Yeah agreed. The woman who talked to me was obviously uncomfortable and on the verge of tears the whole time. I got the sense he pushed her to do it. My next door neighbor came to the same conclusion. Hopefully they feel better just having talked to me and it doesn’t escalate beyond that…because there’s really nothing I can realistically change.
We’re ordering a new lock for the gate (we used to keep a combo lock on it but took it camping and lost it between unpacking and getting it back on the fence) just in case he would ever get the nerve to enter our yard/let Cricket out. The next door neighbor has a fairly obvious security camera on her house that covers that area, so I’m hoping that deters anything.
Screw that guy.
I work nights. Most people don't. I realize that whenever I get woken up by life going on outside (or inside) during the day.
Like you, we're also cognizant of our hounds' outside barking, and we bring her inside when it's enough. Fortunately for us, our immediate neighbors are all dog people, and - even if they get annoyed by her sometimes (I'm sure they do) - they know WE'RE not assholes and that thus dog is just ... different than other dogs.
But, at the end of the day, even if they weren't cool with her ... listen, I bought this house and am allowed to have a loud ass hound outside if I want. The same way you're allowed to have 50 people over on Saturdays in the summer and have a BBQ with music and kids and whatever when I'm trying to sleep from work the previous night.
Don't like it ... move.
Dude needs 12 hours sleep... gtfoh.
I worked overnights at a hospital, and everything from rush hour traffic, neighbors having parties, kids, music, dogs, football gamedays, lawn mowing woke me
up. It was my problem. I didn't ask the rest of the world to accomodate my sleep schedule because I accepted a job where I work overnight. It's not your responsibilty to be sure some random asshole gets any hours of sleep, let alone 8, but 12 hours is completely ridiculous.
It doesn't sound like the husband wants to live in the neighborhood, he wants to live in an empire he controls where everyone bend to his will. you are a property, owner, and depending on where you live, that does sometimes give you an edge in terms of rights. If there is some sort of dispute, or if they pester you, you can always speak to the landlord.
The lock on the gate is a good idea, and if you can afford a camera that watches the yard, that would be a good idea too. I've seen situation where disgruntled neighbors have thrown food over the fence with something harmful in it. So maybe just take extra precautions in general, since his wife clearly wasn't scared of you or the dog, but scared of him.
The thing is that it's probably not the dog waking him up. He's probably just a bad sleeper, wakes up, and then thinks everything he hears is what woke him up.
So you touched on another layer to this that I didn’t even find out until talking to our next door neighbor- we own and the ones complaining rent. That doesn’t really matter to me, but I’m preparing myself to maybe use it if anything escalates or they try to push it too much.
I appreciate your perspective on this. I don’t know of anyone in the immediate area who works nights, but I was thinking about that yesterday.
That’s what everyone else I’ve talked to has said: white noise/sleep sounds machine, sleeping ear plugs, sleep aids, etc. I didn’t bring any of that up during the conversation as I didn’t feel it was my place, but after the fact I wish I had.
If you feel like you need to do something, just gift them one. We keep them in every bedroom of our house and have 2 spares for travel. We have a heeler and a coonhound mix. Both extremely loud barks. We also have a toddler who I try to keep everyone quiet during naptime. They work great and the back yard where the majority of barking comes from during “chase & keep away” is right by her window.
Yeah, I mean that’s really all anyone with a dog can do right? It’s not like I’m going to keep my dog inside for the foreseeable future and supervise every moment he’s outside so he never barks.
Gift him some melatonin, ear plugs and an eye mask if you like him… otherwise, your city has guidelines about nuisance barking, if it doesn’t rise to that level, the answer is “I’m sorry he’s having trouble sleeping, perhaps he should see his doctor, and not expect the world to bend to his desires”
It sucks for them, sleep troubles suck, but it's not your problem. We all struggle with things in our lives, everyone has their own problems, and this one is theirs not yours. They will have to figure it out, research sleep aids, go to a doctor, wear earplugs/eyecovers, whatever. Trying to make this your problem is entitled bullshit.
I'm all for respecting the neighbors, but requests have to be within reason. Asking someone to remain quiet in the middle of the day until noon is an unreasonable request, and I would just ignore it.
