Dealing with two neighbors and their barking dogs

[Anonymous]

The neighbors next door to me and the neighbors behind me both have a dog (dogs are brothers, so same breed) that bark non-stop when they are left outside in the yard, which is pretty often. My DH and I have approached both neighbors several times and asked them to bring their dogs in when they leave then out at night. One time I had to go next door at 1 am bc the dog was barking incessantly. The neighbors have been apologetic but also very condescending in a way. Like, oh, sorry, but what can we do, this is a very loud breed, yadda yadda yadda. At this point we are fed up, especially since the dog next door was barking at 4:30 this morning. We've tried sleeping with noise machines in our room and our kids' rooms, but they don't work. And plus it's just super frustrating when you're teying to relax or get work done at night after the kids are in bed, and there's this awful barking outside. We just moved to his house last June and honestly, if those dogs had been outside barking when we first looked at the house, we would've thought twice about putting an offer down.

So, I want to sit down and talk to both neighbors together, at a time when neither my DH not I are at their doorstep feeling irate. The thing is, is there any point to that? It's not like they're going to get rid of their dogs and I'm certainly not going to do anything to the dogs. Is there a way to resolve this that I'm not thinking of? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

What are the legal restrictions on noise in your neighborhood? I would tell them, "we really like you guys but we can't live like this. From now on, we will just call the cops. Sorry. ".

[Anonymous]

This will cost you lots but can you install noise blocking windows?

[Anonymous]

Maybe give them some names of some dog trainers, or a Dog Whisperer DVD. The dogs need to be walked for a long time in the a.m./p.m. to help keep them quiet. There's doggie daycare as well. Maybe offer to throw in a few bucks; it would be worth it in my opinion. I had this problem when I lived in Arlington so I feel your pain! I ended up moving, as it was a rental.

[Anonymous]

I don't have advice, but I can commiserate with you. We're in a small condo building and the two units below us have dogs that bark incessantly. If they hear a thump, a door opening, a rustle in the hallway, the barking starts.
One woman just got ANOTHER dog too, who also barks. We were considering getting a dog, but we're so annoyed with the downstairs cacophony, we're putting it off.

[Anonymous]

My neighbor's dog barks all day long. I'm in DC and I don't think there is any way to do anything legally. Calling the cops do a thing, from what I've read. I'm so tired of it.

[Anonymous]

Call the police when the dog is barking at night.

[Anonymous]

I feel for you. We have similar neighbors. Their response is "the dog is old, we are dealing with it." Their dealing with it meant they did nothing. I mean, the dog HAD To have a doggie door because it was old, and so what if it barked outside all night, right?

Then our neighbor called the cops. And it stopped.

[Anonymous]

Try calling animal control or the police to see if they are violating any noise ordinances.
People who let dogs behave like this likely aren't good dog owners or great themselves. The animals are barking out of boredom, but you have every right to peace and quiet in your own home.

[Anonymous]

Ah, the joys of an HOA! - Ours does not allow unattended animals to be left in the yard (even fenced yards) for more than 30 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try calling animal control or the police to see if they are violating any noise ordinances.
People who let dogs behave like this likely aren't good dog owners or great themselves. The animals are barking out of boredom, but you have every right to peace and quiet in your own home.

OP here. I looked up montgomery county's noise ordinance and it says violations are anything over 63 decibels from 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. on weekends. I haven't looked into what the average dog bark decibel is but I'm guessing it's higher than that. I don't know the neighbors behind us but I know our next door neighbors and the thing that makes this tough is that they are very nice in general. Just very insensitive. I don't understand how they can't see how obnoxious they're being. I'm really hesitant to call the police because it will make for very tense relations, obviously. Ugh. This sucks. We lived in our old house for 12 years and dealt with car break ins and other stuff, but I think I'd prefer that to this!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have advice, but I can commiserate with you. We're in a small condo building and the two units below us have dogs that bark incessantly. If they hear a thump, a door opening, a rustle in the hallway, the barking starts.
One woman just got ANOTHER dog too, who also barks. We were considering getting a dog, but we're so annoyed with the downstairs cacophony, we're putting it off.

OP here. Yup, we've been talking about getting a dog too. We had a dog who died two years ago, and we've been waiting to get into a bigger house and for me to start working from home before getting another dog and we were so excited because this move led to both of those things happening. But now my DH is really hesitant b/c he's worried that our new dog will make these neighbors' dogs bark even more. So frustrating!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe give them some names of some dog trainers, or a Dog Whisperer DVD. The dogs need to be walked for a long time in the a.m./p.m. to help keep them quiet. There's doggie daycare as well. Maybe offer to throw in a few bucks; it would be worth it in my opinion. I had this problem when I lived in Arlington so I feel your pain! I ended up moving, as it was a rental.

OP here. When my DH went to the neighbors behind our house last night at 10 pm he asked her about training, and she blew him off saying nope, that's just the way this breed is. WTF?????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe give them some names of some dog trainers, or a Dog Whisperer DVD. The dogs need to be walked for a long time in the a.m./p.m. to help keep them quiet. There's doggie daycare as well. Maybe offer to throw in a few bucks; it would be worth it in my opinion. I had this problem when I lived in Arlington so I feel your pain! I ended up moving, as it was a rental.

OP here. When my DH went to the neighbors behind our house last night at 10 pm he asked her about training, and she blew him off saying nope, that's just the way this breed is. WTF?????

Again, I would be VERY nice, but let them know that you just can't take it anymore and from now on, you will call the police.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the legal restrictions on noise in your neighborhood? I would tell them, "we really like you guys but we can't live like this. From now on, we will just call the cops. Sorry. ".

OP here. I posted above how I'm really hesitant to actually call the cops, but maybe if we put it in the way you said above, that would work on its own.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. And my sympathy/empathy/etc to all of you who are dealing with this same crap. It really sucks. I'm the first one to call myself out for complaining about first world problems but this truly truly sucks!!!!!!! I get so tense every time those fucking dogs start their barking and I never know when it's going to stop. And while both neighbors have said (thinking they are being so generous of spirit) that we should just feel free to come over and tell them if the dogs are too loud, they don't seem to understand it's not my responsibility to police them. Argh!!!!