Oh my life. Somebody please help me please..

I can't stop crying. My mom told me last night that the neighbours have complained to the council or police of something about my dogs barking..
i dont know what to do..
They just Cant take him away.. he is my only friend and he is my best friend.
He is the only one who listens to me :-( i litterally couldnt cope if they took him.

He dos'ent bark that much.. only when the stoooooopid neighbours who complained are bieng noisy... He only barks to protect me because he can tell i am allways really scared.

I dont know why this is happening to me.. im not a bad person:-( im really not. Ive been up all night with my friend who ive known since i was 4 crying Because i didnt have a childhood and having a puppy has given me some of it back, (if that makes sence) The only thing that makes me happy is dogs and if they take him then... then i dont know :-(

Does anyone know what i can do? They can't take him from me.. the longest ive ever been away from him is 6 days at christmas when i was in hospital. and i was begging the doctors to let me go home everyday because i missed him.

Im sorry that this is long but i just want to keep my little boy :-(

HI there

Please keep calm about this situation!!!  YOu are hearing this from your mum - you haven't actually had a visit from the police or the council yet.  It takes a very long time for the wheels of these organisations to get working.  Keep calm or you will pass on your anxiety to your dog which will then make him jumpy etc.,  You may never get a call from the police or council and you have a right to put your side of the story forward.  Please don't get upset about something that may never happen!  If you feel frightened all the time this will definitely affect your dog.  Perhaps you could ask to be moved from your present house if this is causing you such fear etc.,  You have posted in the past about your dog's temperament problems.  Perhaps he is picking up on your fear.  Dogs can be very intuitive.  Wait and see what happens.  There is nothing that worrying can do to change anything. 

Kind wishes
Annie

In response to the replies... it really depends on what Council area you live in. We have three malamutes who are almost silent, and our next door neighbour (who was renting!!) decided he did not like them as they were "fighting dogs" *sigh*

He first reported me to the RSPCA for keeping fighting dogs, He told them that they were kept in a 2ft by 2ft area (three mals???!!!!) and that they were covered in blood and poo. If it wasn't so pathetic I would laugh. The RSPCA told him where to go.

Unfortunately, the Council didn't.

They visited the house and told me that I had to get rid of one of them as three dogs was too much. They said they were installing noise monitors and that the neighbour had also complained that my laminate floor was too loud so I would have to get carpet.

The neighbour was seen by other neighbours looking through my letterbox and banging on the walls to make the dogs bark. I was only working part-time so I was there most of the time but he watched me go to work and did it when I went and then called the council straight away. Even though I caught him on tape banging, the council would not take it as evidence.

He threatened to kill the dogs, he was arrested for harrassment and STILL the council were on his side. And what annoyed me the most was that he was renting his house and I owned mine!!

The council came around again and said that we had to get rid of one of the dogs. They still had no proof of the noise and when I asked for the tapes that they had taken, they said they were in a format that I wouldn't be able to play.

I asked for the dates that the dogs were said to be barking and she gave me dates where I was on holiday with the dogs! They said they had 32 complaints in an hour one day and the dogs were in Sussex!!!!!

They said that they were willing to help us through it, and that we were to try putting the dogs in different rooms, crating one, kenneling one etc which wouldnt do anything as I was there anyway. They said to ring them at any time of the day if I needed help - they wouldn't take it to court unless I was unwilling to co-operate and because I said I was willing to try out new combinations (with my silent dogs) then they would be on hand for help at any time.

This was on the Friday.

On the Monday I went to work. I was so paranoid by now that my Dad was coming over to sit with the dogs on the two days I was at work.

I was served with a 24 hour abatement notice that morning. I was not even there to accept it.

When I phoned the council to see what was going on, the dog warden refused to speak to me and the chieft environmental health officer told me that he didn't speak to "little girls". I am 22 and if I am old enough to pay their council tax and own my own home, then I am old enough to be treated with respect.

That was the end of it.

We had to move house, have a higher mortgage, live with my poor parents for four months and move 70 miles to where we could afford a house.

My neighbour is laughing his head off.

Oh, and the last thing the head of E. Health said, was.... I will make it my business to find out where you move to.

Now what the HELL have I done to deserve that apart from own three gorgeous dogs???

