Hi there, I have just received a letter form the council to say they have received a complaint from my neighbour about my dog barking 24/7 (which is a complete lie)!!!

Wanted some advice from anyone who has encountered this problem please?

Give you breif backgorund about my 1yr old miniture Poodle.

He does not bark after 9pm unless soemthing disturbs his sleep i.e. police sirens etc then it is a short sharp yap & back to sleep. He does not bark when he wakes up, just jumps up on bed and paws you. We then take him our for an ealy morning walk to the park. We dont let him out in the back garden in the morning just in case he does bark and wakes the neighbours!!! He does not go out after 9pm apart from a quick night widdle but then he is on lead & with us outside, again no barking.

He is not left alone during the day as always someone with him, so we know his actions. He gets taken out for a lunchtime walk & then sleeps a little during the afternoon. He will have a yap when we come in from school/work which can last for a little bit but that is more to do with him being excited to see us & wanting to play...but again it is not prolong periods of barking.

Have told the council to come round unanounced at various times of the day to see what they hear??

Are we at risk of being fined? or worse case, having him taken of us? Is there anything legally we can do?

Cheers

I have looked on my local councils web site & found the following which advises what steps will be taken if a complaint is logged:

"Brief details are given here of the investigation procedure when a noise nuisance is reported.

When a complaint is received, the details are logged onto a database and given a unique reference number.
A member of the Environmental Protection team will make an initial response to the customer within three working days. This will be by letter, telephone or in person.
Diary sheets and guidance notes will be issued to the customer to complete and return within seven to ten days.
If no response is received from the customer within twenty eight days, the case will be closed.
If diary sheets are returned, an Environmental Protection officer will analyse them.
If there is evidence of a possible nuisance, the investigating officer will either visit the person responsible for the noise, install a noise recording machine (DAT) or will send a warning letter.
If the problem continues and the nuisance is witnessed by a North Hertfordshire District Council officer, an abatement notice will be served. An abatement notice is a form of protection which can be used by local authorities in seeking to achieve a speedy remedy for an alleged nuisance.
Contravention of an abatement notice could lead to a fine or the equipment being seized."

Are there any other dogs in the neighbourhood that your neighbour may be confusing with your dog?
Is this a personal issue? Have you had any problems before?
Are you really sure that your dog isn't barking more than you think? (Sorry but you have to be sure)
I would also start keeping a diary of events relating to your dog or noticing if there are any triggers that set the barking off.
I really don't think that you have anything to worry about if it is only to odd bark. If you have neighbours then you can't expect them to be silent, you have to except a bit of noise. Just make sure that you look at your councils website, don't be too confrontational when you speak to them, appear willing to get this resolved & I'm sure it will be fine

I would start keeping a log of your where abouts with the dog, including when you are out for how long etc, once in is he barks time it and log it and also put the reason behind the barking, ie: police siren, excitement to see us back, etc.

When you live him, do record for the duration of you being out and the dog left alone. This is very important as this is where some time neighbours cause the dog to bark in the first place so they can call out the wardens to witness the nuisance.

Some councils are different then others, but the general guidance and procedure should be the same, like warning /final warning etc. Having said that only a few weeks ago some one from this forum has had to re-home her dog has she was landed with an abatement order or court. She didn't stand a chance of working on her dog's SA as the notice was final and had no choice but re-homing. She received no warning prior. So be very careful!

Also find out who complained and put a face on and go round with your best puppy eyes on to offer an apology and ask exactly when they hear your dog barking as it is news to you and it might have been a different dog as in you want to cooperate to resolve this, but try not to admit to too much... Avoid any confrontation.

Clearly of it turns up your dog does bark, then you need to resolve this.

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Keep your own log as suggested, the complainant will be asked to keep theirs and then the council will put monitoring equipment in place at the complainants address.
I know this because I made a complaint to my council about a neighbour (noisy parties on a regular basis).
If you know for a fact that your dog does not bark excessively then you have nothing to worry about

Hi there, I'm new here and have just come across your post. I know how you're feeling, I received a letter going back about 4 years ago now, saying that my neighbour had made a complaint about my dog barking all the time whilst I'm out, I didn't know he was doing this and I went round to the neighbours house to apologize and told him I would do all I could to sort the problem out. I had the dog warden round for some advice. She explained to me that as long as I was doing my best to minimise the barking and that it wasn't unsocialble hours(which it wasn't), then everything would be ok. Well, I did try my hardest and had a behavourist out and the vet put him on medication for his anxiety, I did keep going round to the neighbour to see if there were any improvements which he said sometimes he didn't bark much. Then on one occasion he got very confrontational with me when I returned home from being out shopping for 2 hours , he came right up to my face when I had my little girl in my arms and started ranting and raving, it was so frightening! To cut a long story short, I became scared to go out just in case my dog was barking and I became really down about it all. We did end up moving, not because of him. We explained to our new neighbours from day one, the problems we had had with our dog and told them that we were continually working to help him with his problems. Fortunately, we live in a semi detached now and the neighbours next to us are animal lovers and are very understanding. We have another dog too now, who we've had almost three years and although our other dog still occasionally barks when we're out, he's much better and we try to be considerate and not leave them for long periods of time or at night. I hope you get things sorted with your neighbour but try not to worry too much. x

Hi

First thing you need to do is to find out procedure for a barking complaint. You needn't say it is your dog, just ring up and ask what the councils procedure is.

