'm sure you would have accommodated him. Taking it to Court after 1 warning... dude needs a hobby.
 
CosmicQueso said:
Tell that to your ER nurse that works graveyard shifts. Sure they'd agree.
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It's kinda hard to make the world a perfect place for EVERYONE. People are going to mow their lawns, watch TV, use blenders, etc. And if people can't do those things doing the day and they sure as he'll won't be allowed to do it during the day, then when can they?

If I worked nights I'd get earplugs or something if there was anything. If there's a real recurring issue (which doesn't even sound like the case for the OP) I'd first talk to them directly about it before wasting everyone's time with court.
 
SliceSabre said:
Dog nuisances laws give the neighbor the right to complain about OP's dog regardless. It'll be be up to a judge to decide if corrective action is needed.
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I think those laws are shit. Like I said, the examples I provided are completely reasonable and equivocal situations. The fact that the OP has to deal with this because the source of the noise is a dog is ridiculous.
 
CosmicQueso said:
Seriously OP, if I was your neighbor (and I am in that situation) and you left a note at my door saying that you were going to try a citronella collar and to let you know if that's working in a week, the complaint would go away instantly.

The neighbors tried to talk to you about it, and obviously nothing changed. What do you expect them to do?

You don't have to fight and get mad at them. Just, like, try to be a good neighbor. Work together.

It's not a big deal. Instead of going all Colombo and recording sound bites all day, just try things that will help the dog learn to not bark.

What's the big deal with just trying that rather than saying that "the neighbor is an asshole and I'm going to prove it in court!"

You're coming across selfishly. It's not a good look.
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This is a really sensible take I think.
 
Him working nights is his problem not yours. There's no rules in excessive noise in the middle of the day, plus a dog does not make that much either. Buy your neighbors some earplugs and tell them to mind their business.
 
Podge293 said:
It's 4 mins within a 30/40 minute window generally. Not a bark here and there over 12 hours.

The days were not there it's a solid 9 hours of recording. Something we can't avoid but that's life really. Why would we put her in a kennel for 9 hours a day for 2 days.

If it was spread out throughout the whole day yeah id probably be a bit more understanding but it's relatively localised with a set time and it's in reaction to another dog barking. Can't see how it's unreasonable for a dog to react to another dog barking
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Even though I find your time window doubtful, you still need to look at it from his perspective. You said when you leave in the morning he's already home. That doesn't mean he's in bed. Do you go straight to bed when you get home from work? People that work night shift usually don't either.

Now consider getting woke up at 2 or 3am and how hard it is sometimes to go back to sleep. Now imagine your 2 or 3am is at 3 in the afternoon and how hard it would be to go back to sleep then.

You're being selfish by minimizing the 4 minutes because to you it's no big deal. But to someone that might only get half a night of sleep now it impacts their entire life.

Kennel your dog on the long days. Or do the spray collar. I agree I'm not in favor of negative reinforcement training, but if you're not going to do anything else but shrug your shoulders and say "its only 4 minutes if off" then you come out of this as the asshole. Not to mention the future issues you're creating for yourself down the road with your neighbor . This could be only the beginning depending on how you handle it.
 
Podge293 said:
She reacts to other dogs but quiets down within 2/3 mins and goes about her ways.
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I realize this isn't what you recorded but 2-3 minutes of continuous barking would be incredibly annoying

I love dogs, but 3 minutes is a long time when you're trying to concentrate on something or sleep and are constantly interrupted by the grating sound of a dog barking through the walls
 
I work night shifts and sleep during the day. My neighbour has two dogs and they do bark. So I wear earplugs when I sleep. Can't hear fuck all then.
It would be impossible for me to sleep normally even without my neighbours dogs. There is a fairly busy road near-by, a railway and some businesses. They all make some noise during the day because, surprise surprise, that's when most stuff gets done.
So personally I decided the only option was ear plugs. They work really well.
 
SliceSabre said:
Dog nuisances laws give the neighbor the right to complain about OP's dog regardless. It'll be be up to a judge to decide if corrective action is needed.
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That's really what it comes down to. If there are city laws or condo rules, then it really doesn't matter what anybody's opinion is.
Got a problem with the law? Then try to get the law changed. Until then, the law can be enforced when there's a complaint.
 
HeySeuss said:
Even though I find your time window doubtful, you still need to look at it from his perspective. You said when you leave in the morning he's already home. That doesn't mean he's in bed. Do you go straight to bed when you get home from work? People that work night shift usually don't either.

Now consider getting woke up at 2 or 3am and how hard it is sometimes to go back to sleep. Now imagine your 2 or 3am is at 3 in the afternoon and how hard it would be to go back to sleep then.

You're being selfish by minimizing the 4 minutes because to you it's no big deal. But to someone that might only get half a night of sleep now it impacts their entire life.

