Barking Dogs in an apartment

12 years ago

Hi! I'm new to this forum but I would like to vent about my situation with my neighbor. I just moved into a beautiful apartment about a week ago. I love everything about it. Except...my next door neighbors leaves his 2 dogs home alone for several (usually 7-8) hours a day and they bark intermittently for the entire time, sometimes for 15-20 minutes at a time, several times an hour. I'm a full time graduate student and I am home for a large portion of the day and my nerves are shattered.

I didn't want to complain since I was the new neighbor and thought maybe it would quiet down. But it got worse and worse and I eventually called the office to make a complaint. I have lived in several apartment complexes and have tried writing notes to neighbors and it is almost never effective. They gave him a warning, it was quiet for about a day and then for the last few days I heard them barking again. And then today, they barked for the better part of 2 hours. Today, I called the management to complain again and told them I didn't necessarily want to get him in trouble but the barking just needed to stop.

They apparently are going to give him a 2nd more aggressive warning, and she told me if it doesn't stop by next week they will give him a 7 day notice to cure it or move.

I know that barking for hours on end is not reasonable and my complaint is legitimate, but I feel horrible that I may cause someone to have to move. Should I feel bad about this?

Comments (6)

camlan
12 years ago
Should you feel bad about this?

No.

It really doesn't matter that you are living in an apartment. You could be having this same problem if you owned your own house. Only in that case, the owner of the dogs would probably own his house, too, and your resources for dealing with the problem would be much more limited.

It sounds to me as if your complex has strict rules about noise and that the barking breaks those rules. And you have that miracle of miracles, property management that will actually enforce the rules! Count your blessings here.

Dog marking can be loud. It can be annoying. And most likely, these dogs have been disturbing other tenants all along, but for some reason, no one has bothered to go to management with the issue. Or, and you'll never know for sure, it could be that other tenants have complained, and your additional complaint was the key element in getting management to really crack down on this guy.

There are things a dog owner can do--anti-bark collars, more dog toys, dog day care, having someone come over during the day to walk the dogs (tired dogs sleep, not bark). He's got at least two weeks to figure something out--and he did get them to be quiet for a day, so it's possible to do.
Blondie384
Original Author
12 years ago
The property management is fantastic here so that is a miracle you're right. When I've had similar problems at other properties they told me to confront them myself before they could do anything and this place just took care of it.
I suspect since the day they were quiet was a holiday that he was home all day. They are 100% quiet when the owner is there but as soon as he leaves all hell breaks loose. Thank you for the reassurance, I just would feel horrible if he lost his apartment because of me. I hope he fixes the situation so it doesn't have to progress to that level. I guess I'll just wait and see what happens!
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camlan
12 years ago
He's not going to lose the apartment because of you. He will lose the apartment because of the dogs.
kkllb
12 years ago
If you're feeling guilty, you could make a recording of the dogs barking, and maybe keep a log of when/how long they do it. Give it to management so they can prove to the dog's owner that it is a legitimate problem. This way the owner can see that it isn't just someone making a mountain out of a molehill. If the dog's barking, he obviously isn't happy, and if it were my dog, that would bother me. As Camlan said, there are alternatives available to keep the dog happy and occupied.
moonshadow
12 years ago
They are 100% quiet when the owner is there but as soon as he leaves all hell breaks loose. If it were my dogs I'd be unhappy, too. Excessive barking, particularly when the owner is away, can be a sign of distress (anxiety, fear), stress or just plain boredom. There are lots of things the owner can do or try to alleviate the problem, he just needs to get educated about it.
clg7067
12 years ago
Print this out and slip it under the door. It's not inhumane because as soon as the dog understands that it will be shocked, the dog will NOT bark while wearing one of these.

I have used it on my own dog and even with a dead battery in it, she will not bark while wearing it.

Also, this particular model is highly recommended.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bark Limiter