Every council is different and also who deals with the complaints are different. It could be the Dog Warden, or it may be an Environmental Health Officer (EHO).

Usually, after receiving a complaint the Council will write to the alleged offender (this is standard procedure), informing them that a complaint has been received. What happens next depends on your individual authority. Some councils as the complainant to keep a log of noise and will look at it to ascertain if there could be a nuisance. Sometimes someone from the Council will monitor the noise themselves to see if it constitutes a noise nuisance. What is a nuisance can vary from person to person, so the guidelines laid out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (do a seach for noise nusiance). Basically it is expected to be a nuisance if the noise is prolonged and/or between the hours of 11pm - 7.00am. Of course, what constitutes a nuisance is different from person to person.

If the EHO or Dog Warden witnesses the noise, they can go to the Magistrates and ask for a Noise Abatement Notice to be served, which basically says the noise must cease. If not, then you could face a fine.

As I said before, each Council is different, so find out what yours does. If the Dog Warden deals with it, then speak to them (again helpfulness will depend on one Dog Warden to another), lets hope you have a good Dog Warden - what area are you in? A good Dog Warden will give you advice on how to deal with it.

In the meantime, keep your own record of whenever you are out and the dog is alone - this could be useful if you are accused of your dog barking at certain times. Maybe set up a video recorder to monitor if your dog is stressed. It can be a good idea to approach neighbours, saying that you have been told your dog is barking and although were not aware of it, you will be taking the appropriate steps and would welcome their help in letting you know if and at what times your dog is heard. This will depend on how well you get on with your neighbours though!!

Also, think about what you can practically do for your dog, could it be separation Anxiety? If so, do some work on that. Maybe your dog is hearing things outside and is reactive? Try and desensitise to the sounds that set him off - or leave a radio/TV on in the house. Is your dog barking as it can see other dogs/people? Think about where you leave your dog, close blinds/stop the dog getting into a window.

Everyone has to leave a dog sometime, whether it be to pop to the shops for an hour or so, or go out in the evening, could it be on these occassions your dog is continually barking?

It is always shocking to find that someone may not like your dog as much as you, and it is never pleasant to think that a neighbour couldn't approach your directly if they had a problem, but believe me, it is more common than you think. Don't ignore these initial contacts, do something about it now, as you may have to prove your dog doesn't bark and that is not as easy as you may think, so get your evidence together and speak to the Council.

Best of luck and I hope it gets sorted.

Kate

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Just because I can't talk, doesn't mean you can't understand me

hi,

my neighbour has made a complaint to the council saying my dog barks alot(which is not the case). my dog only barks when he hears police sirens, or any unknown noises from the other gardens.

the council tried contacting me only once which i wasnt at home, the next day i received a letter stating that she tried calling me but i wasnt home which means i am leaving my dog unattended. she only called once and how can she be sure that i am leaving my dog as if it is for 24 hours?

on the letter she is giving me one day notice to get my dog out of the property because the nieghbour made her listen to the dog barking over the phone...how can she be sure that it was my dog barking? how could it be proved?

she also states i had to ask for written permission before owning a dog which i didnt know about. i am sending my dog to my friends for 2 weeks and will call to speak to council on monday and see what will happen.

but i found it very unfair the way she didnt even listen and came to conclusion that my dog was barking over the phone and also giving only 1 day notice for my dog to leave the premises.

can anyone give me any advice please.

Moose's dad barks rather loudly. Now, before the owner got him, nextdoor to her on one side was always being burgled. Since they have had the dad no burgalries. But, now the neighbours both sides are complaining that he barks too much!

Some people are so child like when a dog doesn't bark hardly ever, and when they do, thats it their precious peace is broken. Lets go and complain!

I wouldn't worry too much over it chick, sounds like you have a neurotic neighbour who may have something against dogs making a bit of noise.

That is appalling! If I were you I would be taking legal advice about your situation, because the neighbour could have been playing a tape over the phone for all this stupid woman knows.

As to the original poster, if you know for certain it is not your dog, you have nothing to worry about. As advised, keep a detailed log, even set up a video camera so that you have proof. It could be anyone's dog they can hear, but because yours is the only one they can see it must be yours.

When my daughter was away, she gave her neighbour my phone number in case her little ckc started yapping, because he did do that a lot. Her son was home, but at work during the day. One day I get a phone call from her neighbour saying that Max was barking constantly. How long has this been going on? Two weeks! Well, they had the bloody phone number, why didn't they phone earlier? And no, they hadn't mentioned it to my grandson. Of course, he was seventeen and they didn't bother trying to find out if he was going to be reasonable, just assumed he wouldn't be. Of course, I immediately went and brought the dog home with me. Why can't people talk to you first before complaining to the council?

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