New Neighbour's Being Unreasonable :(

[Lisa_Louise]

We had new neighbours move in to the rented house next door last Thursday and they seemed ok, until Sunday..... they brought their little black and white dogs home. Although they are cute and I know it's not their fault but I feel I have to do something. This is the situation:

The black dog as far as I can gather is the one making all the noise, as soon as it's let out into the garden it's yap, yap, yap, yap, yap..... until it goes back inside. I thought ok so it's during the day it might be bearable.

Sunday evening she lets the dog out at 11pm and of course comes the yap yap yap yap yap. My daughter gets woken up who is 10 and struggles to get back to sleep. We all go to sleep and I was awoken at 3am by the blinking dog yapping again outside. I wasn't happy but it must have stopped and I must have gone back to sleep. anyway 6am I was woken again by the dog yap yap yapping outside :(

This has been the same every night. I know they haven't been there long but come on, is this going to happen EVERY night now?

I got my rental agreement out last night and read through it about noise. And it said that tenants must not make any noise that can be heard outside of the home after 11pm and not before 8am. Are all tenancy agreements the same? is this the law? She must be breaking the law by disturbing her neighbours at those hours?

[stokemaveric]

yes they are breaking the law,id have a word with them asking them nicely to keep their dogs quiet,failing that report the dogs barking to your local council enviroment dept...you may well hve to keep a record of the barking for a week or 2..but there certainly are laws about barking dogs who cause a nuisance..and strict laws at that...but for the sake of being a good neighbour i hope they see sense and do something about it without you having to report the dog...

[Mamyalynne]

I have lived in rented all my adult life and had neighbours of all types. It is my experience that a softly approach works best.

1] A nice warm welcome to their new home, introduce yourself.

2] Ask if they have been given any guidance from the agents re bin days etc....then tag on and noise at night.

3] Sympathise that the dog maybe a bit unsettled at first but could someone stay in the garden while he ablutes in the night to prevent disturbance.

4] Offer to be ready with any advice about the new area if needed.

Do this all with a smile and cross your fingers.

[Lisa_Louise]

Thanks for your replies.

I don't know why but I'm really scared about approaching them as I am known for either just saying what's on my mind or I will just getting walked all over lol Is it ok if a letter was posted to them? What would I say in it?! I don't want to appear to be a whingeing neighbour but then again why should we have to put up with dogs barking in the middle of the night?! Thank you :)

[gness]

Truly Lisa, I think if you could follow Mamya's advice it would be in your favour if others have to become involved in the future.

[NOX]

I think Lisa a letter will seem more of an issue to them and cause more bad feeling than if you do what Mamya suggests. I know it's annoying, but they might themselves be having kittens because the dog hasn't settled yet, worried about it bothering the neighbours and being a nuisance and about it causing them issues with fitting in. give it a few more days and then just have a FRIENDLY chat, because otherwise things could get a whole lots worse potentially.

[Baldric]

Mamyas approach sounds good, I think a letter might give the wrong impression.

[Lisa_Louise]

Yes I guess you are right about the letter. It will have to be the weekend at some point maybe. My husband can't see the problem ( I mean he is a bit hard of hearing !) so I doubt he will want to show his face to the new neighbours :/
I will have a think of what to do but at least I know that I am in the right about the dog/neighbours being a nuisance. Thanks again :)

[ruthann58]

as they have only moved in a week ago i should imagine they are all a bit unsettled , why not give it a few weeks and see if everything calms down , dogs are in a strange house and are bound to be a bit wound up and unsettled

[Lisa_Louise]

ruthann58, Thanks for your reply but I don't think it's fair that we should be woken up several times a night, every night for a few weeks before we see if things settle down. why should we suffer?! Would you be happy doing that? :)

[woofgang]

As a general thing I like to be on the credit side of relationships with neighbours wherever possible. That way if I need to inconvenience them, make unsocial noise and so on, I will have some credit in the inconvenience bank. if it was me, I would probably leave it a week or two before mentioning the noise. The dogs may need less outings during the night once they have settled in.
I think mamalynne's advice is spot on.

