OMG some people  My Neighbours along the bottom of our garden, (big thick privet hedge Between us 8ft height) Keep tormenting my dogs to bark, they have all there recycle bins and dustbins lined up against there and are constantly banging em shut (and i mean Banging) Consequently the dogs will bark. Not something i want to encourage so half the time I'm finding myself restricting there garden time IE dogs go out are fine, neighbour clatters bins , dogs bark, i call em in. Well today they have had there granddaughter right up to the hedge, (it to thick to get even a hand through, So dogs cant get to her or she them... So basically she is standing there shouting at the dogs ''bad doggies'', ''shut up'' Grrr, Sit that sort of thing , andf of course the dogs are barking  ... so i went down to the bottom of the garden and told the child who is about 6, ''Dont tease the dogs by standing behind the hedge shouting at them, that's not a nice thing to do!!!!, etc, etc, She did go away, and i must add my dogs are soft as a brush, but this i feel is getting unfair for them and i don't know what to do??.. They don't bark at anything else... and i think the neighbours who are a non doggie couple enjoy trying to rev them up... which is sad... because there easily in there 60's.... Don't want to fude with them, or end up neighbours at war... but what  advise.. please.

people like this need to be spoken to. they probably have no clue it is their fault! i would send hub/strong scary man round to talk to them (i would be far too nervous to do it myself)  if it doesnt stop i would errect a fence so dogs cant get so close to hedge and they will get used to the noise eventually but it takes time. mine bark if they hear a neighbour talk but as the warm weather goes on and they hear voices more and more they ignore it.

I have neighbours like that too! Even down the point where I have started to replace the existing 4 foot fence panels with 6 foot (it's my boundary and responsibility) and they sent me a solicitors letter warning me not to replace any more without their expressed permission!!

However in the nice weather with four rotts running round and sticking their heads over the fence watching their grandkids playing around, I get really worried that they will accidently push the fence over and try to play with the children. Unfortunately my neighbours are not dog friendly to the point where other neighbours have been telling them we breed dogs on the DDA, I haven't even bred my first litter! So, I'm having to save up to send them a solicitors letter now telling them that we will be putting up 6 foot fence panels for safety to them and my dogs. I wouldn't even put it pass them to try poisoning them (I have found bits of cooked bone already in my garden).

What amazes me, is that even after me saying I would rather replace the fencing, with no outlay from them at all, for the peace of mind that the fencing would not get knocked over and an accident to occur if their grandkids were in the garden, they still refuse to let me make that side of my garden safe.

i would ignore the letter and put up the fence anyway as even they should be able to see you are doing it for them as well as your own piece of mind.
Its your boundery so they cant do much about it.

I would firstly go and ask your local council what the local restrictions are regarding fencing. I'm sure that legally you can put up a 6' high fence in a back garden without permission, but there might be local laws in place. Once you've done that then I would put up the fence :-D My neighbours put up a 6' high fence without asking my permission (I would have given them permission for a 10' high fence ;-) ) as they don't like dogs. Must say that my life has been a lot easier, especially since their son has been told off for climbing the fence to shout at my dogs (by parents, I hasten to add :-) )

I'm sure that legally you can put up a 6' high fence in a back garden without permission, but there might be local laws in place.

Usually you can put up 6 foot unless it is facing a road. A very easy trick is to put the fence about four inches onto your own property (as opposed to bang on the border), then the fence is in your property and there is nothing the neighbours can do about it.

We used to live next to a nutball who did not like dogs, we received a letter from the council saying that our dogs were barking to much in the garden and they had been sent a video of our dogs doing it.
Then we had another letter stating that we would be getting a visit about our dogs , no problem on my part i've got nothing to hide.
I had a knock at the door and it was our other neigbour who lived behind us, who said that she had been videoing her kids in the garden, and guess what she caught on camera , our nutball neighbour swinging her cat out of the window to make our dogs bark so that she could video it and send it to the council.
When we had a council chap come round i showed him the video of the nutball and the cats protection league turned up two days later and took her cats away as she was classed as a nutter !!
Me and my dogs lived happerly ever after !!

Neighbours like these are sadly not to far between!