Kennel your dog on the long days. Or do the spray collar. I agree I'm not in favor of negative reinforcement training, but if you're not going to do anything else but shrug your shoulders and say "its only 4 minutes if off" then you come out of this as the asshole. Not to mention the future issues you're creating for yourself down the road with your neighbor . This could be only the beginning depending on how you handle it.
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I'm not trying to minimise it I'm just pointing out its in no way excessive as is required by the law here in Ireland to be before an official complaint . A pain in the ass for him I'm sure buts it's not excessive and he made it out to my wife it was.

I was going to take action if it was in fact excessive barking but 4 minutes is not excessive to me and I doubt it's excessive to any reasonable person.

I would have gladly talked to him about it but when I got home yesterday I was informed he'd filed a complaint with the courts and I was to await a date. He escalated it in an unreasonable period. It's been 2 weeks since he first mentioned it offhand to my wife.

Also it's not like we live in seclusion. Across the road someone is having their house rebuilt by the looks of it. Surely builders cause longer and more noise than my dog not to mention kids, cars, and what not.
 
Slackbladder said:
I work night shifts and sleep during the day. My neighbour has two dogs and they do bark. So I wear earplugs when I sleep. Can't hear fuck all then.
It would be impossible for me to sleep normally even without my neighbours dogs. There is a fairly busy road near-by, a railway and some businesses. They all make some noise during the day because, surprise surprise, that's when most stuff gets done.
So personally I decided the only option was ear plugs. They work really well.
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Blackout curtains worked for me but I couldn't sleep with earplugs. Wasn't comfortable to me and they kept me from sleeping. Working night shift sucks, and people just don't understand how hard it is to get decent sleep unless you have to do it.

I don't know how many times I got into arguments with my gf because she wanted to run errands or have people over during the day without any mind of how I was going to sleep.
 
Podge293 said:
Also it's not like we live in seclusion. Across the road someone is having their house rebuilt by the looks of it. Surely builders cause longer and more noise than my dog not to mention kids, cars, and what not.
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Unfortunately your dog is the only thing he can attack, so he is. Because he's a dick.
 
Podge293 said:
I'm not trying to minimise it I'm just pointing out its in no way excessive as is required by the law here in Ireland to be before an official complaint . A pain in the ass for him I'm sure buts it's not excessive and he made it out to my wife it was.

I was going to take action if it was in fact excessive barking but 4 minutes is not excessive to me and I doubt it's excessive to any reasonable person.

I would have gladly talked to him about it but when I got home yesterday I was informed he'd filed a complaint with the courts and I was to await a date. He escalated it in an unreasonable period. It's been 2 weeks since he first mentioned it offhand to my wife.

Also it's not like we live in seclusion. Across the road someone is having their house rebuilt by the looks of it. Surely builders cause longer and more noise than my dog not to mention kids, cars, and what not.
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If you were to listen to my beagle barking for 4 continuous minutes, you'd lose your mind. It's loud and annoying. The annoyance of barking will depend on the dog.
 
I worked factory night shifts welding for ten hours. I didn't suddenly expect the street and my neighbours to accommodate to my new working and sleeping hours. Your neighbour just sounds like a selfish prick.
 
Podge293 said:
I'm not trying to minimise it I'm just pointing out its in no way excessive as is required by the law here in Ireland to be before an official complaint . A pain in the ass for him I'm sure buts it's not excessive and he made it out to my wife it was.

I was going to take action if it was in fact excessive barking but 4 minutes is not excessive to me and I doubt it's excessive to any reasonable person.

I would have gladly talked to him about it but when I got home yesterday I was informed he'd filed a complaint with the courts and I was to await a date. He escalated it in an unreasonable period. It's been 2 weeks since he first mentioned it offhand to my wife.

Also it's not like we live in seclusion. Across the road someone is having their house rebuilt by the looks of it. Surely builders cause longer and more noise than my dog not to mention kids, cars, and what not.
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Maybe he's just an asshole, who knows. But I do think you're minimizing it. A reasonable person working night shift getting constantly woken up in the middle of the day would consider it excessive.
 
DoctorWho said:
Yeah, GAF seems like the type of place that would have people who want to listen to several hours of audio just to hear how often a dog barks.
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For monitoring our dog's separation anxiety, we'd record it with Audacity and then just look for any spikes in audio to see what / if he was howling. Way better than sitting through 8 hours of nothing.
 
Assuming everything the OP has written is true, then I think he's in the right. He could potentially do more to appease his neighbor simply for the sake of being nice, but it sounds like the neighbor has unreasonable expectations regarding sound. I understand the difficulty people who work the night shift have, but its unreasonable to expect someone to completely alter their own routine for your sake. The OP says it's a few minutes of continuous barking around 3 PM triggered by another dog.

