Neighbour screaming out of control kids making dog bark

Vinney

Vinney

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Just wondering what others would do in this situation. A bit of a rant really. My dog is a border collie two year old bitch. She is kenelled during the day and we have a large garden with an attached neighbour. The neighbour has two children one 9 one 4 that for some reason cannot play nicely and spend most of the time they are in the garden screaming especially when they are on the trampoline. My dog seems to think this is great fun and starts barking at them. I have tried to stop her when I am there and she will keep going back to the fence when they start making a noise again. Anyway to cut a long story short the neighbour has sent me a note complaining. I went round to see her to try to sort this out but to be honest her attitude seems to be that its all the dogs fault. When I mentioned the kids screaming she said that, thats what kids do. I said that dogs bark but she expects me to keep my dog quiet so why shouldnt she make some effort to control her kids. Needless to say it didnt go well. She made the statement that she is a single parent now so was having a few problems. In all the time she has lived next to us she has been arrogant and rude and to be honest I can count the number of times I have spoken to her on one hand as she is so ignorant. On the day she and her husband moved into their house I welcomed her to the village and offered a hand of friendship and she turned her back on me and ignored me completely. Her ex husband is a very nice friendly man and until he left things were fine as far as the kids go. Not sure where to go from here. I have shut the dog into a smaller part of the garden today, but am not happy at having to do this as she likes her freedom. She is also there to guard out property as we have had several burglaries and some metal stolen in the village over the last few years. Well rant over not looking for sympathy or rude comments just some friendly advice.
 
Not a lot you can do really. Children do make a noise, and dogs do bark. In your shoes I would make sure that my dog was only making a noise when her children do - and not all the time. I think then that there probably isn't a lot she can do - although be aware that she can complain about excessive dog noise, so you may get a visit/letter from the council.
 
Young children playing nosily is a part of life with neighbours. While it impacts on your life, they aren't there all the time, so limiting your dog to a part of the garden when the children are around is an acceptable compromise.

Your dog barking will affect other neighbours too, unfortunately. Two of my neighbours both allow their terriers full freedom of the garden and they bark constantly all day, especially when anyone walks past. It amazes me that the owners think this is acceptable, but everyone around here is very tolerant despite how annoying it is.

Even when you're unlucky enough to have a rude neighbour, its worth compromising rather than risk bad feeling escalating.
 
I do appreciate your replies regarding the dog barking at the kids and that it may affect others, but we are out in the countryside not on a housing estate and this has only starting within the last few weeks. We have a 6ft fence between the main part of the garden and at least 10ft high of Laurel hedging that covers the rest of the garden. We are not trying to make trouble and my point is that she could at least make some effort to keep the kids a bit quieter especially when they are fighting and jumping on the trampoline screaming at the tops of their voices. I dont find this acceptable even if I didnt have a dog I would say this is out of order. Dont get me wrong I dont hate children. My biggest problem with this woman is that she can write me a note but can't come and talk to myself and my partner about it sensibly. Her husband has always been so approachable and if he were still there would come round and talk to us about it. Last year they had a cockerel that was free ranging around the garden and it spent the dawn crowing under everyones windows. They were very put out when the neighbour the other side of them complained about it. Guess who had to find it a new home for them (us). Horserider, how come they dont have to stop the terriers barking? Just a thought. As far as I am aware our dog doesnt bark all day only when the postman comes and as far as I am concerned she is alerting anyone around that there is someone on our property. All boundaries are fenced and gates locked so she isnt able to see who is walking up the drive. We had some metal stolen a few years ago so feel justified that we have a deterrent in the dog. Most of our garden is bound by open fields, just the one fence and garden next door.
 