You dont want to start a feud and make likfe lisery, but in the same breath you want peace....is a toughie.

the way i see it is,
if i have to put up with there kids shouting and screming, they can put up with the odd shout from my dogs!!

In Response to tychlo

I have a dog hating neighbour at the bottom of my 60 foot garden and mainly for that reason my dogs only use the third nearest the house.  Originally it was so that when the children were small they had a  dog free area to play in, but I have kept them out of the back because of this neighbour.

It's my understanding that you can put up a fence or wall upto 2 metres high (not sure if this is 6ft mind) without permission.

Their is of course fench etiquet, where the panels have to face a certain way on your neighbour's side.

I caught my Dustbin men banging on my door to make my dog bark, I opened the door and said 'you'll laugh when I let him out'.

He very sheepishly sloped off.

Our neighbours, to the left and at the back have their dogs living outside, once they bark, it starts mine off, however we're always quick to get harvey in, on the other hand, they are not!

The ones to the left are just odd, and their strange daughter often used to bang on the window to wind him up, hand to pull her dad up on that - she didn't do it again!

Universalady. if you are sending them a letter i'd be very carefyl how you word it (possibel get a solicitor or citizens advice in?) You said about putting up fence panels for safety to them and your dogs. They could interpret as safety to them i.e. protection from your dogs admitting your dog is dangerous. Obviously this is not the case but you need to be really cautious when dealing with these kind of people.

I have a similar problem, couple of years ago a group of kids that live couple doors down from me kept banging my back fence that leads onto a alley way, teasing my dogs, so I waited for them to come back and do it again and quickly opened my gate to explain to them that my dogs are friendly and are not happy with the teasing, it seemed to work as they all had a stroke of my dogs and I never had a problem with them again!!
Now I have new neighbours one side of me, with very noisey kids, they have one of those trampelins huge one that they have placed right next to the dividing fence between our gardens, so when they jump around on it they shut out at my dogs and can see over the fence, I have tried to speak to the mother but she is terrified of my dogs and has not done much to help the situation, but she moans at my other neighbour about my dogs barking!! 
The issue with my neighbour is  a bit deeper then just my dogs suppose barking, as her kids run riot around the street and they are younger then my own kids that I do not allow out on their own! They have also thrown rocks and huge pebbles into our garden narrowly missing my youngest son who was playing in the garden at the time, I don't think we are ever going to see eye to eye, I have complained to the landlord of the house she rents, and things have calmed down a bit, but we are in the winter season at the moment so kids not out playing much, but I am dreading the summer!

Gemini, I had the same problem as you with kids over the fence at the back of our garden.
I kept noticing lumps of brick, rocks, other items and wondered where it was coming from.  One day i saw something come over, i ran out and explained about how our dog was so friendly and that they could really hurt him doing that.  It was all quiet, so i presumed they were listening...and never did it again.
But it is very scarey, they dont realise the damage they could cause.
Good luck with those new neighbours, hopefully they'll stop this tormenting.

Whats wrong with these people throwing rocks and pebbles etc???
Our ex neighbours had a dog that constantly barked from noon to night. It was very very disturbing but never once did i blame the dog. it was the owners fault for leaving him day and night in the garden with nothing to do. I actually tried to talk to the dog and give it the attention it so desperately needed.
How anyone can want to hurt an animal is beyond me. im not a fan of reptiles but i wouldnt knowingly hurt one.

do be careful about the use of "safe", maybe go with secure or similar?

its such a shame cause i imaging it makes things very difficult, thanksfully we;ve never had a problem with neighbours and our dogs..though our 2 youngest like to bark at mum and dads neighbours now, but its for attention. lol, our boy did it this weekend and i was about to stop him when i saw the lady out in the garden and heard her saying "oh tio, i'm sorry, have i not been to say hello to you??" and him wagging his tale like mad lol. not sure i'm happy with him being so demanding but hey, understanding neighbours are nice. their grandkids were formally introduced to the dogs when mum and dad moved in so the kids are cool with them and dogs got lots of cuddles so no barking lol, they came round to meet the puppies and everything when kiz had them. very amicable.

The next time they tease your dogs,  let your dogs bark (a little)  go down  the garden with your hosepipe, and spray  through the hedge..... Ooops  I am so sorry, I did not know you where there......... I am trying to teach my dogs to stop barking.

