Our neighbors keep their dog outside all night. Her run is right near our bedroom window and her barks wake us up at all hours of the night. A few nights ago, after a terrible nights sleep, I politely asked if they could keep her in at night. The response: I would if we had somewhere to put her! What's that supposed to mean? They don't keep her outside in the winter when the temperature is -35C. The next night we didn't hear the dog at all so when I saw her in the yard I thanked her for keeping the dog in. She said, "We didn't keep her in." The following night at 3:19am the dog woke us up and last night at 12:30am and again at 5:15am the dog woke us up. I don't know what I should do next. I don't really want to call the town (not even sure if there is anyone to call) because that creates permanent neighbor problems but we also can't continue on like this either.

Suggestions?

By Mommierenee on Friday, July 9, 2004 - 12:55 pm:

Tell her that your children are being kept awake at night (if you have young children) & they're having problems at school. If you don't have young children, just try one more time toalking to her & tell her you are not getting any sleep at night & then call someone. Have you seen the spray that you can use to seter dogs? You can spray that around your windows?

By Coopaveryben on Friday, July 9, 2004 - 01:15 pm:

You could start calling her house everytime the dog wakes you up and just tell them how long he has been barking and if they could please get him to stop.

Some night the our dog will bark (luckily he is under our bedroom window)and if I tell him to be quiet he will stop right away.

By Sunny on Friday, July 9, 2004 - 01:28 pm:

Barking dog FAQ

I found this. Hope it helps!

By Emily7 on Friday, July 9, 2004 - 06:35 pm:

Open your window & get after the dog. I would ask where she is kept in the winter.

By Yjja123 on Friday, July 9, 2004 - 06:40 pm:

I would call the police and have them enforce the noise laws. I doubt asking them to bring the dog in will help. There are noise laws in all cities and states let the police handle it. I believe they give a warning first and then a fine if it continues. Why people get animals and leave them outside I will never understand!
Good luck!

By Truestori on Friday, July 9, 2004 - 09:01 pm:

I would politely go over one more time and explain that the dog is keeping you and your children awake.

Maybe they could kennel their dog inside at night, that way it will only bark and disturb them...

Some people are soooo very rude!

If that doesn't work, I would defintly call the police and complain.

By Bellajoe on Friday, July 9, 2004 - 09:12 pm:

I agree with Chrissy. Call their house everytime the dog wakes you up...12:30, 3 am, etc. Once they start getting woken up they will make the dog be quiet.

How rude of them! I wouldn't hesitate to call the police and have them enforce the noise ordinance. Your neighbor is already causing a problem by not bringing the dog inside after you asked nicely.

If she says that there is no where to put the dog inside, ask where they put the dog in the winter time? and good luck!

By Ginny~moderator on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 02:59 am:

I remember I once had a neighbor who lived on the third floor - we lived on the second floor. They let their cat out at night and it would often sit on our bedroom window (next to the back porch so easy to reach) and wail, calling to our cat. The neighbor insisted that the cat needed to go out at night, and they slept in the front bedroom. So I did as Chrissy suggests, started calling them every time, saying - your cat is outside my window and woke me up, please call it in. It took about two weeks and they stopped letting the cat out at night.

On the other hand, these were basically nice people who just had the not uncommon idea that cats need to roam. Hope your neighbors are also basically nice. I can't imagine leaving an animal out at night, summer or not.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 03:44 pm:

A couple of times, in the 4 short years that we had Honey, she was put outside for her last run and someone forgot about her. One time it was me. One time, she woke up my daughter who went back to sleep and forgot. She stuck around and was very glad to get in, in the morning. Those nights, it only got down to 50, so possibly in the fall. She survived, but, not really my intention to make her sleep outside! LOL!

She liked sleeping on Gary's side of the bed and there's only about 2-3 feet of space leftover. I think that was her "den" She would run there when she got in, as if the big outdoors was just too big and she needed a small place in which to regroup! LOL! So far that hasn't happened to Jasmine!

Fortunately, my neighbor's dog, Buddy is very quiet, since he is outside all the time. 2 years ago when he was being introduced to his kennel after having been inside, he barked a lot. That didn't last forever, though.