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I have a slight problem with a neighbor and I havent a clue how to deal with this.

We have had two small-medium size dogs for over a year now. We put a doggy door on our house so they could go in and out as needed when we werent home during the day. They have also had that since they were born so it isnt anything new.

Since they were able to go outside they have always barked at people that come up to our fence on the neighbors left side driveway...when the dogs are outside of the fence they are loving and know our neighbors but as soon as they get behind out fence they just bark to alert us people are there and bark till they go away. Now obviously we tried to rid them of this bad habit but its hard when we dont catch them in the act everytime during the day when they were puppies. To be honest it isnt that bad, they bark for maybe 2-3 mins the person goes away and its over...maybe it occurs 3x a day at most.

Now all of a sudden our neighbor behind our house has called animal control on us twice in the last month and a half or so. The first time it was for 'us not taking care of our dogs properly, and that the backyard was full of feces and the dogs looked sick". The animal control came and there was maybe one or two #2's we hadnt yet picked up and the animal control women inspected our house and said it was fine and we moved on. Now the first time she didnt tell us it was the neighbor behind us just that it was anonymous.

Today she came again to tell us the neighbor behind our house was complaing that the dogs are vicious and bark all day long and shes afraid of them. Well...I have been home ALL day today and the dogs have been at my side at all times...they did not go outside other than their morning bathroom and they werent barking. I told animal control that, and she said maybe we should try putting a Beware of Dog sign on the front side fence so people will not come to the gate and then they will be more quiet. I am going to try that.

its obvious the woman doesnt like our dogs i guess, which is weird to me because they are no different now than they were a year ago and she just starts to complain now? I feel like she is putting fake reports...our backyard was NEVER inhumane i was shocked someone could say that, all of our other neighbors know us and know the dogs and love them and know we treat them well. But my question is...How do i find laws about barking, or neighbors making false claims? I dont know what to do, and I dont want animal control coming here again!

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Have you considered ringing your neighbor's doorbell and talking to her directly and seeing if you can resolve the problem without the law? First of all, that's always a good first step. Secondly, it's much harder to call the cops on someone with a face. Come over with a batch of cookies or something -- *Don't* bring the dogs -- say you hear she's been bothered and would like to apologise, and ask if you can come to an agreement. It may be that there have been times your dogs have worried her or scared her friends, and if you ask her directly, you can agree not to have your dogs out on thursday afternoons when her caninophobic friends are over.

If that fails, you can always try mediation.

I am considering it but this is the problem. The house behind me is a 4 family, and I have no clue where she lives or if she even lives there...we think she might be the owner but not live there. All I have to go on is animal control saying 'the woman behind you'. Maybe I should go anyways and just try all four doors.

Somerville Community Corporation has a mediation program.

Not sure how stringently these are enforced, but they may be relevant.

3-33 Disturbance of the peace by dogs

CODE OF ORDINANCES City of SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS Codified through Ord. No. 2002-17, adopted Dec. 17, 2002. (Supplement No. 2)
Chapter 3 ANIMALS*
ARTICLE II. DOGS*

Sec. 3-33. Disturbance of the peace by dogs.

No person shall own or harbor within the city any dog which, by barking, biting, howling, or harassing any person, or in any other manner, disturbs the quiet of any person.

(Code 1963, ? 13-3; Ord. No. 1994-14 6-23-94)

State law references: Barking dogs, M.G.L.A. c. 140, ? 157.

+++++

Chapter 140: Section 157 Vicious dogs; nuisance; barking or other disturbance; annoyance to sick person; attacks on other dogs

GENERAL LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS
PART I.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT
TITLE XX.
PUBLIC SAFETY AND GOOD ORDER

CHAPTER 140. LICENSES
DOGS

Chapter 140: Section 157 Vicious dogs; nuisance; barking or other disturbance; annoyance to sick person; attacks on other dogs

Section 157. If any person shall make complaint in writing to the selectmen of a town, the officer in charge of the animal commission or person charged with the responsibility of handling dog complaints of a city, or the county commissioners, that any dog owned or harbored within his or their jurisdiction is a nuisance by reason of vicious disposition or excessive barking or other disturbance, or that any such dog by such barking or other disturbance is a source of annoyance to any sick person residing in the vicinity such selectmen, officer in charge of the animal commission or person charged with the responsibility of handling dog complaints or county commissioners shall investigate or cause to be investigated such complaint, including an examination on oath of the complainant, and may make such order concerning the restraint or disposal of such dog as may be deemed necessary. Within ten days after such order the owner or keeper of such dog may bring a petition in the district court within the judicial district of which the dog is owned or kept, addressed to the justice of the court, praying that the order may be reviewed by the court, or magistrate thereof, and after such notice to the officer or officers involved as the magistrate deem necessary the magistrate shall review such action, hear the witnesses and affirm such order unless it shall appear that it was made without proper cause or in bad faith, in which case such order shall be reversed. Any party shall have the right to request a de novo hearing on the petition before a justice of the court. The decision of the court shall be final and conclusive upon the parties. Any person owning or harboring such dog who shall fail to comply with any order of the selectmen, officer in charge of the animal commission or person charged with the responsibility of handling dog complaints, county commissioners or district court, as the case may be shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty-five dollars for the first offense and not more than one hundred dollars for a second or subsequent offense, or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, for the first offense and not more than sixty days for a second or subsequent offense, or both.

