Neighbour issue - thoughts pls?
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Topic: Neighbour issue - thoughts pls?
Posted By: kebakat
Subject: Neighbour issue - thoughts pls?
Date Posted: 07 November 2006 at 7:01pm
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Ladies,
We recieved a letter in our mailbox from one of our neighbours today about our puppy.. this is the letter below: "To the neighbours Is there anything that can be done with your dog barking. I arrived home at 3:30 and he was barking and he was still going at 5:45! He barks constantly. i know he is only young but I find it near impossible to study with this contant barking and it is extremely annoying. Your thoughts and actions on this would be appreciated" Now, I completely understand that a dog barking would be annoying. However neither DH nor I are home during the day to disipline him with this so what are we really meant to do? We can't let him have free reign of our yard yet (which would quiten him a bit) as he can escape because he's little but once he is big enough not to be able to escape he will be let out of his kennel. But what does this neighbour really expect, a puppy at only 4 months old to be completely trained!?! We spent a considerable amount (in excess of $300) to buy a crate to teach him at night he must be quiet which works as we were around to tell him off etc. We could have easily done the standard thing and left him outside in his kennel and after a few nights of barking all night he would shut up, but instead we spent the money and time to teach him so our neighbours would sleep. But what about other noises in the neighbourhood? The STP has a stupid very loud phone that goes off all day that no one answers. does she complain about that? How about her hubby using power tools and a sledgehammer to destroy concrete for hours on end (one day when he was doing this I couldn't hear our puppy bark over top of it). What about the neighbours that let off fireworks for 2 hours solid on the weekend and pointed them in our direction scaring our poor lil puppy? Because I'm annoyed and angry I don't want to go over there because it would most likely do more harm than good but what should we say to this woman? Like she said herself he is young, I don't know of any puppy that is trained in everything by this age |
Replies:
Posted By: mummy_becks
Date Posted: 07 November 2006 at 7:07pm
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OK if she is at Massey exams are all but over , there is only a few left and they finish next week. - Get some ear plugs is what I would reply. If she knows he is just a puppy get over it, they aren't all perfect little creatures and like children take time to settle into a routine, what is she going to be like when the bubs comes along and its a screamer??? Would she like to come to our place where the neighbours dog starts backing at 3.30AM and barks for 1 hour non stop (they are moving out at the moment too and we have that noise all night as they only move at night). ------------- I was a puree feeder, forward facing, cot sleeping, pram pushing kind of Mum... and my kids survived! |
Posted By: Red
Date Posted: 07 November 2006 at 7:40pm
| Is he inside during the day? Maybe leaving the radio or something on for him may stop this, our friends had the same prob with one of their dogs barking and a dog trainer recommended they do this. |
Posted By: Paws
Date Posted: 07 November 2006 at 7:51pm
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Is there anyway you can make the backyard escape proof? I'm guessing he's barking because he is bored and lonely so finding ways to entertain him during the day would really be the best option. A radio on if he is inside would be a good idea. Or if you can let him our making sure he has plenty of toys.
Good luck!  ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 07 November 2006 at 9:36pm
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He has a few toys in his kennel including a special chew toy that is hollow that gets filled with treats he has to work to get.. he's not an inside dog. he was never meant to be one, we have allowed him to sleep inside in a crate at night but there is no way that he is trusted during the day or night by himself alone roming free, he would destroy anything and everything he could lol.. and putting him in a crate indoors all day is very unfair, at least in his massive kennel he can be in the sun and see the yard and can walk around etc
Outside, he just needs a few more weeks of growing and he wont be able to escape from outside, the only gap he fits through is a gap between our gate and house (as our house is brick they couldnt attach it to the house but close to it) and nothing we put there seems to stop him given enough time so we cant let him have free rome of the yard just yet until hes too big to fit through it Radio just isnt an option outside. |
Posted By: Bombshell
Date Posted: 07 November 2006 at 9:38pm
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OMG dont get me started on this one...at least your neighbour came to you via a note...ours (7 doors up the road!!!!) went straight to dog control and complained...we are now in dispute with dog control over this....