Vinney said:
Just wondering what others would do in this situation. A bit of a rant really. My dog is a border collie two year old bitch. She is kenelled during the day and we have a large garden with an attached neighbour. The neighbour has two children one 9 one 4 that for some reason cannot play nicely and spend most of the time they are in the garden screaming especially when they are on the trampoline. My dog seems to think this is great fun and starts barking at them. I have tried to stop her when I am there and she will keep going back to the fence when they start making a noise again. Anyway to cut a long story short the neighbour has sent me a note complaining. I went round to see her to try to sort this out but to be honest her attitude seems to be that its all the dogs fault. When I mentioned the kids screaming she said that, thats what kids do. I said that dogs bark but she expects me to keep my dog quiet so why shouldnt she make some effort to control her kids. Needless to say it didnt go well. She made the statement that she is a single parent now so was having a few problems. In all the time she has lived next to us she has been arrogant and rude and to be honest I can count the number of times I have spoken to her on one hand as she is so ignorant. On the day she and her husband moved into their house I welcomed her to the village and offered a hand of friendship and she turned her back on me and ignored me completely. Her ex husband is a very nice friendly man and until he left things were fine as far as the kids go. Not sure where to go from here. I have shut the dog into a smaller part of the garden today, but am not happy at having to do this as she likes her freedom. She is also there to guard out property as we have had several burglaries and some metal stolen in the village over the last few years. Well rant over not looking for sympathy or rude comments just some friendly advice.
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You sound like a very nice, reasonable person and this unfriendly neighbour should be glad that she lives next door to such a tolerant and lovely person as yourself! I think she is being extremely unreasonable for several reasons. Firstly, why do children always have to be top priority in these modern PC times. Why is it reasonable and acceptable for them to scream their heads off and make an unreasonable amount of noise, but not for your dog to bark? Children scream and make a noise, dogs bark and make a noise. Both are perfectly entitled to do so on their own property, within reason of course. But it seems to me that your neighbour thinks that it is perfectly OK for her brats to make a racket and that it is YOUR fault that this excites your dog and makes her bark - naturally this will happen, especially bearing in mind her breed, for children read sheep - she is trying to control them, round them up, all perfectly acceptable. It is not as if she is posing a threat to them in any way. In addition, this woman should be glad of such a good guard dog living next to her. We live next to 2 gorgeous GSD's who are amazing guard dogs. One sleeps outside in the garden, and he will often bark furiously in the night if he hears something that he thinks may be an intruder or a threat. Often this wakes us up, but personally I love to hear him bark - after all, he may be driving off some scrote is trying to break into our shed! I appreciate a barking dog can be very annoying, but there is give and take on both sides. I do not accept that you should have to shut your dog away, or deny her access to her garden just because the kids next door scream and excite her. Perhaps this woman may like to consider shutting her kids away?!!
 
vinney I do think you're the good guy here,:) and your neighbour is a PITA, but I guess, the fact is that she is difficult, perhaps more so right now due to the stress of her breakup.
Perhaps just by compromise, it will take the heat of the situation or at least won't make it worse, particularly if she reports you to the council or dog warden. At least you have the moral high ground by being the reasonable one and quite frankly, the agencies are well used to fruitcakes reporting their neighbours and try to mediate.
It also means that if you sell your property in the future, you haven't got a dispute to disclose on the forms.


As for my neighbours with the dogs that bark for 12 hours a day...well, we're just too nice to complain. LOL.
 
Quote :You sound like a very nice, reasonable person and this unfriendly neighbour should be glad that she lives next door to such a tolerant and lovely person as yourself! I think she is being extremely unreasonable for several reasons. Firstly, why do children always have to be top priority in these modern PC times. Why is it reasonable and acceptable for them to scream their heads off and make an unreasonable amount of noise, but not for your dog to bark? Children scream and make a noise, dogs bark and make a noise. Both are perfectly entitled to do so on their own property, within reason of course. But it seems to me that your neighbour thinks that it is perfectly OK for her brats to make a racket and that it is YOUR fault that this excites your dog and makes her bark - naturally this will happen, especially bearing in mind her breed, for children read sheep - she is trying to control them, round them up, all perfectly acceptable. It is not as if she is posing a threat to them in any way. In addition, this woman should be glad of such a good guard dog living next to her. We live next to 2 gorgeous GSD's who are amazing guard dogs. One sleeps outside in the garden, and he will often bark furiously in the night if he hears something that he thinks may be an intruder or a threat. Often this wakes us up, but personally I love to hear him bark - after all, he may be driving off some scrote is trying to break into our shed! I appreciate a barking dog can be very annoying, but there is give and take on both sides. I do not accept that you should have to shut your dog away, or deny her access to her garden just because the kids next door scream and excite her. Perhaps this woman may like to consider shutting her kids away?!!

Thanks Nikki J, most people seem to think the dog is always at fault. We are quite happy to compromise and try to keep the dog quiet but apparently this happens when the kids get home from school and I am at work. I dont get home until 7.30 - 8.00 in the evenings as I work full time and then have to do my horses at a livery yard several miles away. I had a day off sick on Monday and spent most of the day with the Television turned up to block out the screaming 4 year old. He spent hours screaming and crying and I could hear it through the wall. When I mentioned this to her she said 4year olds do cry and scream. My comment was that she should have calmed him down and stopped his tantrums from affecting others and that they dont usually do it for hours on end. Our dog is walked and put into her kennel at dusk and we dont hear anything from her until we let her out in the mornings. She isnt waking anyone up at night. The neighbour the other side of her has two children of similar ages and they play quite nicely and I never hear my dog bark at them. I think the kids are actually winding my dog up but without being there to see for myself I cant be sure. Any way we will have to wait and see what happens. She has threatened to send the council round and if they are as efficient as when we had a dog being ill treated and left to bark and whine at the back of where I work I dont expect too much from them. The dog warden actually said if the dog isnt being dangerous and not on the street they didnt want to know. We had to get the RSPCA to intervene. The poor thing was left in a postage stamp garden all day with no water and got itself tangled up in a clothes line. (same council)
 
Being kennelled all day is quite a big ask for a young high-drive collie. How is she kept at night? When do you work her?

