What To Do With Non-dog Neighbours?!

[mixeduppup]

Hi guys, new here and I currently have 3 dogs and will be getting my forth towards the end of the year.

I have a Maremma (very socialised and trained in obedience)

A Jack Russell (not a yapper)

A rescued kelpie (i've had her for about 2 months and am yet to hear her make any noise)

and at the end of the year will be purchasing a Rottweiler pup for obedience, tracking and maybe Schutzhund later on.

We live on a large farm block and have neighbours on both sides, but quite a distance away. One side are friends and love us, the others..I dunno. they have 5 little yapping dogs that bark whenever a leaf blows, they have 1 that is HIGHLY neurotic and aggressive and NEVER stops barking. Anything will set it off. The lady who lives there is scared of any dog larger than a foxy and is really scared of my Maremma. I went to long lengths when they moved in to introduce her to him and show her that he was a gorgeous boy and she seemed great. Then her grandson moved in, everything was fine although occasionally she'd say the maremma would growl at her through the fence, I was concerned as it didn't sound like him so went out to watch, what she thought was a growl was his play moan, followed by a play bow. i explained that he wanted to play and wasn't being aggressive but then she went on about how Maremma's shouldn't be pets and they're aggressive etc etc. Everything was fine for a while, we had a few foster dogs come on for a few weeks. one was a lab cross girl and was adorable but loved climbing fences. One day she climbed their fence and started playing with their dogs. I had no idea and she phoned me up and started yelling at me telling me my dog was in er yard trying to kill her dogs. I ran out and saw this dog laying on the ground, tail wagging a million miles with 3 of her dogs laying on top all in a big play ball. I called her back over and brought her inside. I apologised for the upset and we had the dog taken to a new foster home. The 4 weeks later we had a visit form the ranger, apparently our dogs barked through the night, all night. The ranger wasn't amused when I laughed, but then I explained that how could the dogs bark all ngiht when two were inside and one was in the garage? So all in all we are now not speaking to them and every time our dogs bark at anything at any time she calls the ranger who has now stopped coming over. basically she's scared of dogs and is making a mountain out of...nothing! It's craziness! We've basically barricaded that side of our property so our dogs can't get there but they still complain that our dogs escape when they can't, bark when they don't and that I'm breeding dogs which is RIDICULOUS, considering all my dogs are desexed. I explained to her that from time to time other dogs would come on as I foster temporarily for a local rescue and occasionally babysit a friend's very quiet dog. any way, rant over. I just wonder if any of you have gone through similar circumstances and how you coped as I hate living like this My dogs are all trained and socialised and It sucks

Edited June 29, 2012 by mixeduppup

[LizT]

If she is serious about her barking complaint they will ask her to keep a "Diary" of when your dogs bark and for how long. I suggest you do the same so that if she does present this as furher eveidence to back up her complaint you can say exactly where your dogs were during the allegded barking episodes.

I agree, not a nice situation to be in, especially given the lengths you have gone to to assure her your dogs are not a threat to her.

[mixeduppup]

it's crazy, my maremma loves his playtime int he afternoon and will play bark but now I have to check to make sure they're not home so that they don't record him or report me. I'm actually considering moving as I don't want him to be considered a nuisance when he isn't. UGH.

[Guest donatella]

Can you do some recordings of various times?

Not sure if you can record her dogs yapping when they yap as proof against her.

[mixeduppup]

I would but I study from home and to be honest they bark so much that i don't really care any more. they don't annoy me and I don't want to make a big deal out of it or report her dogs in return, I just want peace, because this whole situation is ridiculous and makes no sense! I'm hoping they're just going to give up because my dogs don't bark enough to warrant recording unless they put it on repeat.