They may get the message, and leave you dogs alone.

LOL :) jackbox

I had this when i first moved into my house .. At first i erected the dog run in the middle of the garden as the house we  bought did not bode well for huskies , one side were talkative and i explained the reasons for doing this ( they did kind of know me as i went back to my home town where everyone knows everyone )   First port of call was not to do the house up but to husky proof my garden , the one side even helped me do it ( he calls it the berlin wall but does now understand the reasons ) and loves my dogs to the extent that he even ask what treats they are allowed to have ( their dog run is where his shed is and he sees them every day and at one point they started to howl if he had not been down to the shed and to see them on time, we sorted this out straight away )But the other side was a nice detached house being rented by a famliy of many , who's children used to tease them no end ( banging on their run shed or even howling out the bathroom window at them ,,, mine howl back and throwing stuff in to them   ) i recieved a letter from the council about my dogs and i rang them up straight away as they did make a noise at first (when shut up in the run in the middle of the garden )but once i had my husky proof garden they did not make noise , i explained all this and even asked the council to contact my neighbours who directly adjoined my house ( they did and they were able to tell them about the dogs only getting excited when the other neighbours kids were annoying them . the good thing is they are retired and at home all day )  My good neighbours actually worry if my dogs make a noise when i am not there because they are usually so quiet ( except for when i am on my way home from work as they know one just knows i will be home soon and wants every one to know but it is not a bark more of a excited whhhoooo and last for two mins ) thankfully they moved out the many family and we then got a dog person who's dogs barked constantly  , they have since gone but who knows what we will get next ... get the nice neighbours to help out . my neighbour even waters (sprinkles them with hose)my girls in the summer as he now understands the huskies and admires them ( his first thoughts were ..oh my god !.. and was worried about his own dog and grandkids but now they are his mates    lol )

Sadly, neighbours like this are a problem everywhere.

My neighbours hated my dogs so much, we found tacks, chocolate, gum, anything in our yard.  One got sick from it real bad, and the spaniel had a tack in her paw (poor thing, we couldnt see it, and thought she was just limping since she had problems with her joints, since she was still putting weight on it.  Didnt find out for a couple hours after, when she started really licking at it)

We tried complaining to the landlord, but nothing worked.  So we are moving.  Although, not far away from these neighbours, but far enough that (hopefully) they wont come and do it again.

It is really maddening, when neighbours are a pain.  I dont really know what more you can do, other than what has been suggested, but I do want you to know you arent alone, with your anger at your neighbours, for the way they are treating your dogs.  Putting up a high fence, would stop some of it, and maybe act as a deterant, but not sure if it would stop it completely.

hugs

shusky, can I come and live next door to you ;-) I don't mind dogs barking, they are usually barking for a reason. But try telling my neighbours that. I've had to start taking my dogs out into the garden at night on leads, just to stop them barking at anything, or nothing. I have 6 lovely neighbours, but the horrid ones live next door :-(

Sure LindyLou ,,, the owner of the big house is just doing it up as the other woman left it in a right state ... Will put in good word for you ok   ...LOL . I did not know you had to get permission to errect a fence you know i just put mine up on both sides ,  the back was done. my helpful neighbour said it was ok as long as it wasn't over a certain height .( on his side it goes up to about 8 foot in one place as the garden raised up there) and on the side where the many neighbours lived it was a hedge so we came slightly in on my side so as not to go over the boundary .

I would move today if I thought it was the right house! It looks like I'm stuck here for a few years though until my daughter leaves school. Her school is one of the top schools in Scotland so I think she should stay there! :-)

It must be horrible, our previous neighbours used to through cans etc over their hedge yet our dog never barked!

We are between 2 dog owners now whos dogs bark! :-)

We only have 1 neighbour to worry about as we are the end terrace by the fields. Next door is a 2 dog spaniel and horse mad house. Our newest next neighbour 3 doors down is also a lady, with her own dog and grown up children. It seems all of us ladies move here because of the great walks and we are all dog nutters and look out for each other of course. Whoopee!!!!!!

I feel so sorry for those of us who struggle with the neighbours. It's worth a complete fortune to have a good relationship and well worth moving to get it.