Bl**dy neighbours

My sister is having some real problems with her neighbour.
The problems stem from way back over a number of petty things eg extentions fences etc, which I won't go into, but basically they don't speak. My sister has tried to be reasonable, but there is no reasoning with some people.
Anyway she has now put a complaint into the council about the dog, saying he's too noisy etc. My sister was totally shocked cos it is just not true. He's no worse than a normal dog, he'll bark when someone comes to the door, and occasionally for other noises as most dogs do.
I don't know if anyone remembers but I told you my sister lost her weim in a tragic accident, she'd only had him 13 weeks, he was 18 months old. Not long later they got a 2 year old weim, they had only had him 1 day and night when the neighbour came and complained that he'd barked on and off till 11pm, she moaned and moaned about her husband needing sleep as he's on shifts etc. My sister tried to explain that he was a different dog, and it was his first day, so give him chance to settle in.
My sister told me that he did bark occasionally throughout the evening at anyone who passed or made a noise, but they stopped him straight away everytime, Her husband even stayed downstairs with him all night to settle him in, and to keep him quite.
Anyway after that they were consious of keeping his barking to the minimum, so there is no way he barked excessively.
About 10 days later they got a letter saying a complaint had been made. They knew it had nothing to to with the dog really, it was a vendetta about something else, but what could they do.
They phoned the council and explained they had only just got him, and he only barked as much as any dog, but they were trying to keep it to a minimum, of course they don't no what noise he makes when they are out, but they leave him as little as possible and that he would settle in a few weeks. He seemed reasonable but said keep a diary of dates and times and how long he barks etc. He said the neighbour was doing the same.
They did it for a fortnight but stopped as it seemed so silly, cos he was only barking for seconds a few times a day. Again they don't no when they are out, but when they really have to go where they can't take him, they try their best, they give him a kong, and they stand outside the front door for a few mins just to see how long it is before he stops crying, they have even got another friend in the street to come and listen outside so long later just to make sure he stays quite. As far as they know he's ok.
I'm not just sticking up for my sister, I know her dog is not a noisy problem, I'm round there a lot day and night, and he hardly barks. And everytime he does they stop him straight away. Honestly their life is spoilt worring about keping him quite. I just can't believe it, someone knocks at the door, the dog does the natural thing and barks, I say let him bark, it's what a dog does, but because of them the dog is told no repeatedly, basically getting told off, it's just not fair. If the dog barked as much as he wanted without being told to stop, it still wouldn't be excessive.
Anyway the neighbours diary didn't tally with there's. they had him down as barking a lot more, and wanted to take it further. Apparently someone came round and rigged something up for half an hour, and would you believe it was a day my sister had to leave him for an hour while she went to the hairdresses, He obviously cried on and off the half hour they were rigged up, so they are saying it's classed as excessive, they are going to come again and do it another day and see how he is. Then take it from there, they said they could take them to court. Surely you can't base it on a couple of half hours. I would of thought they would rig something up for a couple of weeks to get some proper proof. My sister is under so much stress because of this, and I don't no what to do to help. Has anyone had problems like this before.
It is really annoying because some people just don't care and their dogs bark constantly and nothing is done about it, and some one who is bothered is at risk of getting her dog took off her. Her poor daughter is devastated about it all.
Anyone got any advice.
Also has anyone got any advice on keeping a dog from crying when you do go out. (just incase he is) They are going to tape him and see for themselves. We know she is making it a lot worse than it is.
Sorry this has got so long, (if you've managed to get this far) but I
just wanted to explain properly.
Thanks for listening.

Mitch

I know they need to keep a diary as proof but without a tape of the noise as proof they can write anything they want.
Im sure they need to *hear* the noise themselves and not just accept the diary

But they have heard him Lel, they picked a bad day when my sister was out for an hour. Any other time during that day they wouldn't have heard him at all.

