It makes me feel better and worse that so many of you have been through this
Better because I know I am not on my own and that the EH and dogwardens sound pretty fair
Worse because it shows how many petty doghaters there are out their
And for people to feel driven to leave thier home is horrible

Wys, thanks I am looking at the link now

Well getting up this morning (at 9:20 am - so it cant be said that is too early for noise) me getting up, washed and dressed and getting the dogs out the door, the whole time I was doing that Ben barked 5 times! hardly excessive - espech when I am in the house the only other times he barks is if someone comes to the door he barks twice and if he REALLY needs the loo he gives one v quiet 'wuff'

I spoke to other dog owning neighbours last night and they dont hear my 2 in the house when I am out, but I will ask them to listen more and I will sneak back and listen myself

i've also got the been there done that t-shirt We went through it while we were fostering arrow's brother. Our next door neighbour who promised he would inform us if any of the foster dogs were causing problems, didn't. he went straight to the EH and complained about constant barking. Bear in mind, i do not work, i'm home all day except for twice a week when i pop down to the shop for an hour or when i do the school run..5 mins! Now this particular dog in question did bark continuously if we went out, so i'll give him that, but i organised going out when the neighbour went out so that he wasn't at home to be bothered. There was one day i was out for two hours because i'd had to go into town and i couldn't take the dog with me, and he came home about 20 mins before i did. He left me a threatening message on my phone and rang EH

When i received the letter i rang them up and spoke to a lady who informed me that what is called a nuisance is continuous barking for hours on end, not the odd hour here or there a couple of times a week. So that means if it isn't all day everyday or every other day, its not a problem. Obviously we have to be considerate to neighbours, and because our neighbour then became really viscious and did everything within his power to make our lives a living hell we sadly had to take the dog to the dogstrust as a home was not forthcoming and there were no other foster homes available to take him. It was such a shame, but he was lucky he found a good home so quickly. Our neighbour still refuses to talk to us and still tried his hardest to make things difficult for us, in fact he was so determined to get rid of the dogs ( by now we found out he was scared of large dogs) he called social services in the hope they'd think the dogs were a danger to the kids ...we are lucky the dogs are completely sound and greeted them with a big grin and waggy tails then went and laid down. Our neighbour is the lowest of the low, our dogs will bark when someone comes to the door, which is not very often as i don't get alot of visitors, or when they are playing in the garden. All in-between the hours considered the reasonable times. So he has nothing to complain about. But obviously we are so fed up with him we are always on our guard just in the case the dogs bark a little too much, which in my opinion is no way to be, constantly worried you might upset a neighbour.Everyone has a right to live and if we want dogs in our lives that is our choice and we shouldn't be made to feel bad about it. We have now put in to move as we need a bigger house anyway, but we are hoping for a house a bit more in the country-side where people seem less concerned if a dog has a little bark every now and again.

I really wouldn't worry too much. I've stood outside my house on numerous occasions for over 3/4 of an hour just to be sure they weren't creating. It's a complete waste of my time but i constantly worry about it now. If you worry they bark while the other is out get a video like someone suggested, i always make sure when i take my dogs out( i take them all individually) the others have something to do, although generally they will either play or sleep. Don't get too worried unless you really think they can prove it is a nuisance in which case you will have to do something to stop the noise, but until then just keep track of when your dogs bark, and try and keep their normal barking to a minimum. If possible have another word with the neighbour if you feel comfortable doing so, but some people can change suddenly from what seems really lovely to someone really mean, which is what happened with our neighbour....turns out our neighbour has had a rather sinister side for some time according to his previous friends, he just kept it under wraps

I have found that being nice doesn`t help. In the olden days when I was a vaguely pleasant young woman I spoke sweetly to my neighbours and was careful not to make any nuisance for them.
Following many incidents in various homes including dog mess through the letter box and my mail being opened, I have turned into the bitchqueen from hell when neighbours try it on. One neighbour played his radio at full blast so I borrowed some speakers and decks from work and hit him with 400 decibels of heavy metal for an hour.
I recommend you throw a BBQ to raise funds for sick kiddies with live entertainment from the local Bhangra band on a regular basis. Oh, and maybe organise coach trips for the elderly, picking up from just outside his house around 6am. Then see if he`s still got the strength to chunter on about your dogs.

Or we could have a Dogsey Fun Day on your lawn Pam

Hope you are ok today x