some people hate dogs and our neighbour wants ours put down (she said this!!!)...yet screaming kids, drunk neighbours cackling and doing karaoke and the idiot across the road that has xmas lights and music goign til 11pm apparently arent a problem? not to mentiont the four other dogs between us and them that also bark but cause ours are "big dogs" they are picking on ours....!!! I am with you....pm me if u want to chat more cause if i start venting on this one i may never stop!! LOL |
Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 07 November 2006 at 10:16pm
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a dog barking every day all day would drive me batty too. not the same as a sledgehammer or party every weekend or so... or a phone ringing ...
sounds like your dog is lonely and really if you arent going to be there for the dog should you have one. ? her letter doesnt sound bad to me either - at least she came to you first ... do you have someone who can perhaps come over and take the dog for a walk or something??? ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Posted By: SquishysMum
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 12:26am
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Hey guys, Lurker here. I was just wondering - I have a neighbour whos little jack russel barks CONSTANTLY. I mean, wakes me up at 6.30 am EVERY DAY. I'm convinced it is having a personality crisis with a rooster! I have been trying to think of ways to say something to the neighbours for MONTHS but just can't find the words... I mean, we live in a driveway with 20 other houses down it (yay Auckland house-cramming) and there is just no way to block it out.
The question is this - should I write a note as Kebacat received? I am afraid that I will alienate my neighbours and make them mad, but I work late afternoon shifts and a dog with a rooster complex is driving me batty. Any thoughts? Now I'm off to introduce myself, as I feel bad for not doing to earlier :) |
Posted By: Jennz
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 1:45am
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Its a tough one- I can see how it must frustrate both sides. I guess its nice that she spoke to you first rather than just going straight to animal control as alot of people would. From her point of veiw she probably doesn't care that its a young dog or the trouble you're going to- all she would care about it the noise and it disturbing her when shes trying to concentrate.
Would it be possible for one of you to come home at lunch time- just over the next few weeks, just to get him out and have a run around and hopefully burn off some of that energy and get rid of the boredom for a bit? Maybe you could also write a note back and just say sorry and all the trouble you are going to- she might be a bit more understanding if she knows you are actually trying. It would be good if you could get it sorted between you rather than her getting so mad one day she brings animal control into it. Good luck! ------------- Jen, Charlotte 7 & Kate 3 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 7:27am
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The thing is that I've been home a quite few times in recent weeks all day but he's still gone out into his kennel and I've never heard a peep from him all day. So, I'm not even sure this is a regular thing with him.
If he was barking all day coming home at lunch time wouldn't do much good. If I leave work I loose my car park and would spend 1/2 my lunch time trying to find another and DH only gets half an hour but my point would be that if he was barking all day, coming home for a short time then putting him away again would only serve to make things worse because he would probably go crazy after being left. He doesn't mind going in his kennel at all. If he was bored all day he would be a pain to get him in there but he runs down to his kennel and sits in it waiting for DH to catch up and shut the door on it. |
Posted By: Andie
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 8:35am
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Tricky one, Stacey. I agree that a note back saying sorry bout the noise and explaining how you're doing everything you can to stop it happening could help - your neighbour probably doesn't realise the effort you're putting in. What about creating a tethered run to see puppy through this phase? If he were tied with a decent-length lead to something that runs say the length of your yard, maybe he'd burn off some energy and not be so bored? I'd be chicken about leaving a puppy inside too. Hope it all works out for you. ------------- Andie |
Posted By: Lulu
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 10:18am
Well I sympathise with the neighbour...sorry! I also have a dog but I take her everywhere with me, to work as well. I know, I know, I am lucky to be able to do that, but I think it is part of the responsibility of a pet owner to ensure that their pet is happy and not disturbing other peoples peace. It must upset you to know that your puppy is barking for such long periods of time as he's obviously upset. I would suggest ringing bark busters. Even though you aren't at home when the behaviour is occuring, I'm sure that this is a common issue and bark busters will have a solution. They use non-agressive forms of training, i.e. no hitting. Good luck!  ------------- Lou http://www.babysfirstsite.com"> 
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Posted By: Paws
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 11:42am
To be honest, I would write a note to the neighbours, I don't think there is anything wrong with it or with the one Kebakat received as it is a perfectly reasonable complaint. It's good that you are wanting to make the effort to talk to the neighbours first too! A dog is a huge responsibility! At the SPCA, puppies are not allowed to be adopted unless someone is with the puppy ALL day. That applies to pups under about 8 months as I recall from when I worked there. Kebakat - is there a neighbour who wants to earn a little cash and take your pup out during the day? Or can you employ a dog walker? It would be an alternative to you having to come home. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Katie84 wrote:Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 2:29pm
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Yep, I am also with paws and G's mum here. I do think it is a little mean to leave a pup at home on its own during the day. Having said that, when we got Tui, we had no problems really, but if she got bored, she would just bark and bark, so we ended up getting a dog walker a few times a week, until I finished up work to have Jacob.
