....by councils?
Is it mainly constant barking? Just curious as I've had a letter from the council about my dog, and I know who's complained. I could understand it if my dog had SA for instance and/or barked continuously, but he doesn't, so I'm puzzled - or rather I'm not that puzzled, as the neighbour in question is trying to sell their property and they've caused trouble for me in the past.

See http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/WhereYouLive/NoiseNuisanceAndLitter/DG_10029682

This will give you a link to what your local council considers to be unacceptable barking.

> the neighbour in question is trying to sell their property and they've caused trouble for me in the past.<

Well, they may well have shot themselves in the foot by making a complaint to the local authority, as any such disputes which have been logged by a local authority have to be disclosed to the seller on the sale of a property!

I can not answer this but if I had a letter from the council about one of mine barking, I would be phoning them to ask how often a dog can bark before it becomes a council concern. A little odd for them to do it when trying to sell their property, as I would thought that they would have then to inform a prospective buyer! Good luck.

Antisocial hours for a start (so early morning and late evening/night), and constant barking of say 15 minutes or more. The important thing to remember is that dogs are ALLOWED to bark by law!

Our ex neighbours complained 8 times to the council and we were found to NOT have excessively barking dogs every time. Not that the council tells you, you have to really push them to find out......

I hate neighbours and will never, ever again consider living close to people again. 3 years ago we moved to a rural area to get away from complaining neighbours. (When the council found us not guilty, they resorted to kicking doors and banging windows to MAKE the dogs bark more.) A month ago a farmer half a mile away (!) turned up on our doorstep and said he had a complaint about our dogs barking. And he lives next door to a boarding kennels!! But it turned out he just had issues with after 10 pm and before 6 am -the times he was in bed. And we did see the point as at times our dogs barked when let out for a last pee at midnight for instance so we now make certain nobody barks after 10 pm or before 7.30 am.

A little odd for them to do it when trying to sell their property, as I would thought that they would have then to inform a prospective buyer!

It will backfire on them as they MUST tell prospective buyers of this, and if they don't they could be in trouble!

> But it turned out he just had issues with after 10 pm and before 6 am -the times he was in bed. And we did see the point as at times our dogs barked when let out for a last pee at midnight for instance so we now make certain nobody barks after 10 pm or before 7.30 am.

Thank you - I think that's the issue here as they are out at work all day! Lately mine has alert barked a few times during the night, but I've been working on that as I can understand that might annoy some people (and wakes me up too). It is a pity they didn't say anything to me because I would happily have moved the dog's bed to a different part of the house if they had been reasonable. In the past I have apologised to them when he did bark during the night (there was a fox outside) and they said they hadn't heard him! I feel they are being ultra-sensitive, and it's certainly not my fault or problem that their bedroom is over my living-room. Knowing that I never have friends round late in the evenings and keep the TV down low, so I think I might just show them how a less considerate person would approach the situation.... ;)

> It will backfire on them as they MUST tell prospective buyers of this, and if they don't they could be in trouble!

Ah well.... they have also been on to my landlord behind my back about this, and I think they are pushing to get me to move (landlord wants that anyway), in which case there won't be a problem any more. I'll be absolutely delighted if the council do install noise monitoring equipment. I'm wondering if this constitutes harassment of any kind.

Oh good - had a neighbour of mine make a complaint almost a year ago.  Her house has been on the market for six months now and no sale.  As much as I would love to see the back of the old devil, part of me is really hoping that the fact that she make a formal complaint to the council will make selling more difficult!  She'd complain about anything, though, as  Speaking to some other neighbours the other day and she's been complaining about their children playing in their own garden. 

I live in a rural location but the trouble always seems to stem from townies moving in and thinking they own the entire village, not just their house.  