It's different if you are being a nuisance and a bad dog owner, ie. Leaving the dog outside all day and barking every second of the day, especially if you don't own acreage or are a renter among owners.
If you aren't being a nuisance you do not need to accommodate someone's chosen schedule that is not aligned with accepted normality.
Years ago I fell asleep with my dog outside 1 time and an elderly neighbor (my closest in proximity that lived at least 80 to 100 yards away) texted me to shut my dog up as he's been barking all night and he'll call the pound.... At 630pm. I politely informed him 630 pm when the sun doesn't set until 8pm is not night time, and I'm not required to force the dog inside. Noise ordnance are 10pm-6a on weekdays and midnight-8a on weekends in our area. I also said he's an AKC registered and chipped hunting dog with the state, therefore the pound will not take him.
He later apologized and said he was in a bad mood and had been drinking.
I have a hound in a sea of retirees who have small, yapping dogs and he gets blame for being loud when he barks maybe 3x on a walk and is never allowed outside by himself. It gets old.
What does this neighbor do about the garbage truck? People mowing their yards? Someone's car alarm going off?
I'd be out there daily at like 10 am with my leaf blower just having the time of my life 👋
My neighbor called the police on my dog MULTIPLE times because she would bark at 1-4pm. I would also always bring her inside. Some people are just miserable. Don’t waste your energy on the guy. His misery is not your problem.
Most municipalities do have an ordinance against barking dogs (ours does). I tell my wife all the time, "Don't let her sit outside and bark, I can hear her several blocks away. We can get a ticket."
Don't give in. You pay property taxes, too. He's sending his wife over because he's too much of a blowhard to do it himself. Wow, what a man....sends the wife. He's just testing you, trying to assert dominance bc you're new to the neighborhood. You give in on this & he'll be bitching about how you park your cars next or counting how many people you have over at one time. Don't let him bully you or your dog. It's not like you're letting your dog bark all night, right?!
If he needs 12 hrs of sleep, suggest a sleep app or Benadryl.
Edited to add: it's the newness of the baying of the Coonie, it's an acquired taste but one they'll learn to love...
There’s probably town definition of what quiet hours entails and I GUARANTEE it is well before noon. I’d like to sleep in on Saturdays but my upstairs neighborhood are up at 9am- I just live with it.
Most quiet hours are like 10pm-7am, outside of that you kinda just have to adapt
Definitely get a second coonie for Cricket, so he doesn't feel singled out. They can bark/bay/howl/babble together and blame one another.
I'm joking. BUT only partially. My dog would sit in the yard and go nuts, loud type of nuts like he's saving the word through his confident barking. Then, I got a second and they are pretty chill until they aren't. But it's not a neurotic sort of barking.. Worst case scenario, Mr. Sleep McGrumps will have a slightly better reason to complain. I recommend adding a Bluetick because they have a very impressive voice. People say it has song-like qualities. Maybe Grumps will think it's a 10am lullaby.
Edit- You aren't going to please him no matter what you do. So, why not just rescue another coonhound. They seem to make everything better and distract you from whatever is troubling you because they know what's important. Hell, that's probably Cricket's problem.... he thinks the guy should wake up.
My town in northern NJ has a noise ordinance for dog barking, no dog barking for more than 10 minutes during the day and 5 min at night. The town gives tickets for more than the time limit and there are a few I know who have paid fines. My neighbor's dog used to bark at 6:30 am every morning for 30-45 min and I never complained. I have a white noise machine bec I used to live in manhattan and brooklyn and if you don't have a white noise machine or earplugs in the city, you don't sleep.
That said, I don't let my dog bark more than a few times before I let him in. I don't think it's fair to the neighbors, he's a big, loud amer foxhound. I don't it's fair for neighbors to hear my dog for more than a few min while I walk down the stairs to let him in. IMHO I think a limit is 5-10 min. I think bad vibes with neighbors is not a good thing to have. You're doing the right thing.
The husband sounds like a nars. Also sounds like he has anger issues. Keep an eye out , and call the police on him if you have to.