I think it has taken balls on your neighbours part to give you a heads up about the problem before going to dog control, etc. Maybe you could write note back, like Andie suggested? Good luck! I hope it gets sorted! And, katie84, write a wee note to your neighbours. ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: MILF
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 3:21pm
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we got a nasty letter from dog control about complaints that our dog was barking, so i think your neighbour was doing a good thing to come to you first. maybe explain what you have explained here, that when he is a little bit bigger he will have the run of the yard, and include a box of choccies with it, she might be placated a bit.
But a word of warning, even having the yard to run around in may not stop your dog barking, ours had a big backyard to roam in during the day, but all that space isnt company for the dog. Hope you get this resolved soon - you could always say that you will be home during the day soon enough with the dog  ------------- Lyla - mum to Xanthe -  my big 4 year old 
and Jordis - 1 year old 
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Posted By: Bombshell
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 5:15pm
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with ours our neighbour is just being malicious - we have actually set up a video surveillance on the dogs and nothign !! no barking etc...and a two hour complaint can often be only ten mins or so....
It can be too hard to come home - we did that too!! dogs often were asleep and didnt even hear us come in... Make sure u walk him lots, water, food, and we leave a radio on sometimes with a window slightly open so they can hear it...noone is going to be able to break in past them!!! The idiots at dog control will treat u as guilty no matter what so dont let your neighbour be given any excuse to go there...we have three other friends across akld in similar disputes - and we work for the SPCA!!! |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 5:22pm
| I don't believe it is mean at all to leave a puppy during the day. All throughout my childhood we had various dogs as pets. They all started out as puppies. They were ALL left during the day in their kennel and coped just fine. Since I work for the Council I've been enquiring with the senior dog control officer. He said that as a puppy it's to be expected and nothing more than we are doing would be expected of us. We are on the Council's list for the preferred owners of dogs. |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 6:14pm
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hehehe an interesting development...
another neighbour came to say that she has recieved a complaint from Council about her dogs apparently barking as well. From a discussion with this lovely neighbour we have found out that the neighbour who complained to us harasses any neighbour that makes any sound. She is filing a harassment complaint with the police, it has got that bad with this person. hehehe funny.. Council have also been to her house and never actually heard her dogs barking except when they have walked onto their property... very interesting.. |
Posted By: fattartsrock
Date Posted: 08 November 2006 at 9:01pm
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She sounds like a looney.....(the moany neighbour..)