It makes me sick.

Sorry - rant over :)

Don't panic - neighbours often mistake the source of the sound, or exagerate it.  IF the authorities decided to take this further, they won't make any judgements without getting proof, and if your dogs are just being dogs (and it is your right to keep pets, just as it's their right to live without too much noise disturbance) and not making barking for hours at  a time, there won't be any case to answer......

Dont know if its any help but a few years ago a friend of mine whos mum and dad had a nice bungalow with stables paddock and two dogs,had a complaint from their neighbour,about one of the dogs barking,the council sent round someone from enviromental health with a noise meter,and they placed it in the house for a few days and kept going back to monitor the level the meter was reading and they were absolutely fine it has to be a very high level of noise before they will actually do anything and the enviromental health officer went next door and told them as far as they were concerned the level of barking and the amount of time the dog barked did not warrant any further action,it was sour grapes on the neighbours behalf and it backfired so hopefully if it does go any further they will adopt the same tactics and you should be ok,after all surely you have a right to put your side of the case and if you feel your dog isnt unecessarily noisy should ask them to look into it further,they should look on the bright side if there were burglars about they would then be glad of your dog barking maybe you should if you can point this out to them,but difficult if you are not on speaking terms.I know its easy said but try not to worry to much.
Best wishes Lynn

When I first moved into my home (been here 5 years) my neighbours complained about my dogs barking. I have 3. They only bark when they see or hear something different. I received a letter from the council and asked my other neighbours if they were disturbed by the barking. The answer I got was "What barking?" They hadn't noticed. When I went into the council offices I took one of my good neighbours with me to corroberate (sp?) that my dogs were not a nuisance and I've not heard anything since. My dogs still bark, but I have always stopped them as soon as I could. Could you not ask other neighbours if your dog's barking disturbs them? It may only be one neighbour complaining. If others are willing to back you up it will help you.

As others have said, you haven't heard anything from the authorities yet. It could just be that the neighbour has complained to your mum, hoping that she could do something.

And if you have got a letter, the next stage for the person who has complained is told to keep a diary of the barking for 1 month. Most complainants dont!!! So i wouldnt worry too much.
But I know thats easy to say as I have had my dogs complained about and now i have to keep them inside while i am at work, whilst the person who complained about them has 2 dogs outside and one that barks all the time!!! she will get her cummopence as one of the other neighbours who are deffinatly on my side as my dogs do no not bother them at all will end up complaining!!!! lol
So dont worry they will not be taken off you at all.
Lea :)

Hi everyone,

The thing is, my neighbours are Horrible people. one next door is lovely. but the rest are stuck up and nasty. and i know what thay are like, the will call the police out :-(
My mom says we can move house if they complain because she knoes i couldnt live without my little baby :-)

Out of interest, is your little baby still attacking you, or did you sort the problem out?

PMSL

:p :p :p

Ah Melody, I wasn't meaning to be rude to the girl, it sounded horrendous what she was going through and I genuinely hope she did sort it out and she is safe with the dog now. Must admit though if my dog did that to me, I wouldn't be calling him 'my little baby'!

LoL! He has got better now nearly.. and i call him my little baby because i love him SO much :-(

What on earth does PMSL mean?  Just when I think I've learnt all the abbreviations, another one comes along!!

Good to hear that Beth.

PMSL means weeing myself laughing......except it's not 'weeing'!

Wetting Oneself Larfing keeley - or words to that effect :D :D

Have to admit - I laughed aswell :D :D

Husky, I know you weren't, your reply just tickled my funny bone BIG time :D :p

:D :D

Glad I cheered someone up today anyway!

Sorry things are not very good for you. I think i remember you've had some problems yourself, and don't always find it easy to communicate. Is that right or am I thinking of someone else? :) Sorry if I'm being too personal.

It sounds as if your mom will help you anyway, if things do get bad, but try not to worry too much in the meantime.

Lindsay
x

Yeah it is me your thinking of :-)

This is the reason i need my dog. Most people don't know this but seeming as this isn't face to face i don't mind saying it.

