The Barking nuisance.
By Gary Marsh
@garymarsh6 (24051)
United Kingdom
June 16, 2026 4:44am CST
We have lived in our current house for nearly 30 years in the centre of the town. You can imagine that houses are fairly close together. Our neighbours have ducks, chickens, 7 dogs & 7 cats plus a couple of snakes.
For the past six months we have had to put up with the constant barking of one of their dogs. Every hour every day from 8AM to the latest 1:30 AM they put one of their dogs outside in their garden which barks & yaps until they let it in again.
I was in the garden cutting the grass and the put the dog out again. The neighbour came out & I had to say something as it really is not fair on the other neighbours too.
What annoyed me most was he tried to justify it by saying it only barks when we look over the fence. I told him that was rubbish we do not look over the fence.
Then he said it wasn't his dog it was another neighbours dog. I told him no it was that thing there yapping at your feet.
He then said it only does it once in the morning & late at night before they go to bed. I told him no it is that thing the one you put out on the hour every hour throughout the day.
What annoyed me most which made me see red was that he denied ownership of their problem dog & tried to blame others.
Good news we have now not heard any barking from the dog since Saturday thankfully. Although we heard him barking from their other house 10 doors away which won't be too long before they move into.
I am so pleased l mentioned it to him so hopefully all the neighbours & we can enjoy the summer in our gardens.
What would you have done given the same situation?
13 people like this
14 responses
@Juliaacv (56378)
• Canada
4h
It was wise for you to say something.
Obviously the owner isn't taking good care of the dogs, and needed a reminder.
there is such little respect for anyone else these days, gone are the days when someone wouldn't even think what your neighbour said to you, let alone leave a noisy dog outside to bother the entire neighbourhood, when it really is his concern only and he should tend to it.
4 people like this
@snowy22315 (209160)
• United States
4h
It is very good you said something. I don't like confrontation, but would have called the police for a noise complaint.
3 people like this
@LadyDuck (502807)
• Italy
3h
I am glad, we experienced a very similar situation when the neighbors in front of us moved and rented their home. The people who came to live there had a golden retriever, they let him outside in the morning and the dog barked non stop at every person, bicycle, car of animal that passed near its garden. Well, I told them we were annoyed, they did the same as the owner you described. I finally called the police, they came three days in a row to check if the dog was an annoyance and they solved the problem.
2 people like this
@Ineeddentures (35297)
•
1h
We had this problem too
I took matters into my own hands after two episodes of continual barking in excess of 30 minutes
I ordered this device online which emits a high pitch tone humans cannot hear..
It stops dogs barking.
Amazon delivered it the very next day.
The dog was barking
I went to the fence
I pointed the device at the dog and pressed the button
It sat down on the ground and shut up.
It barked a few times after that but stopped when I pressed the buttone
It does not bark now when it's outside
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (169585)
• United States
38m
I do not know. Maybe call the city if it does not stay quiet. Surely there are some noise ordinances and some rules about how many animals you can have in the city. I live kind of rural and would not want that many pets.
@DaddyEvil (174708)
• United States
1h
I would have called the police and complained about the noise. We have laws here that prohibit noise before 8 am and after 9 pm. That guy would have gotten fines every time I called since it was outside the times that noise is allowed here. He would have been told to get rid of the dog or keep it inside his house so it wouldn't bark and disturb the peace when people expect to be in bed sleeping.
There's nothing we can do about dogs that bark between the hours of 8 am to 9 pm every day.
@xFiacre (14802)
• Ireland
3h
@garymarsh6 I would have agonised first then spoken. Noise is a nasty pollutant. We’re apprehensive about finding out who our new neighbours are going to be. I’m hoping for 2 elderly spinster sisters with cats and no visiting children. Or dogs.
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (91169)
• United States
Just now
That would drive me crazy and I definitely would have said something (nicely at first) Guess it's good they're moving further away
@BACONSTRIPSXXX (18165)
• Torrington, Connecticut
1h
Honestly, I think you handled it pretty reasonably. Six months of constant barking from early morning until after midnight would test anyone’s patience, especially when you’re living close together and just trying to enjoy your own home and garden.