I'm wondering if this constitutes harassment of any kind.
I felt so after 8 complaints that had led nowhere, but was told the council HAS to act on any complaint and there is nothing they can do. They did sort of admit eventually they realised our neighbours were lying (for instance they had said our dogs barked non stop every day from 7 pm to 10 pm! That would have driven ME nuts!!) -but they still had to act on complaints received. And as you are not told WHO has made the complaint, even if you do know it, you cannot go elsewhere like to a solicitor or the police to say you are being harassed.

I would certainly think twice about buying a house with a neighbouring dispute going on. So yes they have made a c**k up here because as quite rightly said, they do have to delcare this to prospective buyers.
Me, I would be casually mentioning this to them, just to see their faces.

> Me, I would be casually mentioning this to them, just to see their faces.

They never speak to me but yes, I would love that. It would have been nice of them to have said something to me first, rather than go straight to the council. However I think there is more to it than meets the eye: I'm sure they are hoping I will be asked to rehome my dog or leave the property, hence calls to the landlord. I will be much happier to see their faces when the council give me the all-clear, as the RSPCA officer did when he visited in March - I know now it was them that complained, and that must have peed them off sooooo much! They were very happy to have the dog around when we had some bad neighbours and a spate of burglaries not long ago. And none of the other neighbours have complained, nor the previous resident upstairs (they have been there for 2 yrs, dog's been here for 4).

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/noise/neighbour/index.htm

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/noise/research/barkingdogs/constantbarking.pdf

hope these help a bit :)
second one in particular is very good with sensible advice, written by an apbc behaviourist.

Lindsay
x

Thank you Lindsay - a jolly good read! Still didn't find anything specific (length of time, etc) considered unacceptable, but laughed out loud when I read the second one by David Appleby where it's recommended to go gently with the dog owner, be courteous & reasonable, approach them first and not go straight to the authorities! I know I won't, but how tempting to print that one out and ram it through the offending letterbox.

I really wouldn't worry too much,as Marianne says the council have to act on a complaint.I had a similar complaint a few years ago about my grooming salon,the dog warden came round and to be honest he gave the impression he was just going through the motions and he didn't really agree with it and was actually a bit apologetic,he said well you have to earn a living! Anyway,there have been no more complaints.
It might just be a one-off-in all probability nothing will come of it.

noise control is a joke... they will most likely be right on the case as its a dog, but if its a crazy neighbour they will let it drag on for months. And their isnt really anything they can do! We dealt with a VERY noisy neighbour for 9 months

Trouble is, they've already told the landlord about it, with whom I am already having issues (due to repairs not being done, etc) so a complaint about my dog even if it's not upheld, is the last nail in the coffin as I've already been labelled a troublemaker. If the landlord lets me stay, it will probably be on condition that 'the dog' goes, even on this flimsy complaint. Well, that's not going to happen... it would be like asking me to rehome a family member. What gets me is that I was the last to know!

To be honest no barking is acceptable if you are a none dog owner !

So be honest how much barking does your dog do ?

Mine bark in the summer when they are let out at normally 6am and only when somebody walks past the gates so only random barking and lasts about 10 to 30 seconds dependant on who it is. We also live in a place where we do not have direct neighbours and so to me barking is a sign of warning that we have uninvited guests.

I will not however let them bark for any longer than that and we will always go out and stop them.

To be honest no barking is acceptable if you are a none dog owner !

According to the law it IS. :)

> To be honest no barking is acceptable if you are a none dog owner !  So be honest how much barking does your dog do ?

Good question.
It's random and 1-8 barks... lasting if anything, 5 seconds. I kept a log today and he did this 4 times between 10am and 1pm. Hasn't uttered a word since. We have new-ish neighbours with cats and he will bark at the cats when in the garden, but is brought in immediately if so, and is never left in the garden on his own. I am home most of the time and the worst time is probably Postman at 11am-ish when he does go a bit mental but for not longer than 30 secs... postmen don't stick around that long. He does not suffer from SA so the only barking he would do (if any) when I am out would be alert barking. I have never heard him howl, even from a puppy, and neither have my other neighbours or the previous resident upstairs.