[pepe001]

I went through the whole rigmarole a few years ago. A neighbour decided I was a baddy and tried her hardest to GET me. Went from me leaving my car runnning at 6am for hours to annoy her. The police turned up a few times and walked in to put their hands on the bonnet - then they would shake their heads and sometimes have a little giggle and walk away. This stopped after a few visits. Then it went to her ringing pollution control. Bill (we becamne quite friendly) started ringing me when she rang him to report my car running - after waking me up about 5 times (yes, I was a late sleeper) and me getting my car noise tested - that stopped. Then she moved onto my cat running on the roof at night. The ranger came and saw that he had 3 legs and an inside cat with enclosed courtyards and no way would get on a roof and apologised. Then apparently we were keeping native birds. The Park Rangers came to see our Indian Myners (in a large avery) who were used to record their noises for an eradication program run by the Uni. The guys chatted about the program for a while and apologised. Then apparently I had bikies coming around to rev their engines for hours - I wish???? My neighbour (another one) wrote me a letter saying it was BS. Then the good old pick on the dogs - funny that this was the last to be used by her. I went to the Pound guys and showed them my file on her. They admitted that 95% of calls they get are bogus and told me to just wait it out as she needed concrete evidence. They talked me through the whole process she would have to follow and were really helpful. But I did get letters from neighbours defending my dogs and also sat up a few nights and vidoeed them sleeping on the couch. She eventually moved as there was no one else to complain to.

My advice is to talk to the rangers and explain the situation and ask for their advise on how to show your dogs are not a problem. Meet every issue and try to talk through it - in front of rangers etc - before it gets to court. Ah, thats right - my neighbour tried to take out an AVO against me for mowing the lawn on the nature strip and going onto her nature strip a bit. We lived on each side of a corner and apparently I went over the diagonal that should separate us. The court officer (after talking to her) told me to be careful and never be caught by her alone until she moved so she couldn't accuse me of anything else.

Back to you - Keep a diary and record everything - every communication with her - go back to when it started. If you can't remember dates - just record months . This is important. Record your and her dogs barking as well. Days when no one is home - also days when no dogs are at home. Can you occasionally take them all out? IF she wants to go for an official complaint she will need to keep a diary as well. If she says they record when they are not there - you have the evidence she is wacko. Just start a word document and put down each date you remeber until up to date then record stuff (note form) every night after something has happened. For example if you havbe visitors, record their names so you can get a letter from them if that night comes up on her records.

For you I suggest trying to mediate the problem infront of officials as I didn't do this at the start - because I thought it was a joke and would go away. If I had gone to mediation early on I think the mediators would see she was a wacko and it would have been dealt with then and not continue on for months. One funny part of my story is the real estate rang me to tell me she said my dogs were barking all night. I told her I was on holidays in Darwin and can we deal with it when I got home. She said 'maybe my dog was barking becasue I wasn't there'. 'Oh no', I said, 'my dog is sitting next to me right now, she came on holidays as well.

Good luck, be strong and don;t get angry - just gather evidence to meet her every complaint.

[mixeduppup]

Thanks for that advice, the ranger came over about 2 weeks ago as there was a complaint that the Maremma had gotten out and was out. They didn't know he was just around the corner and when he arrived the Maremma was sunning himself at the back of our block. Apparently he got out through three secure farm gates then quickly got back in with no help from anyone and went to sleep at amazing speed. He just shook his head and agreed that our dogs were fine and he also commented that he could hear her little dogs yapping form inside the neighbour's house. He was like "that must be annoying". Our other neighbours know that if the maremma barks then something is going on as he's not a barker (unusual for the breed I know), they have stopped talking to the crazy lady as well. they were looking after my dogs the other day and they said that the grandson was playing by the fence and when he saw my dogs who were just sniffing around, he screamed and ran away, then she hugged him and told him and i quote " the big mean doggies are locked up, it's ok" like WTH??? ugh, I will do that and start keeping a diary. Thank you!

Edited June 29, 2012 by mixeduppup

[mixeduppup]

Just had a conversation and we've decided that we're not going to let crazy neighbours dictate to us how we shoudl live, so we're putting up an 8ft fence so they have o idea what's going on. Apparently though there's talk that they're thinking of moving...hopefully!!! Crossing all fingers

[ruthjones]

Hang on, I know what going on, our old neighbors moved next door to you, ours was loopy, did the whole complaint thing and log book, she screwed up though, she used dates not only before me moved in but before my dogs were even born in her rubbish.

