This has been an ongoing problem for about a year and I’m now starting to loose patients not to mention sleep and sanity. Next door has 4 terrier dogs that bark for long periods of time. This occurs every day from 7am-9am and during the evenings, sometime until 1am. They bark at the slightest of sound which I don’t really mind but then continue to bark for several hours.

Talked to the neighbour several times but if very hard to deal with and accuses our dog of doing the same (this is not true). Neighbour has been convicted of gun crimes (threatening people etc) so reluctant to be aggressive towards him.

What can we do to ease the problem with causing. Obviously the local council is an option but how effective are they?

Sounds like a nightmare.

Are they outside, in a yard?

Only thing I can think of is to do some guerilla training. Say the word ‘quiet’, then chuck a treat over the fence when they go quieter. Just like training your own dog. A clicker would probably help.

Yes you’ll be feeding someone else’s dogs, but it would be quite satisfying to have control where your neighbour does not.

But I don’t know how trainable terriers are, I’ve never had one.

Yes they are outside in a yard.

Neighbour has been convicted of gun crimes (threatening people etc)

I wouldn’t go chucking treats over the fence, maybe speak to a local pcso, or as you said the council, good luck, sounds tricky.

Not sure if these devices work or not

http://www.bestpestcontrol.co.uk/stop-dog-barking–bark-stopper-for-outside-use-14-p.asp

We’re fortunate that our neighbours dogs stop fairly quickly, it’s a shame the neighbours are so noisy themselves! 2AM nip to the loo? Slam every door you can. Want to do DIY AND go to the pub? Sure, just do the DIY at 1:30am.

Neighbour has been convicted of gun crimes

Move?

dog whistle + compressed air, prolonged blast whenever the barking starts. They’ll have killed their owners or themselves within a matter of days.

We had similar problem but not just barking, they were shitting on the neighbours back yard and they weren’t cleaning it up,tried talking to the neighbour but only got abuse. We contacted the local council and they sent a log to record all the times and dates over a period of time, they then contacted us and came out to hear and smell it for themselves. They then contacted said neighbour and told them to sort it or they would be summonsed.
Only trouble was it would stop for a while and then start up again and we had to go through the whole procedure again.
Its also worth talking to the neigbour on the other side (if possible) and getting them to complain as well.
It finally stopped for us as the council made a visit and found the yard and the kitchen in a terrible state and i think they were threatened with court.
After that she got rid of all but one dog and that never barks.
Hope you get it sorted and you have my sympathies but the council worked for us

We had drug dealers move in next door with dogs that barked and whined all night. The bloke had just come out from a 10 year stretch for armed robbery (attacking remote houses at night) so we didn’t want to upset him. We took tranquillisers until we were able to sell the house, six months after they arrived. It was re-sold four times in the subsequent seven years.

Have a look at a website called Neighbours From Hell in Britain for some practical advice.

I think this is infringing your rights to peaceful enjoyment and a quick call to the council noise department should be your next port of call if the neighbour won’t sort it at your request.

My local council were very helpful, they took it very seriously. They came round, left a audio recorder, they returned to listened to the evidence, they then paid a visit to the neighbour, barking stopped, they left the recorder just in case it started again, then the neighbour moved.

I can understand your frustrations, I was even accused of being noise sensitive. We had a dog in the neighbourhood that would bark non-stop from 9pm until 4am. It was rarely walked and it was bored. We kept a diary for a few weeks then we went to the council as we could narrow down the house but not the actual house. After badgering them and seeing another diary they asked us to keep, they went round to the houses. Since this visit although the dog owners said their dogs were not the only barkers they became aware that someone had complained. We told the council that next time they kept us awake we would go and wake them up when we left for work MrPP was leaving at just after 5am then. I was told they understood my frustrations but I could not do that. In the nuisance diary under the “how does it make you feel column” I would put things like “I want to kill the owners then the dogs” I think this might have speeded up the process but I was being honest sleep deprivation does not leave me the happy little sole that I usually am.

Noise control at the council. Your only option if reasonable discourse isn’t working. We had this a couple of years ago. I sympathise fully with your situation – it does start to drive you mad. At least out neighbours weren’t nutcases – but they moved so sanity was restored.

As above, get in touch with the council (environmental health/pollution control/noise)

Even if you are anyway, make a big effort to be polite and ‘act normal’ – offloading your stress on the EH officer will not help your cause.

The council will send a letter to your neighbours describing the problem and the consequences if allowed to continue. This usually suffices but if not you will be asked to keep a diary of the nuisance which will then be used as evidence in court.

Note that this procedure only tends to work with normal law-abiding folk if they are nutters next door it will be like water off a duck’s back.

Good luck.

[troll]we have the same with our neighbours 6 month old twins, crying at all hours generally followed by an argument as to which parent will get up. Shall I call the council as well?[/troll]

Noise control at the council. Your only option if reasonable discourse isn’t working.

This ^^