Dog Next Door Barking During Nap

Updated on June 09, 2010
A.B. asks from Portland, OR
16 answers

While my face is still red, I will ask this question:

We live next door to an older couple and their Jack Russell Terror (yes, I misspelled that). The dog barks at moving leaves, people, cars in the driveway, squirrels, you name it. Our two bedrooms in the house are on their yard side and my 16 month old's window is privy to every little bark. I turn a fan on full blast and a humidifier to try to drown out the noise, but it often doesn't do the trick.

I have talked to the neighbors and we worked out an agreement that when my son is down for a nap and the dog starts barking, I can call and ask for the dog to be brought in. I try not to ask them to bring her in all that often, but today, my son has a cold and sore throat and it is important that he gets sleep. I think the last time I called them was over a month ago.

My phone conversation just now went like this:
Me: Hi, can you bring the dog in, my son is sick and I am trying to get him down for a nap
Her: What?
Me: My son is sick and I was wondering if you could keep the dog inside until he is awake from his nap.
Her: Why?? (as in: WHY?)
Me: Uh, why, what?
Her: Why do I have to keep the dog in?
Me: Uh, because my son is sick.
Her: Fine. Click.
Me: Uh, thanks.........

What do I do???? What CAN I do? I really want to shoot that dog every time it barks even when my son is not asleep! Can I call pet control?? Throw kibble?

I really dont want to make enemies of my neighbors, but my son needs his sleep!!

What can I do next?

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So What Happened?

Thanks for the advice, mamas! I plan on calling animal control tomorrow to find out what I am legally entitled to. My DH feels like we are not legally in any right and that our neighbors are really just doing us a favor by keeping their dog quiet (if they ever did). We won't do anything that would get their dog taken away, so who knows how far we will take it. If anything, moving is very possibly the next step... =(

I called animal control and the law is that the dog can bark up to 5 minutes in a 15 minute period. At that point, I can call animal control and they will send an animal control officer out to talk to the people. If it continues, they send 2 letters and then start helping with taking the dog owners to court. (It wont get that far - I have no interest in going to court over this!!)
Thanks for your advice and support! For now, I will talk to them to see if there is anything that I can actively do if I want the dog quiet.
I will let you know what animal control says....

Featured Answers

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L.L.

answers from Hartford on

My neighbors across the street have 3 yappy dogs that bark every morning non stop starting at about 5 am. I have talked to them a couple times and they try to separate the dogs, but they still yap yap yap. I'm thinking of letting my dogs out to eat them, lol. Just kidding. I like the idea of high frequency thing.

2 moms found this helpful
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L.S.

answers from Portland on

I had this problem in the past..neighbor dogS barked 24/7..outside dogs. I had to call dog control over 50 times ( no kidding) but they had to it recorded that you are complainING. If finally got settled.
Call now!! Put it on speed dial. The squeaking wheel gets the grease;-)

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M.W.

answers from Chicago on

def try to get an outside party involved if you can. Also a company called Petsafe makes a birdhouse looking thing for outside so that when a dog barks it sets off a high frequency beep that bothers the dog (not the humans) and will eventualkeep him from barking. You could suggest this to your neighbors or if they are really oblivious you could just get one your self and put it near where the dog barks on your property. It can not harm the animal and it will probably teach it not to bark there. I've used them with my dog and it really only takes a few yaps before the animal associates the barking with the noise and stops.

Good luck!

7 moms found this helpful

C.C.

answers from Fresno on

I'd try talking to them again about the issue. Maybe you caught them on a bad day. Bring your cute little son with his runny nose with you, so they can see that he is sick and little and cute and needs his rest!

When I was a kid, we lived next door to a family with this awful little dog that barked nonstop from the moment they got it. Finally my dad had had enough, and waited on our side of the fence with a spray hose. When the dog would start barking, he'd pop up, squirt it with water, and duck back under the fence. We all laughed at him, but he was a man on a mission. Eventually it worked. The dog stopped barking at every little thing. Of course it would have been nice if the actual owners of the dog had attempted to train it, but people are lazy and inconsiderate. What can you do.

5 moms found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Call the Humane Society.... it is a noise disturbance.
They will talk to the offending home.. .and/or send them a letter... there are also fines sometimes.

Are the dogs kept outside?
There is something called the "Scarecrow Sprinkler." which is very successful. (it covers 1000 feet!).
Here is links about it and reviews:
http://www.contech-inc.com/videos/scarecrow/crowloop_high...

http://www.amazon.com/Contech-Electronics-CRO101-Scarecro...
(its from Amazon, and has very high ratings).