Just read above post, she's in kennel all night. This has to be a wind-up, surely?
 
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Fellewell, The dog isnt in the kennel all day, this is part of the problem. She has the run of 3/4 of an acre during the day and we walk her over the fields at night. She also has lots of ball throwing and playing in the mornings before work. My partner is often there during the day with her. When we are at home we dont hear anything from her until the kids start next door. The neighbour in question wants me to shut her up during the day and I am afraid this isnt going to happen without a fight. Horserider, We are unlikely to be selling our house in the near future but she might be as she doesnt work and large houses on mortgages have to be paid for. We will just find something else and rent this one out as we have the money to do so. This woman has got history for being unpleasant and her husband was her saving grace as far as the neighbours are concerned. I dont want a war, just to be able to enjoy my home, my garden and my dog. That is the reason we moved to the countryside.
 
I can't help but think you are on very dodgy ground here and if your neighbour does call in the council you will be found at fault, not the playing kids, no matter how noisy they are when they play. That's what gardens are for, they are not supposed to be where you leave your dog all day as it's convienent for you.
Could you not take the the dog with you to do the horses, better for the dog and would let your neighbours have a more peaceful evening.
 
Without sounding too critical here, just worked out that your dog is kennelled during the day until 7-8pm, and then again at dusk over night. If you do the horses as well in the evenings, the dog seems to get very little interaction during the week unless your husband works from home ?
The dog might be more settled if she was busier ?

Ah, sorry cross posted, just seen your last reply.
 
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This might be a bonkers idea :rolleyes: but could you spend some time in the neighbours garden (have a nice cup of tea with neighbour *shudder*) when the kids are playing so the dog actually sees what is going on and therefore twigs its not that exciting and not worth the bark? Would that work?
 
Is it possible to slightly relandscape your garden, so that you incorporate a new fence which keeps your dog well away from the dividing fence? I don't think it would be a fair thing to do, but you could get a special collar that emits a high pitch noise that deters your dog from barking. Seems a shame to have to resort to this, but it might be an interim solution until your horrible neighbour moves.
We back on to a public park, and often get kids coming to wind our dogs up through the fence. In this situation, OH is able to tell the kids to stop upsetting our dogs!!
Is it possible to desensitize your dog to the noisy kids?
 
Vinney said:
Fellewell, The dog isnt in the kennel all day, this is part of the problem. She has the run of 3/4 of an acre during the day and we walk her over the fields at night. She also has lots of ball throwing and playing in the mornings before work. My partner is often there during the day with her. When we are at home we dont hear anything from her until the kids start next door. The neighbour in question wants me to shut her up during the day and I am afraid this isnt going to happen without a fight. Horserider, We are unlikely to be selling our house in the near future but she might be as she doesnt work and large houses on mortgages have to be paid for. We will just find something else and rent this one out as we have the money to do so. This woman has got history for being unpleasant and her husband was her saving grace as far as the neighbours are concerned. I dont want a war, just to be able to enjoy my home, my garden and my dog. That is the reason we moved to the countryside.
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Your first post says she's kennelled during the day. This is not a breed that can be left to their own devices. Generations of breeding do not produce a 'clockwork' collie as many have found to their cost. She needs more input from you IMHO.
 
i totally feel for you, give me dogs over kids any day... and i have both :D:D:D

hate to say it though but this is the reason we would never have a house adjoining another, even adjoining gardens, you never know what the neighbours will be like.

for all those jumping on you regarding kenneling and how much input she gets - no amount of stimulation is going to stop her barking at and being stimulated by screaming kids leaping around ;)
 
Actually bonny I disagree with you. Gardens are not just playgrounds for kids, some of us actually grow out own vegetables and keep chickens in them. We also like to grow flowers. Also as I paid for the privilege I expect to let my dog have the run of the garden. It is not just convenience for me while I am at work I think a dog shut in a house all day is just as bad. I have heard many of them barking and howling when in a house and in some ways if the neighbours have this to contend with they would be just as annoyed. Horse rider, my other half does spend quite a lot of time at home with the dog and she isnt in a kennel all day the has the run of the garden all day. This is part of the problem. She has a dog flap and access to food and water in her kennel. Usually she spends her day sleeping either down the garden in one of our open sheds or in her bed in the kennel. She has plenty of interaction and walks and I cant take her down the stables as she gets car sick and hates cats. There are several at our yard and I dont think the owners would be too happy if she spent all her time chasing them. I wont leave her in a hot car as this is not fair and could become a welfare issue. Personally I think this is getting out of hand I only asked for some advice not a witch hunt. The dog has been with us for just over a year and this has only just materialised when the woman next door became a "single parent". I will be retiring soon and then the dog will have company all day.
 
