Yet Another New Neighbourhood Dog.. Argh

[Guest RosieFT]

I don't know if anyone saw my last post on a new overly zealous neighbourhood dog in our back corner of our yard.. well we did as advised and raised the fence where it was jumping up.

Now the people behind us, who I have never heard a peep out of nor seen since the last rentors moved out about 6months ago, have got a dog. It has been barking non stop for a few hours now. ugh. My dog almost never barks, even when people come to the door - think i over did the 'quiet' dog thing! I looked through a crack in the fence and can see that it is a really tall dog. Loooong legs that go on for ever, reminds me of a skinny, smaller great dane LOL.. yeah, seem to be bad at dog breeds right now. It's hackles are up, it is standing in the middle of its yard barking over and over. It is short coated black with a white patch on it's chest and long legs, lean body, and a widish head. It looks cute, when its hackles are down, but a bit scary as it is protecting its yard right now!

Apart from the noise, my concern is that due to the sloping land, although OUR side of the fence is full height, on their side it is much, lower. ugh. Unlike the first case, this would be a fair whack of fence to raise. Would it be ok to approach them (if i can work out which house it is) and tell them my concerns? This dog is not jumping up at the fence, nor is it right near the fence...

How long shall I be understanding about the non.. stop... barking!!! while it settles in?

[jackie_a1]

Hey Rosie,

Personally if you are concerned about the dog making an escape etc I would speak to the neighbours but I would do it a little sneakier. I'd knock on the neighbours door and just say hello introduce myself politely and say something simply along the lines of,

'Hi there, I noticed you have a dog is he a new addition? He is quite stunning what breed is he? Is he friendly? Sorry to bother you it's just recentley I've had to heighten the fences because of another dog doing a houdini (laugh humour is good ) is your dog ok with other dogs if he gets out? He's probably never escaped before but just making sure '

I've had a similar experience with our old next door neighbours they were renters and owned two large (pitbull hybrids) and they were constantly trying to attack Lucky and Razor so I went next door and said something similar to that. The very next day they covered any holes their dogs were digging under the fence and were always lovely when I would see them out the front.

Hope that helps

[Guest RosieFT]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have never had this experience before - of a dog barking nonstop.. itis literally doing my head in! I am also concerned other neighbours will think it is my dog - although Rosie (when she barks) has that grating terrier bark.. this is a deeeeep bark, with a little howl thrown in for a bit of fun very now and then, just to mix it up a bit. ugh.

The back of our yards back onto each other, have to work out which road it is on.. hmmmm.. thanks!

Am currently hoping it is just a friend over with a dog for a very short visit... heee

[jackie_a1]

Aww this dog sounds like one of our neighbours dogs. It is an entire chocolate male lab. And next door to them is an entire female lab. (The neighbours are friends and decided it would be good for their kids to get matching dog breeds) However NEITHER of the owners walk or exercise their dogs and from 2pm till 6pm the male lab barks non stop because his owners kids are ignoring him and playing outside.

Then once the female gets on heat they lock her around the side gate and the male next door goes absolutely nuts. I haven't said anything about the barking because I am worried the minute either of mine bark they'll complain to me etc.

I don't usually like to get narky with my neighbours because I don't like to (Sh** where I sleep) HOWEVER in saying that a serious or constant issue definitely I'd step up and say something. But thankfully these neighbours only live on my street and not directly next door to me so I can tolerate the barking.

[pie]

Yes Rosie is rather quiet, don't think I've heard her bark ever!

I feel your pain, we have new neighbours and they have a Beagle X who is always barking at everything, which sets off the dogs behind us, which then makes the Beagle X bark more!

At our old place we had a dog who always barked but we did get used to it, took a few months of sleepless nights though

[WreckitWhippet]

Write a note saying the dog is barking and put it in the letter box, say that you understand it's settling in and could they please make attempts to rectify the problem. If it's not quiet do the same the following week.

Keep a bark diary and then report it to council .

[jackie_a1]

Write a note saying the dog is barking and put it in the letter box, say that you understand it's settling in and could they please make attempts to rectify the problem. If it's not quiet do the same the following week.

Keep a bark diary and then report it to council .

I'm a little reserved doing something like this. I think you should see your neighbours face to face instead of leaving a letter because it's a little less formal and it can be like you're having a friendly chat just to let them know the dog is barking. They could be lovely and apologise profusely or they could be total a holes. Regardless I think if they don't fix the problem after you spoke to them about it write a formal letter. Then if they don't fix it report it to the council. I don't like this dobbing to the council every time a dog sneezes. Personally with nuisance barking I'd use the council as the LAST straw not the first option.

[Kirov_grrl]

If you use google maps to look for your house, you should be able to figure out what street and number the house is behind you

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

[Guest RosieFT]

Thanks everyone. I know if it was my dog i would like to know if it was annoying anyone, they may not know as i assume they were not home as they did not come out once.

The dog is quiet now. Hopefully just settling in.

Good idea re google maps :-)

I don't want to cause trouble and realise I will have to give the dog time to settle in :-) . just wondering what my best course of action would be if it doesn't! We all must annoy our neighbours in some way, but we are quite lucky here and it is really quiet. Except for my kids playing in back garden ;-) . But they were not outside and the dog was going off. Anway, will give it some lee way. I am open to meeting dog etc and having it feel more comfortable about hearing our voices etc. But it will all depend on what the owners are like and if it keeps being a problem.

thanks again!