4 moms found this helpful
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P.M.

answers from Portland on

If your neighbors are unresponsive to your requests, then of course you should call animal control. Do remind them first what the agreement was, since it's been over a month. If they are elderly, they truly could have forgotten. And if their hearing is failing, they may not even be aware there's a problem.

I sincerely hope for your sake that you can get this resolved. I had neighbors who for several years had two labs in a shed facing our house – these dogs barked loudly for hours, day and night. The neighbors denied the barking, even when standing within earshot, they blamed my "nerves" and told me I needed to be on medication, they argued with county officials who were sent out by other neighbors as well, they paid fines, and they determinedly stuck to their guns (literally, they chased my husband off their property once when he went to ask them again for relief). Then budget cuts closed the animal control office, so they didn't even have consequences. I'm a patient and forgiving person, but I truly hope there's a very loud room in hell for people who are so belligerent.

Be aware that there are "silent" noisemakers you can aim at the dog, or even mount on your house, when he's barking. I have yet to talk to anyone who'd used one successfully, but I expect they work for at least some people. Might be a fall-back strategy. Good luck!

3 moms found this helpful
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A.T.

answers from Oklahoma City on

This is probably not the information you were wanting to hear. Most cities have a "Dogs Best Friend Law" or something similar. Normally nothing is done if a dog is barking during the day. Usually only between 8pm and 7am (hours vary) can it be considered a noise nuisance if a dog is barking continuously. Funny thing about those hours are, those of course would be the hours that animal control is closed and no animal control officers are on duty?? If you have an HOA see if they have an specific rules or regs regarding excessive dog barking, maybe they could help enforce something? Most often if you try to involve the police they will advise you to contact animal control. Basically washing their hands of any involvement. The city makes these laws, but good luck getting them enforced. Sometimes it takes handling it yourself and filing
a noise complaint directly with a municipal court or something similar.

Several years ago we lived next to a couple that complained about a neighbors dogs. They called the police on several occassions to complain about the barking dogs. They tried animal control many times but were always told if they had time they would send someone, well they never did. They said unless the dog was loose and violent and causing an immediate threat to persons they wouldn't respond. Once the police did come and chastised the neighbors for wasting the police departments time and energy on something so trivial as barking dogs.

2 moms found this helpful
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M.P.

answers from Portland on

I'd go next door and talk with them again. They may have forgotten their agreement and if so ask them how to work with that. The one who answered the phone may be hard of hearing and not really heard what you were saying. Talk with them about your problem, show sympathy for their problem but stick to requiring that your need be met.

You may have to involve a 3rd person. County Animal Control and the Humane Society are two resources. We also have a Neighborhood Mediation Office that would work with you on this situation.

I've not heard of a device that would emit a high pitched sound that could be installed in your yard. If that is available I might try that. In fact I might try it for my dog. I keep him indoors because he does bark when he's outside.

2 moms found this helpful
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B.M.

answers from Dallas on

call Animal Control. that is what we had to do with our neighbor's little terrier (although I prefer your use of terror) ;-) They will come out and talk to your neighbors. We had asked our neighbors REPEATEDLY to quiet their dog (it would literally bark from 10pm to 6am since they had it inside during the day but outside at night. They always ignored our requests and after 2 months we got animal control involved and never had another issue. I agree that it is best to get a 3rd party involved. Hope this helps!!!

2 moms found this helpful
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L.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

What a bummer. Did they bring the dog in?

When she asked "Why??" I think I would have said, "Because your dog barks incessantly and my child's room is right above where the dog is barking. It's keeping him awake right now and he needs the sleep because he's sick."

Check w/ your local law enforcement about barking dog laws in your area. Just in case you need to go that route.

2 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

Get a sound machine or white noise machine it helps a lot.

Here where we live if it is during the day, there is nothing anyone can really do. The city will just have you talk with your neighbors..

When our daughter was little it never failed that a lawn mowing service would start the leaf blower, the big street cleaning truck would drive by and of course the trash and recycling trucks would be in the neighborhood.

1 mom found this helpful

R.S.

answers from Portland on

I do think its true that your neighbor is just doing you a favor about keeping the dog from barking during the day. I agree with you how frustrating it is not being able to get your child to sleep because of the dog baking. I want to give you another view of things. I don't have any animals.
I had an incident when my then 8th grader took up starting a band in the basement. I was extremely happy that he was involved in something creative with friends. They would practice on Saturdays from 1:00pm-3:00pm, unplugged with drums guitar and bass. It was on the north side of the house. My neighbor on the south side asked me to stop them from playing so her child could take a nap. It was frustrating because these kids had planned the time and the neighbor on the north side with children too said it didn't bother her in the least and wasn't loud. After a few times of asking the kids to quiet down the band lost interest when asked to stop. This same neighbor asked a worker we hired to build a fence to stop working(on our time) while she got her child to sleep in the afternoon. I know it's not the same as a dog barking but our needs can't always be met.

