We have a lovely 3 year old Golden Retriever bitch, who, on the whole, is very well behaved. When she was about 3 months old, our neighbour came round to say that they could hear her barking. We were surprised...she was only a pup. Since then, he has been quite agressive about the situation. I might add that he has also complained about my son kicking a football, the trampoline and builders that worked on a Saturday morning (twice). We are both lucky to live in large detached houses with large gardens, so not exactly on top of one another.

I would never leave our dog outside barking - I can't stand it and it's annoying for everyone. However, if she hears a rustle in the bushes or something like that she will bark....she's not the bravest of dogs, and we get quite alot of badgers and foxes. We always go out to her and make her stop....if she won't, we bring her in. She is most definitely not a dog that barks all day.

This weekend he was rooting around at the end of his garden, and our dog ran down there and barked. We went and stopped her and he shouted over and complained and we ended up in a heated dialogue. It seems that he feels threatened by her, and to be honest I feel threatened by him. He doesn't like dogs and I also feel that he is quite scared of them. We seem to be in a no-win situation, and I feel uncomfortable in our own garden. He says that he can't use one of his lounges (he has 2!) because she makes such a noise.

Clearly, the best solution would be for us to stop her barking and for him to be more reasonable. Looking at what has gone on in the past, I don't think the latter is likely. So what can we do? No other neighbour has said anything.

I have searched these forums many times, but not really found a solution. One idea would be to create a training exercise where we go next door, rustle, wait for her to bark and ignore her. The trouble is, we now don't have the kind of relationship with our neighbour that would make me feel comfortable doing that.

Has anyone had similar experience? What did you do? Today I am going to start a log of when she barks and for how long.

It's all such a shame.

Is there any way that you could do the same exercise in a different part of the garden, or with a neighbour on another side if you have one? If the guy is a complainer then he's probably the same with other people and they may be sympathetic and willing to help?

Unfortunately, I have to say that if your neighbour doesn't like dogs then he has every right to complain about barking etc, though clearly he shouldn't be aggressive or intimidating about it. We all love our dogs and it is easy to underestimate just how annoying or even frightening a barking dog can be to a non-doggy person, especially one who is scared of dogs. It's great that you are looking for a solution now, as he sounds like the kind of guy who could end up complaining to the council or even taking things into his own hands.

Sorry I can't be of more help, though I would be interested in hearing other people's responses. We have a similar problem in that both we and our neighbour have gravel drives, and our dogs start barking when people walk on next door's driveway, thinking it's people on ours. Thankfully our neighbour is sympathetic about it and hasn't complained, but I'm sure it must be irritating to them and I hate people to think I don't have control over the dogs.

i'd suggest a tape recorder for a while when your out to see if she does bark. DAP diffusers are ment to be really good for helping with this issue.

for the sake of good relations i think you'd be as well being the bigger person (for your own piece of mind) and approaching your neighbour- you could talk things through and maybe sort out an introduction between him and the dog in a calm way. this could help get over his fear and help reduce tension.

Thanks Mark. I agree it is probably very irritating. In fact, I am one of those people who probably worry too much about what other people think. In the past we have asked for his help and he has refused, saying that it is our problem and we should do something about it. Yesterday we suggested that if she does bark, he pops his head over the fence, and she will learn whose making the noise, and we would ignore her, so that she is not getting attention. The trouble is, I don't think I could let her bark.

I don't think the suggestion of a tape recorder would work. We are only talking a couple of woofs here. By the time I turned it on she would have stopped!

I suppose the question is how do I de-emphasise the situation to the neigbour and the dog?!