Would the neighbor be equally upset if the OP had noisy children who just got back from school? Can the OP not run a vacuum during the day? Noise ordinances typically have set thresholds and times because there's the reasonable expectation that people will be active and thus make more noise during the day.

Out of curiosity OP, since you've analyzed your dog's sound during the day what's the peak and average noise in dB? That may also help you defend yourself in court (or damn you). Like others have suggested try to leave a TV or radio on. With any luck not only will it keep your dog company, but it might drown out the other dog's barking, keeping yours quiet.

Also you may want to update the OP with some of the details you added in your replies. People clearly aren't reading them. Or maybe they're just very skeptical.
 
My dog separation anxiety caused us to relocate to a condo after complaints from our neighbor in our apartment. He is much better now that he is on meds and is given the entire living room to roam. He really disliked his crate and we found leaving him out with water supply and a freshpatch was best for him.

Wishing you the best OP.
 
It's during the day and his sleep pattern is not your concern. Guys sounds like an ass.

Is the dude going to file a complaint if you are cutting your grass? Doing some DIY? Being out in your garden?
 
Apathy said:
Him working nights is his problem not yours. There's no rules in excessive noise in the middle of the day, plus a dog does not make that much either. Buy your neighbors some earplugs and tell them to mind their business.
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Depends entirely on your city. Mine has a noise complaint ordinance and apparently they'll come and measure the noise levels to see if it's over the limit, and this applies 24h per day. No one ever uses it, but it exists.
 
Some people just hate dogs and you can't do anything about it. For most of my life I couldn't have a dog, because some neighbors hated us and that would be a perfect excuse to make our lives miserable. Now they've passed away so I don't have to worry about that. ;)

Quick tip - go for a loooong walk with your dog before you leave him alone. It should allow the dog to sleep for most of the time you're gone. Or, if your dog doesn't mind, you can leave loud music on for the entire time you're away. ;)
 
tattooed_dwarf said:
Sorry to burst you bubble, but in this case you are the one who doesn't know what you're talking about.
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Please explain. I researched fairly thoroughly, and citronella collars presented no negative health consequences I could find and our dog is perfectly happy and healthy after using one for a couple weeks.

If there are negative issues with them, I'd love to know more.
 
I have a neighbor with a barky dog, but thankfully I wear headphones at home when watching TV, playing video games or listening to music.

It does get annoying though when it barks and doesn't shut up.
 
Could the neighbor could also put up acoustic panels or something to mitigate the sound? Would that work?

terrible said:
If you're sleeping during the day and you're a light sleeper wear earplugs. Dogs barking are really fucking annoying (sorry dog owners) but the solution in this case is so easy.
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Or listen to music while you sleep. It's what I do and it solves most sound related problems.

Could the neighbor could also put up acoustic panels or something to mitigate the sound?
 
xrnzaaas said:
Some people just hate dogs and you can't do anything about it. For most of my life I couldn't have a dog, because some neighbors hated us and that would be a perfect excuse to make our lives miserable. Now they've passed away so I don't have to worry about that. ;)

Quick tip - go for a loooong walk with your dog before you leave him alone. It should allow the dog to sleep for most of the time you're gone. Or, if your dog doesn't mind, you can leave loud music on for the entire time you're away. ;)
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That's what we started doing (morning walks) after he first said it. Wife would get up when I get up, bring her out for an hour or so then she'd head to work at 9
KillerBEA said:
Could the neighbor could also put up acoustic panels or something to mitigate the sound? Would that work?



Or listen to music while you sleep. It's what I do and it solves most sound related problems.

Could the neighbor could also put up acoustic panels or something to mitigate the sound?
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We're getting the kitchen (where she stays when we're not there) redone in September. I'll have them sound proof the joining wall then most likely
 
KillerBEA said:
Or listen to music while you sleep. It's what I do and it solves most sound related problems.

Could the neighbor could also put up acoustic panels or something to mitigate the sound?
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This guy could be a light sleeper and music might not work, nor white noise.

I'm the neighbor, I'm not putting up acoustic panels and stuff because of someone else's dog.

The secret to sleeping in the daytime is a blackout sheet, and plenty of sleep drugs. It's the only way I survive.
 
OP if your neighbor had a dog that barked for 4 minutes every night in the middle of the night would you complain?

I agree it's a bit drastic for only 4 minutes of barking though.
 
Wickerbasket said:
Are you sure you're dog isn't barking constantly when you're gone?

I'm not saying you're doing this, but pet owner's seem oblivious to/or underestimate the noise their own pets make, especially when they're not around.
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This is very true. Are you really listening to 8-10 hours (I'm not sure how long you and your wife are gone) of recorded audio each day? Or are you just sort of scanning through? Is it really a combined total of only 4 min? That's sounds extremely low.
 