We moved in and 3 days later had a complaint letter in our letter box, apparently whenever I would go on base (defence base) I would leave the dog alone and he would bark for hours, he was vicious and her son was terrified and she was pregnant and on bed rest (very active bed rest, she went out every day)

The funny part is the dog in question was a 9 week old cocker spaniel, and I can lay my life on the fact he was never left home alone, in fact when I did have to go on base, the security guard would play with him in the gate office until I got back to the gate. We had the ranger visit, they asked to see our vicious dog, I laughed and moved aside so they could see the terrified puppy hiding behind my dress, they ripped the complaint letter they were meant to give me up on the spot, the stupid part was that she had this beautiful German Shepard a darling to everyone but couldn't stand her at all, was so glad when they moved! We got good neighbors then, the kind that signs for each others post parcels and gives them to you when you get home so you don't have to go back out to get them, they had the sweetest little girl who always called me "the lady" such a sweetie, if I was outside she would call out to me through the fence and chat to me, (they had a baby so mum was sometimes inside feeding bub) I remember very clearly the day she came and in a kid whisper told me to be quiet so she could catch the snake, it was just after the jan 11 floods in Ipswich so lots of things were on the move that wouldn't normally be, very quickly told her to go back to her doorway and phoned her mums mobile from mine, luckily her mum moved fast. Little miss wasn't happy with me "the lady was bossy to me" in her words, her mum forgave me!

Anyway point being I hope your dodgy neighbors move and you get some good ones!

But I bet you would settle for one who knew the difference between fact and fiction!

Ruth

[Christina]

Good advice from pepe001. You never know what nuts will do next & there is no cure for it.

Arm yourself. No problems here but I have lived next door to some horrid people years ago in the city. Very difficult. Good luck.

[Clyde]

Threads like this make me sooo thankful for my neighbours. I have 3 Maremmas and whenever I see my neighbours I ask if the barking bothers them and they always say no - 'they love dogs and that's just what dogs do'. I still try my utmost to not let it get excessive but I know at night the Maremmas are very active as we have foxes everywhere.

[Little Gifts]

My elderly parents have the spawn of Satan and his bride living next to them. They hate any bird, fish or animal besides crows. Serious. Satan actually abused my mother one day because feathers from her bantam hens blew through the rotten wire fence into his yard. He traps neighbours cats and dumps them so the neighbours are unable to retrieve them. I have seen him call a neighbours dog through the fence and then hand it over to the pound saying it was in his yard. He poisoned 2 of my parents fruiting olive trees in the belief the roots would crack his driveway. He put poison in their fish pond. He is constantly cutting their garden back so it doesn't go over the fence line. It goes on and on (lots of complaints to council about stupid things) and she is always the one behind the closed screen door screaming at him to do what he does. We have spoken repeatedly to the police, council and the RSPCA and nothing changes. Mum and dad have been going through the proper processes to get a colourbond 6 foot fence erected to hopefully reduce the problems but the neighbours immediately told them they wouldn't pay for half so dad has got his back up over it and is refusing to pay for it all even those he has the money. I just want them to sell up. In retaliation for the fence issue they trapped mum's cat (they had it in a trap in the boot of their car for disposal) but abused me when I went next door and asked for it back. When I said I would have to call the police for their assistance (we could hear the cat screaming) all of a sudden the cat magically appeared in his garage. I think he thought it would just run home but it was so traumatised we had to go in there and get it. I really had to stop myself from taking a hammer to him. They are truly evil people (the house is full of pictures of Jesus so there are some serious issues going on!).