The residents in the flat above have to walk past my front door to get to their flat and he alert barks then until they have passed by - got worse since landlord put in partly glazed UPVC door last year. He has occasionally alert barked for a few seconds at night, but I honestly never worried much about that, as when he did on a previous occasion I apologised to the neighbours above, who said they hadn't heard a thing. So this is quite a surprise... especially as I have seen a behaviourist recently (about other issues). If they had only dropped me a note or spoken to me I could have told them that, and assured them that I was more than willing to work on it.

It's not as if I'm totally oblivious to what my dog does - yesterday when the window cleaner came he did go beserk (who wouldn't, seeing a strange person staring in!!) so I took him outside til they had gone. This was before I got this surprise letter today.

To be honest no barking is acceptable if you are a none dog owner !

According to the law it IS.

The law and people's tolerances are two different things.

I have three dogs and I have two neighbours nearby who have dogs and the barking from them both drives me up the wall. The one neighbour chains the dog up when they go out if it is nice weather and the dog barks constantly. I have been round and she denied it that it barked. I did ask her how would she know if it did if she was out ! Anyway they seem to have heeded my complaint and the barking has reduced alot.

The law and people's tolerances are two different things.

Yes but you have got to put the dogs first here. To completely stop a dog from barking would be unnatural and simply not right. Which is why the law accepts that they are allowed to bark -just not excessively and at antisocial hours.

I've had trouble over barking only ever once. The house I lived in before had no near by neighbours, yet the one closest came down one evening to complain that my dogs had barked *excessively* the night before. He left quite shamefaced after I told him they had barked their heads off at HIS dog strolling up and down the kennels/runs. :-p

The boarding kennel where I board my dogs had problems with neighbours complaining about barking - the kennels have been there for more than 20 years and long before the neighbour bought their house. Some people are just soooo stupid, if you want quiet don't buy a house next to a boarding kennel (or a school!) DOH! However in this case the neighbour tried their best to shut the kennel down and when this failed they seriously battered the owner when he was out walking the dogs one evening. The owner was very badly beaten and hospitalised for a long time. We couldn't believe that anyone would go to these lengths but there are some very nasty people out there.

As far as the landlord is concerned it depends on your lease, they can't just tell you to go unless you have agreed it or your lease states no dogs. Most lease will have an option to renew and a complaint from a neighbour is neither here nor there.

Mmm trouble is that most tenancies these days are for 6 or 12 months and whilst they can be renewable, the landlord doesn't need a reason to simply end the tenancy (giving 2 months notice).  I would advise contacting your local council - but this time the tenancy relations officer (usually either in the private sector housing or homelessness teams).  Their job is to advise and support tenants and can be very helpful.  They can also help with getting repairs done.  Unfortunately though landlords can just tell you to go (as long as they do it legally) as that's how the AST (assured shorthold tenancy) works - most tenancies these days in the private sector are ASTs, most social landlords use Assured tenancies.

Hmmm well I think the neighbours Above are taking the weewee just a little. Someone put something through my letterbox at 8.45am this morning, doggie barked, and Those Upstairs thumped on the floor. On a weekday that's not antisocial hours, and if they work shifts then they've never said so in 2 years. I'm keeping a log of when he does bark, and I think I shall speak to the council who sent me the letter.

I put up with the noise from their DIY every weekend and evening for over a year, and they started drilling at 9am this New Years Day.

> doggie barked

note in your diary how long dog barked and why.

The council once told me that the majority of complainants when asked to keep a diary give up the complaint, as either they can't be bothered or if it really is them being over sensitive the entries will show them that.

> note in your diary how long dog barked and why.

I am doing so.
It was quite furious barking, same as when the postman comes, but not for much more than 20 seconds if that.... just long enough for the person to deliver & go. He does tend to alert bark during the day at odd sounds outside, cats in the garden etc. but my diary so far shows it's usually no more than 5-7 barks lasting no longer than a few seconds. There was someone shouting outside in the street this morning at 00.30, and he didn't raise an eyebrow never mind a bark.