You can get tape recorders that AUTOMATICALLY record when there is a noise ;)  this would mean you set the recorder before leaving and it would automatically record any noise while you were out.   I've done this with our pup as I don't want her getting into the habit of barking when we leave her, but it's difficult to know whether she does if I'm not there ;) (she whinges for about 5 mins then is quiet)

The beauty of this is that the recorder records ALL noise - including any noise that may be setting her off ;)

If he lived where i lived he would have something to moan about HONEY,the people next to me have 8 dogs all different breeds and they bark alot...we have Goldens and of course they bark at things in the garden and postie..they are just doing what dogs do..BARK.
From what you have said about your dog barking i would say she is just being normal,its your neighbour just being difficult.

Dogs are allowed to bark you know. :-D

It is how they communicate everything from excitement, guarding behaviour, fear, there is no law that says a dog can not bark, (only if continually for long periods and at unsavoury hours) from what you are describing your girl is not being a nuscience barker, just an occassional bark every now and then, she is a dog, not a human. I would stop worrying about it, as long as you call her when she finds something to bark at, she is protecting her territory and dogs don't do that without barking, all you need to do is train her with the words shhh or quiet, you can't stop her barking, she's a dog :-D  but you can certainly give her a command for her to obey and stop her natural behaviour.

It might also be worth doing a little clicker training with her, you can then use the clicker to call her in if she starts barking.

You have neighbours who value their peace and quiet, they complained about the builders, the football, the trampoline and the dog, you obviously have a family and your never going to be as quiet a household as your neighbours, you are just a normal family, making normal noise. You do not sound to be doing anything out of the ordinary, if your neighbour wants complete peace then a house in the countryside sounds more up their street to be honest. They can not tame the world around them to be silent, nor should they think they can.

From what you have said, I can not see anything that they can complain about to any authorities, it is just their own personal preference, which they can not enforce on you, I would just live your life and not worry about them, they will most probably never be happy, sometimes it is just like that.

Try not to let others rule the way you live a completely normal life. :-)

We are both lucky to live in large detached houses with large gardens, so not exactly on top of one another.

ooh my goodness! And you are still too close for your neighbour! And to think I though mine were bad! We at least live in a semi!

There is only one solution you really do need to switch off to your neighbour. Don't pander to their own need to hold your strings. Some people simply are not all that nice and nothing you can do will change them. Accept this.

The other thing you can do is things were to get really bad is to keep a diary of his actions, his attitudes and any times you feel threaghtened. Do not talk to him acknowledge hinm or enter any form of hostility even in the attempt to reason with him.

People like him also have frequently had a history of dogs going for them because dogs are good judges of character. In their hearts they know why and this adds to their hatred of dogs. Because of his hatred any sound even of your dog playing will be too much for him to cope with and will make him mad. But it sounds that in general any indication of other people being sucsessful and happy irrtates him. Grumpy people are like that. They are unhappy so they turn on other people and take their missery out on them. Don't let him contaminate you with his misserable spirit!

It's hour house, your garden - just enjoy it and don't let him get under your skin.

End of the day if people want total peace and quiet then need to find a place with no neighbours. Then there will always be owls and foxes and other types of noise to bother them.  So it's not your problem.

Hi, I just have to post a reply to you on this.  I had all this, sort of similar situation, but I had a letter from the council.  Anyway to cut a long story short, I rang the council and had a chat with them.  Basically they told me that a dog is a dog and sometimes will bark, to be honest the chap said as long as it isn't at any unearthly hour e.g. (between 9pm and 8am in the morning) then within reason this is okay - he said after all dogs do bark!!!  I must admit I don't worry any more, mine barks occasionally, but I wouldn't say he is a menace and also like you I couldn't stand him barking all the time anyway.  Some people are complete pains in the bum!!!

Thankyou so much for all the replies. Sorry I haven't been in touch sooner. It's really nice to feel that we are not alone.

I have been keeping a "bark log" showing when my dog barks, for how long and why. It makes interesting reading!
We have also had an email dialogue with the neighbour and things have died down. I suppose the thing that makes me cross is not what he is complaining about, but how he has done it.

One of you is right in saying that we are a typical family with children. The strange thing is - he has kids too!

Anyway, must go and let the dog out!

Bye.