Reducing the noise from neighbors dog by constructing wall?

[splashsk]

Hi,
My house and neighbor's share a open space divided equally by single wall which is of 4 feet height.We stay in the first floor of our house. My neighbor keeps his dog in the open space and will run around the open space and bark like hell all day and all night. We are totally irritated and had our conversations with them and nothing seems to workout. So we have decided to construct a high wall of like 9 or 10 feet high and nearly close to the height of my first floor windows.
My question is by constructing a wall of 9 feet which is close to the height of the first floor, will it reduce the barking sound made by dog?

[tenrec]

It may not. It may make the dog's bark echo more. I think you may need planning permission for a wall that high. No doubt someone else will correct me if I am mistaken.

[ummmm]

I think planning permission is need if it's going to be above 6ft.

[tonyav]

You would need planning permission.

[wildwood]

Not sure but you will probably need your neighbour's consent to go that high. Is there nobody involved with council/nuisance noise who can help you, a 10ft wall seems a bit extreme.

[bednobs]

i think it's unlikely it will significantly reduce the noise, being as that you are straight up from it.

[tonyav]

And if you went that high with a wall, could it not rob you of light ?

[Goonermatt]

I'd say you will still hear the dog behind the wall. You want to eliminate the source of the sound, not try and disguise it.

If that dog were to go missing, the noise would no longer bother you and you wouldn't have to go to the bother of building a wall. (I second the planning permission suggestion).

Failing that, and a little more seriously, as you have attempted discourse with the owner of the offending canine, you could bring the problem to the attention of the environmental health department of your local council. They may decide that the noise is a 'statutory nuisance' and can serve the owner with an abatement notice (make them shut the dog up) which, if they fail to comply with, could cost them £5000.

http://www.direct.gov...andlitter/dg_10029682

[fever28]

I have a couple of dogs, as soon as I hear them bark they come in or I go out, and it's sorted. They rarely bark just if a fire engine or another dog goes past a 6ft fence we have. But as the dog is left alone it's just anxious. Is it friendly, ? If the owner is unprepared to sort it why don't you have a go, a well aimed squirt from a water pistol or hose every time will do the trick, will take time, but eventually should calm down, and if you also be nice when it's quite treats etc.

It's difficult to complain about a neighbour, I'm lucky our neighbour loves our dogs and often comes round just to take the, out or play . (there huge). There is a happy dog a few gardens down, but I always take things like babies on trains, lawn mowers planes dogs etc as part of life, noise done on purpose to annoy like car steros out side the house winds me up. I do have one side of the garden with a high thick wall, doesn't make a diffence, maybe with some softer stuff like wall or fence and trees hedge it will absorbs the noise better

[fever28]

Double , secondary or triple glazing will make the most difference.

Send a link to them a bout bark collars. I prefer a little water , to some that hurts but if it's that bad the dog is agitated already.

[ojread2]

Your miss spelling of the word neighbour suggest you may not be in the UK?
Are you indeed, in the UK?

[jomifl]

The sound you hear doesn't all come directly from the dog, a lot of it can be reflected from other structures so would almost certainly reach your first floor. Double glazing (if not already fitted)may be a partial solution will have other benifits too such as reduce all noise and will be cheaper than the wall. I believe there exist barking dog deterrents which emit a noise inaudible to humans and intolerable to dogs which are activated by the sound of a barking dog.

[jomifl]

Try this link,
http://www.eurobarkco...ouA87ACFcFJ3godPX_Y6Q

[rowanwitch]

also try a sharp blast on an ultra sonic training whistle every time it barks

[MoonRocker]

It always amazes me that the dog owner themselves can stand the racket, I have a dog who barks sometimes but I could stand it constantly. Grind up a mogadon and put it in a sausage an lob it over, dog sedated!

[woofgang]

poor dogs...have you spoken to the council, who, in England at least, have a noise abatement responsibility?

[MoonRocker]

I think I'd get one of those dog silencer things in jomifl's link. Awesome assuming they work of course.

[ladybirder]

So this poor dog is left on its own, day and night, in this space? What is it supposed to do living this life of misery? It must be bored witless. Why have they got the dog if they don't interact with it. Suggestions of squirting it with a hose, sedating it, bark collars and worse don't address the source of the problem and will make its intolerable life worse. It's the owners that need sorting, if they can't look after it properly it needs rehoming to someone who will give it proper love and care. They obviously don't care about their distressed dog or their distressed neighbours. Makes me so angry.

[paddywak]

Not really an answer, but Max use to have two barks, a couple of "woofs" which I never investigated as it was a sort of hello to regulars and a serious "What the flump are you doing on my street" bark for strangers which I always investigated whereupon Max having done his job and alerted me to the presence of a stranger would then stop barking and settle down again to watching the world go by. More then one of my neighbours commented that they never bothered about burglars when Max was about

[bookbinder]

Building a wall will not reduce the sound of the dog's barking. Sound travels upwards quite easily, and you would probably not notice any benefit from a wall.

[MoonRocker]

I agree Ladybirder but the barking is also making life intollerable to the neighbours, should they endure? You can't force the owner to join the human race.