Mrs Satan's daughter actually owns the house and she is just as ugly inside as her mother. I tell mum and dad to keep a note of the dates and times of every incident. I don't doubt Satan could get violent so I have advised them to not talk to them directly about any issues but to take it straight to relevant authorities and the actual owner and do it by the book. My sister and I also intervene when my parents are uncomfortable doing anything. We always do everything calmly aiming to seek a solution and I think that actually confuses Mr and Mrs Satan as they only seem to know how to bully and threaten. But we haven't forgotten one single thing they have done over the years and if push comes to shove they might be a shocked just how far we will shove back.

The stupid thing is Mr and Mrs Satan are quite ill people physically and guess who they run to in a medical emergency? They just don't seem to get it, but my lovely mother is better than them and has always assisted until an ambulance arrives.

Why can't all these special neighbours just go and live in the same suburb and harass each other????

[mixeduppup]

Oh that sounds like a terrible situation! I'm so sorry. I count my lucky stars the situation isn't as bad as that. Their daughter came over today and said they are just all hot air and they won't do anything and have given up. Their daughter is lovely, so here's hoping it's all going to subside. Still not speaking to them though, lol.

[Lady Flying Furball]

I would stop taking it to heart especially with the visit from the ranger a few weeks ago. Nut cases usually reveal themselves in the amount of complaining. Keep the barking diary but beyond that just let them waste their time. Have a friendly chat with the neighbours on the other side to ask them to testify to the truth if it were ever needed...but just forget about them. If they have no insight into their own dogs that just speaks volumes!

[ChloeEastwood]

Hi guys, new here and I currently have 3 dogs and will be getting my forth towards the end of the year.

I have a Maremma (very socialised and trained in obedience)

A Jack Russell (not a yapper)

A rescued kelpie (i've had her for about 2 months and am yet to hear her make any noise)

and at the end of the year will be purchasing a Rottweiler pup for obedience, tracking and maybe Schutzhund later on.

We live on a large farm block and have neighbours on both sides, but quite a distance away. One side are friends and love us, the others..I dunno. they have 5 little yapping dogs that bark whenever a leaf blows, they have 1 that is HIGHLY neurotic and aggressive and NEVER stops barking. Anything will set it off. The lady who lives there is scared of any dog larger than a foxy and is really scared of my Maremma. I went to long lengths when they moved in to introduce her to him and show her that he was a gorgeous boy and she seemed great. Then her grandson moved in, everything was fine although occasionally she'd say the maremma would growl at her through the fence, I was concerned as it didn't sound like him so went out to watch, what she thought was a growl was his play moan, followed by a play bow. i explained that he wanted to play and wasn't being aggressive but then she went on about how Maremma's shouldn't be pets and they're aggressive etc etc. Everything was fine for a while, we had a few foster dogs come on for a few weeks. one was a lab cross girl and was adorable but loved climbing fences. One day she climbed their fence and started playing with their dogs. I had no idea and she phoned me up and started yelling at me telling me my dog was in er yard trying to kill her dogs. I ran out and saw this dog laying on the ground, tail wagging a million miles with 3 of her dogs laying on top all in a big play ball. I called her back over and brought her inside. I apologised for the upset and we had the dog taken to a new foster home. The 4 weeks later we had a visit form the ranger, apparently our dogs barked through the night, all night. The ranger wasn't amused when I laughed, but then I explained that how could the dogs bark all ngiht when two were inside and one was in the garage? So all in all we are now not speaking to them and every time our dogs bark at anything at any time she calls the ranger who has now stopped coming over. basically she's scared of dogs and is making a mountain out of...nothing! It's craziness! We've basically barricaded that side of our property so our dogs can't get there but they still complain that our dogs escape when they can't, bark when they don't and that I'm breeding dogs which is RIDICULOUS, considering all my dogs are desexed. I explained to her that from time to time other dogs would come on as I foster temporarily for a local rescue and occasionally babysit a friend's very quiet dog. any way, rant over. I just wonder if any of you have gone through similar circumstances and how you coped as I hate living like this My dogs are all trained and socialised and It sucks

Your heading is Non-Dog neighbours, who are you referring to? The ones who loves you or the lady with the yappy little dogs?

The latter would qualify as a neighbour with dogs who likes dogs, just their own and nobody else's.