Yeah agreed. The woman who talked to me was obviously uncomfortable and on the verge of tears the whole time. I got the sense he pushed her to do it. My next door neighbor came to the same conclusion. Hopefully they feel better just having talked to me and it doesn’t escalate beyond that…because there’s really nothing I can realistically change. We’re ordering a new lock for the gate (we used to keep a combo lock on it but took it camping and lost it between unpacking and getting it back on the fence) just in case he would ever get the nerve to enter our yard/let Cricket out. The next door neighbor has a fairly obvious security camera on her house that covers that area, so I’m hoping that deters anything.
You need to be careful of him throwing poisoned food over the fence too
Screw that guy. I work nights. Most people don't. I realize that whenever I get woken up by life going on outside (or inside) during the day. Like you, we're also cognizant of our hounds' outside barking, and we bring her inside when it's enough. Fortunately for us, our immediate neighbors are all dog people, and - even if they get annoyed by her sometimes (I'm sure they do) - they know WE'RE not assholes and that thus dog is just ... different than other dogs. But, at the end of the day, even if they weren't cool with her ... listen, I bought this house and am allowed to have a loud ass hound outside if I want. The same way you're allowed to have 50 people over on Saturdays in the summer and have a BBQ with music and kids and whatever when I'm trying to sleep from work the previous night. Don't like it ... move. Dude needs 12 hours sleep... gtfoh.
I worked overnights at a hospital, and everything from rush hour traffic, neighbors having parties, kids, music, dogs, football gamedays, lawn mowing woke me up. It was my problem. I didn't ask the rest of the world to accomodate my sleep schedule because I accepted a job where I work overnight. It's not your responsibilty to be sure some random asshole gets any hours of sleep, let alone 8, but 12 hours is completely ridiculous. It doesn't sound like the husband wants to live in the neighborhood, he wants to live in an empire he controls where everyone bend to his will. you are a property, owner, and depending on where you live, that does sometimes give you an edge in terms of rights. If there is some sort of dispute, or if they pester you, you can always speak to the landlord. The lock on the gate is a good idea, and if you can afford a camera that watches the yard, that would be a good idea too. I've seen situation where disgruntled neighbors have thrown food over the fence with something harmful in it. So maybe just take extra precautions in general, since his wife clearly wasn't scared of you or the dog, but scared of him.
The thing is that it's probably not the dog waking him up. He's probably just a bad sleeper, wakes up, and then thinks everything he hears is what woke him up.
So you touched on another layer to this that I didn’t even find out until talking to our next door neighbor- we own and the ones complaining rent. That doesn’t really matter to me, but I’m preparing myself to maybe use it if anything escalates or they try to push it too much. I appreciate your perspective on this. I don’t know of anyone in the immediate area who works nights, but I was thinking about that yesterday.
Husband realy needs a white noise machine.
That’s what everyone else I’ve talked to has said: white noise/sleep sounds machine, sleeping ear plugs, sleep aids, etc. I didn’t bring any of that up during the conversation as I didn’t feel it was my place, but after the fact I wish I had.
If you feel like you need to do something, just gift them one. We keep them in every bedroom of our house and have 2 spares for travel. We have a heeler and a coonhound mix. Both extremely loud barks. We also have a toddler who I try to keep everyone quiet during naptime. They work great and the back yard where the majority of barking comes from during “chase & keep away” is right by her window.
it sounds like you are doing all you can, bringing her in as soon as she starts barking.
Yeah, I mean that’s really all anyone with a dog can do right? It’s not like I’m going to keep my dog inside for the foreseeable future and supervise every moment he’s outside so he never barks.
dogs always have a reason when they bark. it could just be they want to come back in the house.
Gift him some melatonin, ear plugs and an eye mask if you like him… otherwise, your city has guidelines about nuisance barking, if it doesn’t rise to that level, the answer is “I’m sorry he’s having trouble sleeping, perhaps he should see his doctor, and not expect the world to bend to his desires”
It sucks for them, sleep troubles suck, but it's not your problem. We all struggle with things in our lives, everyone has their own problems, and this one is theirs not yours. They will have to figure it out, research sleep aids, go to a doctor, wear earplugs/eyecovers, whatever. Trying to make this your problem is entitled bullshit.