The problem is that because in theory people can rehomers dogs, rules are created to say you must stop the noise. Because they can't do the same thing with kids, there are no rules!!

If you are retiring soon and the issue will lessen, I would try to let go of the it's not fair co it's the kids causing it and they make as much noise element and just try for playing for time until you retire, tell them that in x months/ years the dog will be quieter and probably so will their kids.......:-))
 
Thanks never say never. When we bought the house the neighbours were similar age to us with grown up children. They were'nt the most quiet of people but we rubbed along together just fine. I know children and dogs can be noisy and if the neighbour would accept that both can be noisy together then so can I. The dog was actually my sons dog and his young daughter but they have had to go into rented accomodation with no dogs allowed. We have just tried to give the dog a home and make sure my granddaughter can see her if she wants.
Thanks for the idea RebelRebel, but this woman is antisocial in every aspect of the word. She has fallen out with her neighbours the other side and has had to change the older childs school due to falling out with the teachers. I have tried over the past four years to be sociable but you can only try so many times. I'm sure if I asked her to do as you suggest she would just be rude to me. She is the person that insisted on a 10ft high laurel hedge round the garden not us. We used to talk to her ex husband down the garden before the hedge grew and he was a very friendly chap. She used to call him in for some mundane task just to stop him socialising. We have helped them sort their garden out, helped her get back into her home when she locked herself out and my other half being a builder has helped them with no end of things for free. We have always chatted to the older child, a girl and when my granddaughter was round they would play together. I have no real problem with her I just find her hard to deal with. I would be happy to compromise if I could actually have a conversation with her.
 
Lachlanandmarcus; depressing thought, but the kids may not get better as they get older. The play loud music and have motorbikes and don't go to bed at 8pm anymore.

Vinney, I suppose the best you can hope for is that horrible neighbour has to move. We're currently looking for a house and our main specification is no neighbours within half a mile. Bliss.
 
Horserider, the truth of the matter is that we are currently looking for a smallholding or similar. We have a smallholding at the moment but it is in the
middle of a market town and we cant live there as my OH's mother has the house. We keep pigs and cows and are thinking of selling this place for building land (it has been deemed as such) and putting all our eggs in one basket so to speak. We will hopefully have the pigs, cows and horses all together and then we will have as many dogs as we want. At the moment there are only 8 houses in our road and all the other neighbours are fine and we get on with them really well. We also belong to the village garden club and get on really well with most of the other people in the village. The neighbour makes no effort to join in with anything. She did join the local running club for a while but that was short lived.

Lachlanandmarcus; you make so much sense in your comments. Yes loud music and motorbikes may be in the future, but you can bet if I were to complain they wouldnt be very happy about it. Mind you the neighbours the other side have a quad bike and he runs a mobile disco. My other half built the shed/workshop for him and he tries some of his music out in there. No one seems to have a problem with this!!!
 
I feel for you, OP, we have had similar with four kids two doors down seeming to just scream at the top of their voices, row with each other and swear their heads off til 10pm every day it doesn't rain. I went out to bring the dogs in when they were barking and told them off for barking: the kids started barking! I'm afraid I did shout across to them to stop encouraging the dogs and at one point, I went to the neighbours and complained. It was constant!!

I don't see how you can change the noise but hopefully it will lessen as they get older, our lot have.
 
like i said, i sympathise... we bought a lovely house in the country but it was a steading conversion and although in the middle of nowhere, it was a semi. We had a massive garden and a paddock and when we first moved there it was fab. The neighbours were an older couple who loved dogs and had their own. However, really really sadly and unexpectedly they actually both passed away. The family then appeared and rented the house out. I was so stressed out with all the comings and goings and not knowing how the new people would get on with our dogs being over the fence that we sold ours and moved. I said from then on, it had to be a detached property with no immediate neighbours.
 
I have this issue as well. We have a tiny garden and 2 children next door who kick footballs against the fence, shout and scream and generally annoy the terrier.