I hope you didn't take offence to my comment, it is just I say that, as we breed off our dog, and I'm really not that keen on letting pups go where there is no one home all day. That said, Ours is a jack Russell, and they are DEFINATELY dogs that need company, lol, or else they can be very crazya nd destructive...(great pets, though, very loyal!) ------------- The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 09 November 2006 at 7:24am
| hehe my mum has a jack russel. she gets soooo excited when she sees our puppy or new people |
Posted By: ginger
Date Posted: 09 November 2006 at 9:29am
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Hey Kebakat
I have two dogs, both of which are outside and contained in runs during the day - from 7.30am approx to 2pm approx. What we did is approached our neighbours when the dogs were young and said basically that as we're not home (well, I'm not - DH works nights, and is asleep), *if* the dogs are barking, or causing any disturbance, to please let us know so that we can take appropriate steps to train them. What I'd do, if I was you, is talk to a neighbour if you have someone who would be able to help - ask them to keep track of when the pup barks and how often, and if they could have a quick look and see if there is a reason why the pup may be barking. eg. another dog in a neighbouring property barking - puppies love to react to that!! With our youngest dog, we kept her contained in the bathroom during the day until we were confident that she would sleep/hang out in her run quietly during the day, increasing the time she was in there over a couple of weeks (she's a real barker), and then we moved her into her run, doing the same thing (we were able to do this over a week due to time off etc), and we've not had a problem with barking. I've also approached our immediate neighbours and said that if they have a problem with barking, to please let us know *immediately* so we can take steps. What sort of pup do you have? Sometimes that can have a *lot* to do with it ...eg. temperament, and their prone-ness (if that's a word!) to barking, and you can go from there - eg. we have a Huntaway and a Border Collie - the Collie is soooo much more prone to barking etc as she's very highly strung! Often there is a reason for behavioural problems too - our Collie was a nightmare to train and our first year with her was horrendous. It turns out that the little boy next door was tormenting her when we weren't looking  ...I caught him at it one day, throwing sticks and stones at her! The problem that resulted from that was that although her behaviour was under control within weeks of the neighbours moving out, the child who was tormenting her was a little indian boy, and we've spent the last *year* training the dog out of a hate for indian people.
Lou's suggestion is a good one - I'd definitely follow that up!! A barking dog is annoying to neighbours (we've lived by barkers before and it drove us batty), and you don't want to take the risk of your pup being tagged as a problem. ------------- Cuinn Lachlan 23.1.09 - 22:00 Antonia Helene 4.8.11 - 09:41 |
Posted By: AnnC
Date Posted: 10 November 2006 at 9:59am
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Well I am on the other foot - we have a new puppy couple of houses up.Barking all the time, driving us nuts and our dog as well - which in turn is drving us nuts again cause we get the our dog wanting to go out the side door all the time (which we close as the french doors to the back is always open), the thing is I know its a puppy whose bored and wants company and there isn't anything that can be done as its just got to learn to be on its own.
On the note of leaving dog home durinmg day whilst working - we did until the kids came home from school and had not one complaint although our dog - a boxer - did not bark when he was a puppy and was not tied up nor in a kennel. he had all of our back yard to run around in and his 'kennel' is a games room off the back of our shed. He is barking a bit now as we use to have feilds behind us and now there is heaps of houses going up (not that I like that either) but the dog barks at the workers - which is to be expected as he defending (or at least he thinks he is) our property so I don't stop him straight away from barking. Some people complain to complain but i would still write a note or even better if you feel comfortable go and talk to the neighbour. If she is the 'nosey-parker-just-likes-to-complain type of person really theres not much that will satisify her but at least you have tried then. ------------- Ann 
Also Mum to Josh (15) and Brooke (10) |
Posted By: Rachael21
Date Posted: 11 November 2006 at 4:38pm
| I have to say if your dog is actually barking maybe should need to try something different to stop it. As someone who is at home all day a dog constantly barking drives me up the wall your neighbour does have a right to complain amd it is your problem to deal with not theirs. Maybe you could ask a different neighbour how much your dog does actually bark. You could look at a puppy day care or something until its old enough to be at home alone. |
Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 11 November 2006 at 4:40pm
| We have found out that our puppy doesn't usually bark ever, the neighbours I have asked didn't even know we had a dog until today when it went for a walk and they saw it! |
Posted By: Rachael21
Date Posted: 11 November 2006 at 4:42pm
| Thats great then it(sorry can't remember if pup is boy or girl) must be pretty happy all day then. |