i have kind of the opposite problem which is a bit comical. my two current dogs are essentially “angels”. my first dog had separation anxiety and was not. (i still miss her, but she was not easy).
i live near balboa park in a home that has what you might call a half block behind it. this means that my back yard is about 2.5 feet and about the same for my neighbor. i had a great realtor who advised going by at all times of day and night to be sure i was ok living in this area. (i was. i have lived in more cramped quarters before but it was GOOD advice and I carefully considered this before moving here).
about six months ago or so, a new guy moved behind me who HATES dogs. (i have cutesy dog signs in front of my house to be very upfront that my kids are canine as I think no one likes surprises and after one actual break-in and one attempted break-in, the signs seemed like an actual safety item too). note the dogs were not here when the break-ins happened/ were attempted. no one bothers me now that the dogs are here.
so, my new neighbor has passive aggressively slammed doors at me for months every time i make a noise or my dogs do (yo, i got the message). i live alone and work 12 hours a day or more from home so i am pretty damn boring/quiet. last week, he stormed by to threaten to file a complaint. my next door neighbor was appalled by his behavior and offered to sign an affadavit about how quiet my dogs are. (i am SO lucky to have awesome neighbors on all other sides).
so, my dogs bark during the daytime when strangers come by (so, i do my best to make sure no one stops by unannounced) and they bark when my dog hating neighbor works on his house with power tools or when he has other workers crawling around on his roof). um, i dont know many dogs that would not bark in that situation? and, he has people working on his house since moving in. this is totally his right. i would never complain even if the noise is not always convenient for me as we live in close quarters.
so, i have spent thousands (yes, thousands) on dog training (the neighbor is often a topic of discussion), calming dog supplements, calming dog music (yes, they really make these items and they do help), i close doors and windows when he is home, and do everything possible to be a good neighbor. even so, he likes to slam doors in protest if they so much as utter a playful peep.
i have to say, at this point, a little sugar would go a long way. (just for those of you who have neighbors that you would like to send a message to). some of us are willing to be quite cooperative, so maybe try a little sugar before go for the threats.
just talk to us like we are humans and we care. frankly, if this guy was not being such an ass with the slamming doors and the threats, i would try to figure out what his schedule was to see what else i could adjust so we could all be peaceful.
heck, when he first moved in, i let his plumber come into my house like 3 times which was really inconvenient since i work like 12 hour days and such and my dogs are afraid of strangers. interestingly, he did not mind when it was for his benefit….
in San Diego, you are allowed to have up to 5 dogs. I stopped fostering just to try to appease this guy. interetinly, as he was yelling/threatening me last week, he acknowledged that the dogs were much better now. huh??!!?
this kind of negative reinforcement for trying very hard to be a good neighbor kind of makes me want to stop trying. especially, since none of my other neighbors even notice as they never utter a peep during quiet hours…
now, i have lived next to neighbors who just leave dogs outside unattended for days. first, i dont understand how you could do that to your dog. second, that can be a nightmare. my neighbors dogs would howl ALL night long. even in that extreme, i still think talking to the owners first is a good first step. if they don’t take action or try to work with you, i can see taking that to the next level. so, i do empathize with those of you that are in that situation.
so, i guess the point of my unfocused rant is to encourage you to talk to your neighbors first. i think most people are pretty nice and try pretty hard to work with each other. we have rules and codes in place for those people that dont, right?