[sherrardk]

You have my sympathies - next door leave their three dogs out during the day and they bark incessantly (they have driven me bonkers today). Fortunately they don't leave them out at night. On the plus side, we have children who can be a bit noisy at times so if they don't moan about my kids I will keep quiet about their dogs. Maybe you could pop round and introduce yourself and say something along the lines of 'Don't mean to be awkward, but are you aware that your dogs are barking in the night' (they might be used to it or not be able to hear it themselves). Good luck.

[Nini74]

i've got to be fair - if my dog is barking outside i practically run to the door to get him in so he doesn't annoy the neighbours. some people just don't think that way, or care. however, they are your new neighbours and the last thing you want is bad feeling. i would really avoid going down the route of reporting to the landlord or sending a letter. introduce yourselves, be nice, and maybe ask how the dogs are settling in (if it seems appropriate to the conversation), and then mention the you've heard one of them barking in the garden, but you understand that they're settling too....see what they say. they must be going through a settling in period as i doubt your neighbours are planning on getting up at 11pm, 3am and 6am everynight to let the dogs out.....hope it resolves itself x

[tamborine]

Phone their number (withholding yours) to disturb them. Its called 'dog training' ;/

[woofgang]

if it wakes the dogs, then they will want to go out thus making matters worse....

[dotty.]

Are they just letting the dog out to use the back garden as a doggie toilet because they are not taking the dog on regular walks? There should be no need to let a dog out overnight like that, they are probably letting it have too much water during the evening for one thing. They probably are lazy dog owners, contact your landlord without any hesitation and ask the landlord to remind the new tenant of the terms of their agreement and to control their dog's barking. also, if they are allowing the dog into the garden so often make sure they are also cleaning up after it or else the problem could be wqorse in warmer weather

[woofgang]

dotty,with respect, that too much water in the evening thing is nonsense. A dog should never have its access to water restricted unless on vet's advice....and how are you going to "make sure" that they clean up after it?

[dotty.]

by telling them their garden stinks of dog Sugar?

Some dog owners leave large bowls of water down for a dog overnight, the dog should be sleeping and only need a drink if it wakes up in the morning. maybe leave slightly more if they are on dried food, possibly their dog has a bladder issue, might even be pregnant or on heat, who know without communication

[woofgang]

Yes indeed i am one of those owners who leaves water down 24/7 and my dogs go 8 to 10 hours at night without a pee, as I said, access to water should never be restricted except on vets advice, how would you feel if you woke in the night thirsty and couldn't have a drink....and having a fouled and smelly garden is a bit of a stretch on from "make sure that they clean up properly"

[joko]

actually im not so sure knocking on their door is the best way - no matter how nice you are, you are going there to moan and it is therefore somewhat confrontational - i think maybe a letter would be better?
you can con trol better what you say in a letter - you may say the wrong thing, make them defensive and start a row

unless you can somehow bump into them for a chat and casually mention it, such as when theyre in the garden etc

if i was new and a neighbour turned up on my doorstep moaning i would take that as a bit intrusive and pushy, and passive agressive

i may forever remember that person as the one that came round complaining and didnt give me chance.

they may not like being put on the spot with something like that and may become defensive.

a very very polite, non moany or accusatory note, with lots of pleasantries - inviting them to discuss further if they like, might be best?

be careful not to say things like 'why should i have to suffer' and 'but come on!' and 'its not fair' etc,

just welcome them, say you look forward to meeing them properly soon, and ask them about the dogs and say you understand they may be new and setting in, but how you were a bit concerned that they would always be like that, and say that you were woken numerous times, and ask them if they would mind not letting them out after 11pm in future - dont mention the tenancy or noise laws - yet - wait and see if they do as you have asked.