Man I'd kill to reduce the amount of barking my neighbor's dog does to four minutes twice a week. That dog can go for hours all day every day. Drives me batty
 
Podge293 said:
That's what we started doing (morning walks) after he first said it. Wife would get up when I get up, bring her out for an hour or so then she'd head to work at 9

We're getting the kitchen (where she stays when we're not there) redone in September. I'll have them sound proof the joining wall then most likely
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OP, have you actually gone and spoken to your neighbour since this started? And told em what you've put in this post?
 
NateDrake said:
If you were to listen to my beagle barking for 4 continuous minutes, you'd lose your mind. It's loud and annoying. The annoyance of barking will depend on the dog.
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I have a beagle and I guess I just got used to her howling/barking. I am in the market for another beagle as Skeeter the one I have now is getting up there in age. For the first time ever we had someone knock on our door to complain she said she was speaking for the neighborhood but I hardly believe that could tell it was just her being irritated. Either way dogs bark deal with it.
 
CosmicQueso said:
Sigh. Good luck OP.

It's not disciplining. It's just a collar that sprays stinky stuff when the dog barks. It's completely harmless.

Yeah, I'm pretty convinced now it's not the neighbor that's the problem.

And the judge will tell you to do something to fix it, no matter how many hours of recording you're bringing in, because you're obviously not being reasonable.



You don't know what you're talking about.



It is a problem if the neighbor says it's a problem. And it'll really be a problem when whatever judiciary says it is.
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To me from reading the OP, The Neighbour is the problem. If he has proof that the dog is only barking during that one period of the day during the day than the Neighbour is going to lose.

A shock collar or the other collar is discipline and is not a good way to handle it.

OP is in the right with this and I hope he wins because the neighbour is being completely unreasonable and honestly so are you.
 
Podge293 said:
We're getting the kitchen (where she stays when we're not there) redone in September. I'll have them sound proof the joining wall then most likely
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Hopefully that works out.
bjork said:
This guy could be a light sleeper and music might not work, nor white noise.

I'm the neighbor, I'm not putting up acoustic panels and stuff because of someone else's dog.

The secret to sleeping in the daytime is a blackout sheet, and plenty of sleep drugs. It's the only way I survive.
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Melatonin is a life saver, and sometimes booze.
 
The Beard said:
This is very true. Are you really listening to 8-10 hours (I'm not sure how long you and your wife are gone) of recorded audio each day? Or are you just sort of scanning through? Is it really a combined total of only 4 min? That's sounds extremely low.
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With the programme you can see spikes in the audio. I jump to the spikes and listen for around 15 mins before/after the spikes to see it is the dog.

It's roughly 4 mins. Could be slightly above 4 mins or below 4 mins.

We have reacted when she's barked in our presence but she stopped doing that (except when other dogs bark) ages ago

And not that low. My folks have had dogs for years (new pups and old dogs, numerous breeds settled on boxers lately, nice dogs) and I doubt I've heard them bark for longer than 2 minutes when I was growing up there and even when I rock up you won't hear them react (you'll feel it with the big one tho, bounds into you if she know you)
 
CosmicQueso said:
Sigh. Good luck OP.

It's not disciplining. It's just a collar that sprays stinky stuff when the dog barks. It's completely harmless.
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"Hey man, I'm not disciplining my kids, I just spray a bunch of axe body spray all around my kids when they don't do what I want. Because they hate it. It's not discipline tho."
 
redlegs87 said:
I have a beagle and I guess I just got used to her howling/barking. I am in the market for another beagle as Skeeter the one I have now is getting up there in age. For the first time ever we had someone knock on our door to complain she said she was speaking for the neighborhood but I hardly believe that could tell it was just her being irritated. Either way dogs bark deal with it.
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That's such a shitty and immature attitude. Dogs aren't the problem, shitty owners are the real problem. They buy dogs, don't do any training, and leave them alone for hours on end, and then say shit like, "dogs bark, deal with it."
 
redlegs87 said:
I have a beagle and I guess I just got used to her howling/barking. I am in the market for another beagle as Skeeter the one I have now is getting up there in age. For the first time ever we had someone knock on our door to complain she said she was speaking for the neighborhood but I hardly believe that could tell it was just her being irritated. Either way dogs bark deal with it.
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That's a bullshit attitude. There are noise ordinances for a reason. And I say this as someone who owns a barking dog. We're lucky they everyone around us has dogs too, including the house opposite ours who has a beagle. If you think beagles howling isn't a problem you're the one being a dick, not your neighbors. They are loud as fuck.

The onus is on you to provide silence, not your neighbor to expect there to be howling fucking dogs all the time.

(To prove that I own a dog and also an excuse to post a pic of him I present Bandit aka BarkyMcfuckingBarkerson Sir Barksalot)

YW46Rd6.jpg
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