There are lots of noises in the city and I'm often wishing the neighbors weren't having loud machines going when I have a headache or need extra rest. My point being that during the day we can't control noise because people use lawn mowers, do house repair, have dogs and loud kids playing, running cars... We all live together and being tolerant of others both ways isn't always easy. I feel you need to find a solution in your house as the neighbors aren't responsive. The white noise machine or dog noise stopping machine are worth trying. During the evening you are full within your rights to complain.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.B.

answers from Milwaukee on

Boy do I feel for you, Mama. Our neighbors behind us have several dogs that were waking us up virtually every day of the week. Right by our bedrooms. My husband's a truck driver and only home on weekends. We were up to 1:30am watching a movie and I told him we better get to bed soon because "Riley" would probably be barking around 7:00am. Unfortunately, I was right. Can't even stay up late in my own house without repercussions. We've lived here 3 years. I've called the police twice because talking to them didn't work. I have a 20 year old son with disabilities and a pre-schooler. I work at noon, so I like to stay up late to work on documents for my son, etc., but it seems I have to revolve my lifestyle around "their" lifestyle. I don't even own a dog. I think this is one of the rudest things a neighbor can do. We also have a dog to the left of our house that occasionally barks early in the morning. And these same neighbors had the nerve to write a letter to the editor of the local paper, signing their name to it, complaining about leaves from our tree not being raked the second they hit the ground. I'd take "leaves" any day over the nuisance of a barking dog. Call the police. But before you do, get a legal pad, and document the occurrences daily. I know it's hard to keep up on because you don't want to revolve your life around this issue. In my situation, it was helpful when at 6:15am I called the police one day when I was again woke up by barking, and I showed him about 6 pages of documentation. Best of luck to you. I grew up with dogs, but they way some people are, I think dogs in residences should be outlawed. It's really stressful, and even right now at 10:53pm, wanting to enjoy my peace and quiet, I'm finding myself thinking "Oh, I better get to bed soon in case Riley wakes me up." Yeah, this is why I purchased a house... "peaceful and quiet enjoyment of the premises."

Y.R.

answers from Miami on

Well I have the same problem with two labs and they act as if nothings the matter. I have a terrier she barks but barely but when she was a puppy not that long ago she used to sometimes cry for us if we were gone for a long time and my neighbor had the nerve to tell me that when I am gone I should try to put her in her cage I stayed quite bcs if anything came out of my mouth it was not going to sound pretty! I am sorry you are going throught this but I ended up getting a parrot which I am sure they hate and when my baby naps I cover the jird so stays quite I put on the tv for to blocknout the noise but even till this day it still sometimes doesn't work.

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H.D.

answers from Portland on

Hi there. I would agree with Marda in checking in for neighborhood mediation resources. Perhaps, though, starting with a careful, thoughtful letter to the neighbors (make a copy) explaining both your situation and giving some empathy (because their dog is their baby, too). I'd ask for their help and let them know that you are open to other reasonable, respectful suggestions. (The respect end will be implied because your letter will be respectful too.) Entreating others to be part of the solution, and acknowledging that you are asking for a favor might be a good tone to take. You might let them know that when your son doesn't get his nap, it makes things much more difficult for the rest of your family's day. And mentioning, too, that this isn't forever...it's while he's so young that you'd like help in keeping their dog quiet during naptime. Try to have this conversation or write this letter when you aren't upset, either, because our moods really come through in our writing and speech.

If all else fails, suggest talking to a mediator so that this can be resolved in a way that works for both of you. This might bring more import to the matter and help them to understand that this isn't your being a picky neighbor and that their dog's disturbance is a legitimate concern for the peace of your family.

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A.B.

answers from Portland on

It's funny that barking dogs and insomnia are both topics today because I couldn't sleep last night and was watching infomercials hoping that they would make me bored and tired. I saw one for a device called "Bark Off". When your dog (or your neighbor's dog in your case) barks, you can turn on this little machine that sends out an ultrasonic signal that humans can't hear, but it stops the dog from barking. What I thought was nice about this one is that you can turn it on when you want quiet, or off when you don't mind the barking. Maybe you could try that and turn it on in your son's room when he is napping, and off when he wakes up. That way it is not on all the time and your neighbors can't accuse you of doing anything to their dog. I don't have a dog, and neither do any of my neighbors, so I don't know if this works or not, but for only $10, it might be worth a try since your neighbors don't seem to think that there is any problem, and won't do anything about it.

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