But you cant just go off one day- anything could have happened on that one day- he could be ill- the postman or delivery man could have set him off- kids could have been teasing him etc etc (although none of these things may have happened they still need to *tape* more than one day

I found this on one of the council websites- they are all much the same and nealry all take the same course of action

Dog noise nuisance

*In terms of the procedure itself, you as the complainant will be required to maintain diary sheets of the ongoing problem. These help officers identify any pattern to the problem and also allow us to assess whether a statutory nuisance is likely.
Once these diary sheets are returned we may then look at installing noise recording equipment in your home to tape events that we can't possibly witness on a day to day basis. All of this evidence is used to assess whether a Statutory Nuisance occurs and whether a remedy to the situation is required. In most cases this is done informally by working with both parties involved in the complaint; where necessary however we will take formal action through the service of a statutory noise abatement notice. Failure to return diary sheets means that no further investigation will take place by an officer; similarly, the authority will not respond to anonymous complaints.


And if you live on the other side of the fence .........

If a complaint is made about you or your activities the Environmental Health Division will inform you in writing. Any letter will detail your case officer and offer a contact number should you wish to discuss the matter further. At the initial letter stage we are only alleging that you may be causing a problem and advising you that an investigation is underway; this makes you aware of a complaint and offers you the opportunity to do some investigations of your own and put things right. You will be kept up to date with our investigations and will also be advised when the case is closed*

Thats exactly what I said, you can't go by one half hour. But they said they will come again for another half hour, they don't say when they are coming obviously.
But if they think he's making too much noise in the next half hour that they record, then if the neighbours want to go to court the council have to be in their favour. If they don't think his noise is excessive, the neighbour can still go to court if they want, but the council would be in favour of my sister.

has anyone else complained ? If not I would add that this neighbour is being simply malicious- although it may not alter things if the dog really is barking.

If your sister gets on with her other neighbours she could try asking them if they also think the dog is barking excessively and being a nuisance? If they so no hes ok- try getting them to write a statemnet saying they have no problems with noise etc. That would back up their mailicious claims anyway. Everything helps and Im sure these neighbours causing the trouble wouldnt have the balls to go to court anyway

By the way what type of house does she live in ? Terrace/semi/detached etc?
I have heard of people complaining about someones dog barking and it wasnt even their dog- it was another neighbours

They live in a semi, and it's the neighbour that joined to them thats doing all the complaining.
She has asked the other neighbour on the other side, who she gets on great with. She says she hardly notices him.
The day that they rigged up, my sister went to the hospital with her son on the morning, the neighbour that she gets along with was on the drive which she shares with my sister. so she asked her when she got back if he'd been a problem. She said he howled when she left. My sister asked how long for, her reply was, oh I'm not sure I never took much notice, she wasn't at all bothered, so he obviously didn't make a fuss for long. My sister was in for the rest of the day with him (he was very quite) until she went to the hairdresses at 4pm, she was gone an hour, (thats when the rigging was done).
They did originally try to tell the bloke from the council that she was only doing this because of malicious reasons, but he didn't want to know, he said that had nothing to do with him.

Maybe this site has some information which would help you http://www.doglaw.co.uk/

I really do not see that a complaint can be upheld solely on the evidence of a couple of 30min recordings?

If the above site is of no help does your sister have access to a Citizen's Advise Bureau (assuming such things still exist in the UK).

Just want to sympathise with you over neighbour probs. i think my neighbour has mental problems as she phones the council on a daily basis to complain about something, not so far the dogs, but even as petty as the kids playing outside on Xmas day! Similar to your sister it started over a planning permission application which they objected against but it got passed. Over the last 2 years we have had the environmental health or planning officer out at least 30 times, so often we are on first name terms with them! Just tell her to be pleasant & helpful to the officer. They will need alot more evidence than half an hour to do anything, days, weeks or months I would have thought. People who do these things should be shot, they must lead such sad lives & have nothing else to do with their lives. We had hell for 18months until we decided that actually it was their problem not ours & we weren't going to let it ruin our lives. It's a bit more difficult with a dog involved I know but I really do sympathise & hope it gets sorted soon.

Thanks for all your help, I'll pass on all info.

Mitch