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We live in a townhome and love it here except this one problem which we initially thought was small but has become big.
Our problem is about one of our neighbors' dog and before explaining anything further, let me assure you that we are not a dog hater, far from it actually (we used to own a dog ourselves).
It's a U shape townhome community and we are right at the cornor - bottom part of U -, and the neighbor is not our adajecent one though our backyard and theirs face each other at about 90 degree angle).
Basically, they raise their dog outside in their small backyard and their only interactions with their dog(my husband works at home, so he pretty much got down their daily routine) are when feeding the dogs/cleaning his house - they do not walk their dog, do not play with their dog, nothing.
The problem is that dog barks a lot of times. I think the dog tries to get attention of his/her owners, cause s/he misses them or wants something, I don't know.... but s/he would bark, howl, growl.....etc. and our neighbor do not do "ANYTHING" about it. Mind you, this is not a small dog either. Now it's gotten so bad to the point, everytime we hear the dog bark
our heart jumps, cause we are just too stressed out!
We went over there to first talk nicely - we were hoping if they could train the dog or if not, bring the dog inside the house like they did in winter time. But when nothing hadn't changed, we complained to them several times, but they simply do not do anything.
Husband works at home a lot of times (more than 50% of times), on the conference call, make important business calls and many times he had to move around the house just so that he wouldn't be disturbed by the dog's barking.
For me, I work long hours, so the last thing I'd like to come home to after a long day is the neighbor's dog barking.
How do we approach this problem???
First of all, is it legal to raise a dog in a backyard of townhome? (I would think so, but just want to run it by experts out there)
And second, would HOA be able to help us and if yes, how?
Thanks for reading and I hope to hear inputs/thoughts/advice from as many of you as possible.
I had an inconsiderate fool just like this living next door to me. Except, the dog didn't come until months after I moved in. What we (a group of us neighbors) did was if the dog was barking at midnight and beyond we went and rang her doorbell many many times. Since we were woken up and had nothing to do, we figured we'll make her suffer a little too. Since talking doesn't work with some people, childish tactics are a much better approach. She finally got the point and brings the dog in during the night now. I'm not in an HOA but I'm sure they should have some kind of noise ordinance.
Yes the HOA would be you best bet, or the police. In all the HOA's communtities I own homes, the rules are the same for pets...not allowed on a leash by them selfs. Some people do and nobody cares unless they are starting to bother the neighbors. I'm a dog lover and own 2 dogs and if I'm outside than my dogs will be on a leash tied to a small pole. If the HOA isn't doing their job by sending a letter to tell the home owner that this isn't allowed (you can add proof, picture of the dog, with time and date, and make several), otherwise you can call the County, because most counties have a ordening that won't allow this and ask them what to do, otherwise call the police and explain the issue and they can talk with the owner or will tell you that this is a HOA issue.
We had a similar thing in our neighborhood and not close to me but I know they neighbors adressed the issue and the owner did change it. Also in another case animal control was called since in FL it is pretty hot to let your dog sit in your yard on a leash....but we were shocked to hear what they said....only in one case the dog had to be in a different place. The dog was all day in a iron crate/cage in the backyard with the burning sun all day...the backyard neighbors called since they couldn't watch it any longer...the dog tried to lift his paws all the time since the iron was burning his paws...the owners were told to move the dog indoors, which they did...to the garage which was over 100 degrees and let the garage door just a little bit open...horrible for us neighbors, but according to animal control..that was allowed. The dog wa taken to a shelter within a couple of weeks after this all happened, since the dog had gotten a skin disease which was very bad and according to one neighbor could be from stress..
ParkerP: Got a great idea from your reply. I haven't talked to other neighbors (esp. their adjacent neighbor) about this issue, and hopefully at least some of them will share it with us and we can together do something about it.
bentlebee: We will be sure to talk to HOA about this. I was horrofied to read the story you shared......innocent animals shouldn't suffer like that under any circumstances. Luckily, our neighbor got their dog a house, so at least s/he has a roof over him/her.
First you need to talk with your HOA folks to see what their general policy is.
If that doesn't get any action, you might consider contacting Animal Control and/or the police (noise complaint). Some organizations and community police are better at controlling these situations than others. I wish people like this wouldn't own animals
Something else you might want to try is to contact the local humane society and tell them exactly what you stated in your OP: the dog is being ignored, not walked, and only has interaction when the owners clean out its house. The poor thing is miserable. I have heard of towns/cities where pet owners are fined for not walking their dogs. These people obviously aren't invested in the poor pooch's welfare. Maybe by alerting the humane society you could solve two problems, yours and the dog's! Good luck.
ParkerP: Got a great idea from your reply. I haven't talked to other neighbors (esp. their adjacent neighbor) about this issue, and hopefully at least some of them will share it with us and we can together do something about it.
bentlebee: We will be sure to talk to HOA about this. I was horrofied to read the story you shared......innocent animals shouldn't suffer like that under any circumstances. Luckily, our neighbor got their dog a house, so at least s/he has a roof over him/her.
Thank you both again!
Don't be surprised if the HOA tells you that they have no control. Usually the HOA can only be involved if the dog is creating a known "nuisance". The question is how can a "nuisance" be proven?
So the best way is to first look to the local ordinances. Some ordinances will allow a complaint to be filed if there are two people observing the nuisance noise. In Gilbert, AZ the police will come out and observe. That is the second person. If the police officer agrees that the dog is creating a nuisance, then the owner can be fined by the city. Also, since the nuisance has been documented by the police through the city ordinance, the HOA can begin a fine process.
Why get a dog and have it live outside? Those people are cruel and heartless - the dog wants to live in the home with his "pack".
If my dog barked for more than 15 minutes most of my neighbors would have called the police - I cant believe you let this go on for so long
Police likely won't do anything. Animal control, maybe...if the conditions are harsh enough to warrant calling them.
Band together with the neighbors, see if they're having issues with it too. If so you collectively may be able to do something.
Worst case, and I don't know legality in your state, but there is a device you can purchase that emits a physically harmless, but annoying (imperceptible to humans) sound. You put it in your backyard and face it towards theirs. That at least can give you some relief during important times like conference calls and the like. Not something I would leave on. Better to get to the root of the problem.
Police likely won't do anything. Animal control, maybe...if the conditions are harsh enough to warrant calling them.
Band together with the neighbors, see if they're having issues with it too. If so you collectively may be able to do something.
Worst case, and I don't know legality in your state, but there is a device you can purchase that emits a physically harmless, but annoying (imperceptible to humans) sound. You put it in your backyard and face it towards theirs. That at least can give you some relief during important times like conference calls and the like. Not something I would leave on. Better to get to the root of the problem.
If there is a barking dog ordinance such as there is in Gilbert, the police will do something. They have to enforce the ordinance. There will be a procedure to follow. So do check your local laws so you know what they are.
Then you can choose any options you wish.
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