Nice parents to be honest though, and although I wish they wouldn't shout so much (parents as well as children!) they are reasonable. Doesn't sound like your single mum is quite so understanding, but then it sounds like she's had a bit of a tough time and compromise is needed on both sides.

We've spoken about the children winding the dog up and they apologise but I agreed with them that they couldn't expect the children to play quietly all the time and that my dog was particularly easy to wind up. We have tried getting the children to make friends with the dog through the fence and he wags his tail and is friendly, but as soon as they start playing loudly again he's off again.

I think there's a degree of desensiting training required on the part of the dog owner in this situation. We never leave the back door open or the dog outside if we are not here to call him in. They make sure the children are quiet after around 7pm, and during schooltime now the oldest boy is there fulltime they're not there during the day so the dog can have all day outside if we're there except a few hours in the evening most days. The summer holidays are a little harder, but then he's often at work with me anyway.

I think you both have an issue really and it's a shame that things can't be sorted amicably. At the end of the day I think that children have every right to play in their own garden and if pushed I would say that their rights come over those of my dog I'm afraid. I would hate to think that my neighbours were on tenterhooks every time the children got noisy incase I got annoyed that my dog barked........
 
I doubt you have anything to worry about legally as barking by dogs has to be chronic for it to be against the law - there are different levels for different cities that define this eg. some areas if a dog barks for a full 30 minutes then it's breaking the law etc. but it's usually much longer time periods for country estates. A dog that only barks for short periods (in situations where realistically you'll be able to prove that it was provoked) is not likely to be considered a nuisance by any small claims court.

I'd be more worried about the stress the dog's under - anyway you could keep the dog in or take it for a walk when the kid's are at their most noisy? Barking often starts as excitement but can be an indication of frustration, sometimes it's just better if you can remove it from such situations. If the dog is running up and down a fence line, this is often a sign of over-excitement and frustration and it may be an idea to re-route the fencing to try and make it more difficult for it to do this.
 
I would leave a video recording all day when you're out, if at all possible, filming what is going on in the garden. To prove to anyone that needs it that the dog is only barking when wound up by the children. If possible do this on a few random days so that nobody could dispute it. Offer to play it to the lady next time she complains, showing her that her kids play a part in the noise..
 
Horse_Sam said:
I'd be more worried about the stress the dog's under - anyway you could keep the dog in or take it for a walk when the kid's are at their most noisy? Barking often starts as excitement but can be an indication of frustration, sometimes it's just better if you can remove it from such situations. If the dog is running up and down a fence line, this is often a sign of over-excitement and frustration and it may be an idea to re-route the fencing to try and make it more difficult for it to do this.
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This.
 
bonny said:
I can't help but think you are on very dodgy ground here and if your neighbour does call in the council you will be found at fault, not the playing kids, no matter how noisy they are when they play. That's what gardens are for, they are not supposed to be where you leave your dog all day as it's convienent for you.
Could you not take the the dog with you to do the horses, better for the dog and would let your neighbours have a more peaceful evening.
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Sorry, but I totally disagree you. Private gardens are just that - private. We can all do what we bally well want in our own gardens. If you want to leave your dog in your garden all day, you can do so. If he barks excessively as a consequence, then that's a different matter, but provided he only barks at passers-by or whatever, and then shuts up, there can be no issue here.

Our next door's GSDs are left in the garden for hours sometimes. They bark furiously at anyone who walks down our drive, or walks past their garden at the back where there are fields, but soon settle down again. My OH works from home, but our 2 are out all day in our back garden when the weather is nice and they bark and howl at people walking past in the field also. No-one ever complains, because this is reasonable dog behaviour.
 
NeverSayNever said:
i totally feel for you, give me dogs over kids any day... and i have both :D:D:D

hate to say it though but this is the reason we would never have a house adjoining another, even adjoining gardens, you never know what the neighbours will be like.

for all those jumping on you regarding kenneling and how much input she gets - no amount of stimulation is going to stop her barking at and being stimulated by screaming kids leaping around ;)
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Absolutely!! Just bear in mind the breed in addition, and you have your answer.
 
But it's a breed known for getting stressed easily so it would be good for the OP to minimise that stress as there is little influence she can have over the other side of the fence :)
I know, I had a stressy bitch, so I isolated her as best I could from the source of the stress as she was not strong enough to work through it. JMO.
 
Honey08 said:
I would leave a video recording all day when you're out, if at all possible, filming what is going on in the garden. To prove to anyone that needs it that the dog is only barking when wound up by the children. If possible do this on a few random days so that nobody could dispute it. Offer to play it to the lady next time she complains, showing her that her kids play a part in the noise..
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Excellent idea!!
 
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