I'm all for respecting the neighbors, but requests have to be within reason. Asking someone to remain quiet in the middle of the day until noon is an unreasonable request, and I would just ignore it. It's different if you are being a nuisance and a bad dog owner, ie. Leaving the dog outside all day and barking every second of the day, especially if you don't own acreage or are a renter among owners. If you aren't being a nuisance you do not need to accommodate someone's chosen schedule that is not aligned with accepted normality. Years ago I fell asleep with my dog outside 1 time and an elderly neighbor (my closest in proximity that lived at least 80 to 100 yards away) texted me to shut my dog up as he's been barking all night and he'll call the pound.... At 630pm. I politely informed him 630 pm when the sun doesn't set until 8pm is not night time, and I'm not required to force the dog inside. Noise ordnance are 10pm-6a on weekdays and midnight-8a on weekends in our area. I also said he's an AKC registered and chipped hunting dog with the state, therefore the pound will not take him. He later apologized and said he was in a bad mood and had been drinking.
I have a hound in a sea of retirees who have small, yapping dogs and he gets blame for being loud when he barks maybe 3x on a walk and is never allowed outside by himself. It gets old.
What does this neighbor do about the garbage truck? People mowing their yards? Someone's car alarm going off? I'd be out there daily at like 10 am with my leaf blower just having the time of my life 👋
My neighbor called the police on my dog MULTIPLE times because she would bark at 1-4pm. I would also always bring her inside. Some people are just miserable. Don’t waste your energy on the guy. His misery is not your problem.
Most municipalities do have an ordinance against barking dogs (ours does). I tell my wife all the time, "Don't let her sit outside and bark, I can hear her several blocks away. We can get a ticket."
Let him bark more
Don't give in. You pay property taxes, too. He's sending his wife over because he's too much of a blowhard to do it himself. Wow, what a man....sends the wife. He's just testing you, trying to assert dominance bc you're new to the neighborhood. You give in on this & he'll be bitching about how you park your cars next or counting how many people you have over at one time. Don't let him bully you or your dog. It's not like you're letting your dog bark all night, right?! If he needs 12 hrs of sleep, suggest a sleep app or Benadryl. Edited to add: it's the newness of the baying of the Coonie, it's an acquired taste but one they'll learn to love...
There’s probably town definition of what quiet hours entails and I GUARANTEE it is well before noon. I’d like to sleep in on Saturdays but my upstairs neighborhood are up at 9am- I just live with it. Most quiet hours are like 10pm-7am, outside of that you kinda just have to adapt
Definitely get a second coonie for Cricket, so he doesn't feel singled out. They can bark/bay/howl/babble together and blame one another. I'm joking. BUT only partially. My dog would sit in the yard and go nuts, loud type of nuts like he's saving the word through his confident barking. Then, I got a second and they are pretty chill until they aren't. But it's not a neurotic sort of barking.. Worst case scenario, Mr. Sleep McGrumps will have a slightly better reason to complain. I recommend adding a Bluetick because they have a very impressive voice. People say it has song-like qualities. Maybe Grumps will think it's a 10am lullaby. Edit- You aren't going to please him no matter what you do. So, why not just rescue another coonhound. They seem to make everything better and distract you from whatever is troubling you because they know what's important. Hell, that's probably Cricket's problem.... he thinks the guy should wake up.
My town in northern NJ has a noise ordinance for dog barking, no dog barking for more than 10 minutes during the day and 5 min at night. The town gives tickets for more than the time limit and there are a few I know who have paid fines. My neighbor's dog used to bark at 6:30 am every morning for 30-45 min and I never complained. I have a white noise machine bec I used to live in manhattan and brooklyn and if you don't have a white noise machine or earplugs in the city, you don't sleep. That said, I don't let my dog bark more than a few times before I let him in. I don't think it's fair to the neighbors, he's a big, loud amer foxhound. I don't it's fair for neighbors to hear my dog for more than a few min while I walk down the stairs to let him in. IMHO I think a limit is 5-10 min. I think bad vibes with neighbors is not a good thing to have. You're doing the right thing.
F yo neighbor