When i was little i had a Very bad time. And i suffered a lot of head injurys. And now i find it very hard to do things, like writing, understanding things and i sometimes have slight trouble getting my words out and i loose my balance etc but only sometimes. I also only have partiall use of my right wrist.(it takes me absoultly Ages to type these things!!) And im very allergic to lots of things so i constantly feel ill. And basically im sort of isolated. As you know im scared to go out the house, but was even more scared when my mom was at work and my brother and sister where at school, that's why we got a dog.

And thats esactly why i couldnt cope without him. He helps me forget my headaches etc and he has helped me through everything by just bieng there for a snuggle and a  kiss :-(

And like i said, knowing my neighbours they will continuie with this complaint. They did it before to a labby down the road. Who ended up getting taken away, and he really didnt bark that much attall.

It's good that you can talk about it a bit :)

I guess in a way, your dog is a little bit like an assistance dog? Not quite as well trained, but you love him and that's what counts and makes such a big difference to you :)
I know you said the neighbours aren't very nice, but perhaps your mom could chat to them and talk about how much Pero means to you? it may not make any difference, but you never know.

Lindsay
x

Esactly :-)

I feel so guilty, Im scared to let him go outside (of cource i let him out to relieve himself) but now im even too scared to go play ball with him on the grass :-( Beacause Everytime he barks (even in the house) i get all panicy ( i cant spell that word sorry)

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (sorry taking anger out on keyboard instead of anyone else;-)) hehe.. But anywhoo back to what i was saying

Does Anyone know what rights i have (if that makes sence .. i think ive got the wrong word?)

Thankyou all <<hugs from me and pero>>

Just a thought but have you tried contacting one of the support dog charities and seeing if they could help and or possibly get him registered as a proper support dog? That way you will have a very strong case for keeping him with you and you can go every where together when you feel up to it. I know that dogs for the disabled now do special suppord dogs for young people, although I dont know if they would be albe to help with an existing dog, but they should at least be able to give you some pointers to another charity or maybe an assessment of the dog and its training needs/capabilities.

What a sad situation, some people can be so meen. Do let us know how you go on. If you want to talk to anyone please feel free to PM me.
Best of luck Sharon

The neighbours who we reckon complained, have gone on holiday, and since they have been gone he has not barked once. I think it's because he dosn't know who they are, Becasue when he hears our other neighbours that he knoes he just waggs his tail!

But anyway, im rather pleased with myself today :-)  my mom bought me a new doggie book, and ive allready read 30 pages! It's called Book of the bitch, as i want to work with dogs or be a breeder when im older. And while i was reading, my little furry friend here fell asleep under my bed :-):-)

Another thing is though, he keeps weeing on the landing

>Another thing is though, he keeps weeing on the landing 

What are you washing the area with?  Try using a biological washing solution.  It sounds like he can still smell his wee and that will encourage him to use the same area again.

I wash it with pet disinfectant stuff, He is housetrained though which is what i can't understand.

And to Bluebell, can i really do that:-)????

I remember hearing about a girl who was disabled or had some sort of problem and they had an existing dog whom she loved and who tried to look after her, her mum took the dog to training with the assistance dogs and he became a fully fledged assistance dog so it might be worth trying to find out about it

Hi, I have been reading your messages and replies and thought that as your nuisance neighbours are away at the moment it would be a lovely time for you if you are able, to get out in the back garden with your dog to give him some free play time and you some fresh air. This will build your confidence up, and hey, when your neighbours return you may feel confident enough to be outside even when they are there.  It will do you both so much good. Is there someone perhaps that can walk your dog a couple of times a day, that way he maybe less inclined to bark, as he has had some good excercise and free play time. Just a thought, it seems such a shame that your life is being made difficult through no fault of your own. 
Try to have some good positive thoughts, neighbours can be a nuisance some times but it is proberly just that and nothing more. Try not to be fearful, there is always help available.

I went and had my hair done today :D :D :D :D :D and when i got back we had a lovely game of fetch in the garden :D
But the thing is, i think the nasty neighbours will be back soon.. :-( wich is worrying me.

Feel slightly ill as when they died my hair, they put latex gloves on. I didnt reaslise she was wearing them till the end, but im allergic to latex.. oopsie

But anyway, the thing that is worrying me the most is last night i heard a dog barking from about 1 am till 2am (roughly) and it Deffinitly wasnt my dog... He was fast asleep on the landing. And no doubt he will get the blame :-(