[mixeduppup]

Lol, let's say non-dog over 6 kilos loving neighbours

[ChloeEastwood]

Maybe she's sick of hearing her dogs yappy sound and wanted to hear her voice for a change. As nails to a chalk board it is for you. You have my condolences, I'm very sorry.

[mixeduppup]

It's OK, I guess i needed somewhere to vent. this place is good for that. I will continue doing what I've always been doing, I believe she is harmless and the ranger is on our side and she can't gather any evidence as the dogs never do anything lol. ONWARD!

[Fit for a King]

I had this with my ex neighbour - at first all was rosy - she had a dog, I had several - no dramas. Then her daughter started ropping her unregistered super aggressive ACDs off every morning and it all turned to hell. The ACDs kept attacking the chainlink fence and trying to get through. I got increasingly concerned and tried talking to her about it to no effect. I reinforced the fences and kept an eye on things but these two would spend all day at the fence line growling and barking. Then her grandson got a puppy but because he and his father were living in a flat they couln't keep it at their place so it started being dropped off at her place as well for days and nights at a time.....it turned into hell - puppy locked on the verandah at all hours crying and howling, ACDs tearing up the fence. After trying to talk to her civilly and being called a number of names I spoke to the ranger. He had a chat with her......advised her to keep an eye on fences, perhaps keep puppy inside etc, get the ACDs back to her daughter etc etc ....all very neutral.

Well next I started getting notes from her saying one of my dogs barked from 9.02am to 9.03am, from 11.12 to 11.13 etc etc and she was going to report me....I dropped her a note back saying by all means do so - two came keep a dairy and I advised I had recorded each and every incident with the ACDs and puppy ......she went to the ranger who came out and sat outside my house for nearly two hours. My dogs barked for approx a minute when he arrived and then went back to sleep. The ACDs and puppy, however, barked non stop for the two hours - he fined her for 4 unregisterd dogs (even her own dog wasn't registered), excess barking and a couple of other things. It was priceless - I think the fines were about $1200 from memory (it's a few years ago now).....she continued to be an absolute bitch for the time I remained there - when I sold and moved I left her a present......several large bags of dog poo...upended on her driveway.....I know I know it was childish BUT man it felt good......

[Dame Aussie]

I had this with my ex neighbour - at first all was rosy - she had a dog, I had several - no dramas. Then her daughter started ropping her unregistered super aggressive ACDs off every morning and it all turned to hell. The ACDs kept attacking the chainlink fence and trying to get through. I got increasingly concerned and tried talking to her about it to no effect. I reinforced the fences and kept an eye on things but these two would spend all day at the fence line growling and barking. Then her grandson got a puppy but because he and his father were living in a flat they couln't keep it at their place so it started being dropped off at her place as well for days and nights at a time.....it turned into hell - puppy locked on the verandah at all hours crying and howling, ACDs tearing up the fence. After trying to talk to her civilly and being called a number of names I spoke to the ranger. He had a chat with her......advised her to keep an eye on fences, perhaps keep puppy inside etc, get the ACDs back to her daughter etc etc ....all very neutral.

Well next I started getting notes from her saying one of my dogs barked from 9.02am to 9.03am, from 11.12 to 11.13 etc etc and she was going to report me....I dropped her a note back saying by all means do so - two came keep a dairy and I advised I had recorded each and every incident with the ACDs and puppy ......she went to the ranger who came out and sat outside my house for nearly two hours. My dogs barked for approx a minute when he arrived and then went back to sleep. The ACDs and puppy, however, barked non stop for the two hours - he fined her for 4 unregisterd dogs (even her own dog wasn't registered), excess barking and a couple of other things. It was priceless - I think the fines were about $1200 from memory (it's a few years ago now).....she continued to be an absolute bitch for the time I remained there - when I sold and moved I left her a present......several large bags of dog poo...upended on her driveway.....I know I know it was childish BUT man it felt good......

:laugh: love it.

Some people just have far too much time on their hands.