Reply to Dog barking at 530am

Forum Index » Real Estate

Reply to "Dog barking at 530am"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I dealt with egregious dog barking a few years back in lower MoCo - it is the only time that I have ever complained to a neighbor about anything. For context, we are talking about 12,000 sq. ft. lots / ~500 discernable barks per hour often in the 85-100db range at literally all hours of day and night. A few hard-won lessons that might be useful (YMMV):

1. Contrary to some previous posters, I do recommend talking to your neighbor in person. The first step is to make sure that the neighbor understands that the barking is a significant nuisance that is impacting your life. People [i]really[/i] love their dogs (I love dogs too!) -- and they sometimes develop sincere (if ridiculous) blind spots or tell themselves stories about how it's not that bad. Conversation #1 should establish that the barking is heard and it [u]is[/u] that bad. If you walk away from that conversation having had a constructive, human exchange where you have conveyed those points, you have given yourself a chance at success here. In your case, I would also track down the landlord and bring them up to speed -- assume that the landlord is an ally until/unless you learn otherwise.

2. Conversation #2 should come literally the next time you get early, late, or truly incessant barking. If you are able to stay cordial but firm, you can use this conversation to provide real time substantiation in support of Conversation #1 and make it clear that you aren't going away until the barking does. In my case, Conversation #2 occurred at 6:25am on a Sunday while the dogs continued to bark in the background. You don't need feelings in that spot -- jut facts! Again, let the landlord know that this conversation happened.

3. If there is appreciable improvement after steps 1/2, reward them with some leeway if possible. If there is no appreciable improvement or if any improvement turns out to be short-lived, learn your local noise ordinance and start taking advantage of its remedies. They will be imperfect, but they can be effective. In my own case, I called in a nuisance noise complaint whenever the dogs barked after 11pm or before 7am. This will very likely trigger a site visit/welfare check. This may anger your neighbor, but it will also reinforce that you aren't going to drop it. Stay with it -- the dog owner might dismiss one or two visits as you just venting, but if you persist, you may be able to overcome the dog owner's inertia/apathy.

4. If steps 1-3 fail, invest in and properly mount a high-quality long-range barking silencer and position it as close to the dogs as possible.

Good luck!

[/quote]

Thank you for taking the time to write this all out.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics