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I have a problem, and that problem's name is "that goddamned dog that barks and howls all night and all day that my neighbors are not home." I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment, 662 square feet. My next-door neighbors are a couple, who have two dogs. One of these is a smallish terrier, one is about a medium-size thing that looks like a dalmatian, maybe eighty pounds or so. I feel that this is probably a bit of a large animal to keep in an apartment this size, but I recognize there are economic tradeoffs in life and I accept that a two-hundred-acre ranch might not be in their immediate future. As I see it, I have a few options here: 1) Get my apartment complex involved, maybe complaining about the noise. The neighbors will absolutely know it was me, and immediately be on the defensive and think, "gently caress him, I'll complain the two times a year he has coworkers over for a party." My life gets worse in a small way and my problem is in no way addressed. 2) Get the local sheriff's office involved, as our city does have nuisance animal and noise rules. Same problems as above, plus: Both of these do not super appeal to me as they're passive aggressive ways of trying to make my problem someone else's problem. I would prefer to speak to my neighbors politely and ask them if they could take some steps to get their goddamned loving dog to shut the goddamn gently caress up. My problem is I don't have any idea what they could possibly do. Personally, I'd be more than happy to pay to have the thing put down. I suspect that my kind offer to have the animal destroyed would not be received well. Can anyone here suggest some specific things that I can ask them to try out, so I am not simply going to them and saying "Hey, when you are not home and able to control your animal's 24/7 desire to howl and bark at the entire world, can you please use your telepathic powers to do so?" Are there collars or something they could fit it with that would keep it quiet? Would locking it in a crate whenever they're out do the trick? Is there a kind of dog food laced with phenobarbitol?
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Jan 29, 2015 01:48
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| # ? May 1, 2024 11:13 |
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I sympathize, but lets say best case scenario your neighbors are kind, receptive people who completely understand your grievance. Chances are, the dog is poorly trained, ill, or simply ignored and not walked. Most of these things take a fair bit of time and effort to correct, and if your neighbors haven't already taken pains to address the issues previously, they likely can't or won't do it going forward. It's kind of a lose lose, if you complain through a formal channel the end result might be removal of the animal (favorably or otherwise), and possible jerkish retribution from your neighbors (but honestly, most people aren't that petty YMMV). If you talk to them about it, you may get a sympathetic shrug, or you might get a go gently caress yourself. Really, I would just talk to your condo board or building admin or whatever.
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Jan 29, 2015 02:51
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The dog likely has anxiety issues. leave a kind note under the door with some web links on where they can read about solutions to the issue. Also mention in the note that a number of neighbors are concerned but you wanted to give them the heads up first because its the neighborly thing to do. no bark collars are not terribly effective when dealing with an anxious dog. but there are other options available. no need to "tell on them" right away
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Jan 29, 2015 03:01
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Do you think they know? I was shocked to hear some of the lone wolf howls my dog lets out when we're not in the house. I only heard them because I was upstairs sleeping when she thought everyone was gone. Maybe they have no clue. Knock on the door or polite note is my recommendation before doing anything else. Maybe they'll act once they know - get a trainer, try food-laced toys, doggie day care, etc.
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Jan 29, 2015 03:21
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light_urple posted:Do you think they know? I was shocked to hear some of the lone wolf howls my dog lets out when we're not in the house. I rather doubt they have any idea at all. I'll try knocking on their door one evening and seeing if I just approach it as telling them. But again, if there's nothing they can do, I imagine I'll just have made a couple of enemies.
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Jan 29, 2015 11:14
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There are a few things they can try to do. It may not fix it 100% but it may make a significant dent.
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Jan 29, 2015 13:12
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Hi OP I just want to correct you. Your problem isn't the dog(s). It's having piece of poo poo neighbors. Sorry, dude.
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Jan 29, 2015 14:47
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I didn't realize how much my one dog barks during the day until I was home sick and he forgot I was home. The dogs also sound like a herd of elephants if they're upstairs while I'm downstairs, they're not particularly big dogs either. I'd be that rear end in a top hat neighbor if I had them in an apartment building. A friend of mine had a similar problem except she was on the other end, her downstairs neighbors kept complaining about the noise her 17 pound dog made when she ran around their apartment. Management just let them know whenever the neighbor made a complaint but never threatened any action against them, then the neighbor called animal control (  ) who also didn't do anything. Unless you and several other people complain repeatedly no one's going to do anything about it. The only result was a long passive-aggressive note leaving war until one of them moved.I'd go talk to them or leave them a note going "hey dude I don't know if you're aware but your dog barks a lot during the day and it's disturbing your neighbors, might want to try to fix that before someone lodges a formal complaint"
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Jan 31, 2015 06:35
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I wouldn't suggest taking it up with the building management off the bat because that will probably lead to some bad blood. Approach the neighbors in a friendly manner first ("Hey, sorry, I don't mean to be *that neighbor* but just so you know, your dogs...") . Your next move should depend on how they respond. Don't expect the problem to be fixed overnight as they likely have no clue their dogs bark a lot when they're out, and it might take some trial and error on their part to find a solution that works. If you make them aware of the situation and then they try to correct it then give them some slack because not everything will work and not everything will work right away.
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Feb 2, 2015 22:31
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Wait, so you're saying that you haven't told them that their dog makes noise when they're gone? And you're already considering the nuclear option? Just get a hold of your gonads and go loving talk to them like a real grownup. I don't know why you're having this much angst when you haven't done step zero of the process. You're acting like they've already rebuffed you, but in reality they probably have no idea that there is a problem. Go have a chat with them and see where it goes.
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Feb 7, 2015 22:56
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Yeah, if no one complains, they're gonna assume their dogs bark for 10 minutes when they leave, then take a nap or something, barking again when they hear them pull into the driveway.
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Feb 8, 2015 20:49
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I live in an apartment complex and have had a shelter rescue dog for a year. I'm consistently working out issues with him (leash aggression, excessive door barking etc.) so chances are, if they don't know about it already they are trying to fix the problem. Training dogs out of bad habits is definitely not an overnight thing. Give them the benefit of the doubt or you know, go talk to them. If they truly seem to not give a gently caress after that, then say something to your landlord, but its pretty hard to get someone evicted based on dog barking alone so good luck.
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Feb 10, 2015 03:29
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| # ? May 1, 2024 11:13 |
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kill urself op, never care about noise again
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Feb 13, 2015 23:11
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