The act of a dog in attacking or biting another dog or other animal may be made the subject of a complaint under the provisions of this section.

Magistrates shall exercise their authority hereunder subject to the limitations of section sixty-two C of chapter two hundred and twenty-one.

I dont really understand law talk...i just re-read that twice and all i get is anyone can complain about any dog if they bother them? Im not being a pain i really dont get it :/

i think that's true. that is, you don't have any recourse in the law. your best bet is to find out who it is and deal with her in person.

Basically, it says that if your dog is disturbing someone's peace, it is your responsibility to correct this. As to why the complaint is happening now: This may be a new neighbor, or their circumstances may have changed in such a way that the barking is more of a problem (e.g., they are now working night shift, they have a new baby whose naps are being disturbed, etc.). You may want to introduce yourself to your neighbors and start a dialogue with them to find out if there's a way you can come to some agreement. The other options are to train your dogs not to bark or to keep them inside when you are not around to discipline them.

Yes.

"No person shall own or harbor within the city any dog which, by barking, biting, howling, or harassing any person, or in any other manner, disturbs the quiet of any person."

If your dogs bother someone you're in violation of the city ordinances. The primary way for you to avoid this would be to keep the dogs inside when you're not at home.

I'm trying to think of a gentle way to put this... I think it's your responsibility as a pet owner to keep your dogs from being a nuisance. Part of that, at least unless you live on acreage out in the country, is keeping them from barking to the point where they annoy people. Some people have different tolerances for noise (or even for types of noise).

Obviously, whether you think it's reasonable or not, your neighbor is annoyed. I agree with the other comment-- go over, introduce yourself if you haven't already, apologize for the bother, and see if you can work something out. Most people don't want to have bad feelings with their neighbors and most people don't want to take the time to go to court.

Personally, with my two dogs, they are never out in the yard unless I'm outside with them or within earshot with the door open. This means that I know exactly how much barking is going on (zero!), I know passing kids aren't teasing them, I know nobody's trying to get them out of the yard. There's all kinds of weirdos out there! When I'm not home, the dogs are safe in the house.

Well put.

Also, it's not clear if the OP is usually at home with the dogs or not. If she's not usually home, then I'm not sure how she can be so confident that her dogs barking isn't actually a problem. Sure, it's fine when she's home, but what about shen she isn't?

I do not work so i am home most of the day until i head to my night classes and then my fiance is home with them.

you may need to try to train them to not go out until your fiance gets home. i know it feels mean, but with proper crate training it can be done well. all the dogs we've ever had, and we've had dogs my whole life, have been trained to not go out for 8-10 hours/day while everyone is at work or school. it's the best way to avoid the neighbors completely, though it will be some work at first ;\

they are crate trained for at night though isnt it bad for 8 hrs during the day to be in a crate and then 8 at night?

you can ask your vet if you're concerned, but my dogs have always been indoors for the whole workday without being walked or having accidents and then all 8 hours at night when we're sleeping, and they've never had health problems. as long as they're walked early in the morning and as much as they want when you're home and awake, in my experience, they've been fine...

ooh, wait, and i read that wrong, so you are home most of the day, and your fiance is home at night? so it's only once in a while that they'll need to be in the crate for the whole day and then overnight? i really don't think you'll have problems then, so long as you walk them before they go in.

also, please consider putting an lj-cut somewhere in that post. thanks.

ok, i understand the need for lj-cuts and all, but you seriously think that was too long to be uncut? i think people just like to complain.

i also dont see why it needed to be cut, it wasnt THAT long. :)

I can see why you are concerned and frustrated. However, I also understand how someone could be upset by the dogs barking. To you, the dog barks only when someone walks past. To them, the dog barks EVERY TIME THEY SEE IT, which could be pretty upsetting. Sounds like she tried to get used to it and after a year finally started making up charges (which is a terrible way to handle it.) My best advice would be to keep the dogs indoors while you are out of the house. This way, their barking doesn't disturb the neighbors when you're gone and when you're home you know just how much they are outside and barking. I agree with other commenters that you would ideally meet your neighbor, but if that's not possible, just make a conscientious effort. You are responsible for how your dogs interact with other people.

How about putting up a fence that would block line of sight for the dogs & your neighbors? I'm not sure that would be a solution, the dogs might bark from the noise anyways, but at least the neighbors behind you wouldn't have to see the dogs. It would also give you some privacy.

That said, I feel that 3x a day barking for 2-3 minutes at a time can be a big deal, especially if your neighbors have small children. I don't know if that is a factor. Good luck!

she does not have young kids. she has talked to us a lot in the past...we just dont get why she hasnt talked to us, we are friendly for gods sake. lol

So I'm confused - do you know who the neighbor is or not? You said earlier that you weren't sure which neighbor it was?

I would pretty much handle the situation this way: When I am home dogs have free access to the dog door. When I'm not I'd block it up - that way no baseless claims could be made. If I heard the dogs I'd tell them to knock it off and leave it at that.

I know some people seem to think that a dog barking at all is a nuisance - too freakin' bad for them. Kids and adults make way more noise in my neighborhood - not to mention the kid's one street over that play with their motorcycle revving the engine all night long. I think as long as you're home with them and telling them to cut it out when you're around, you'll be good. Even though they can complain, as long as you handle animal control as you currently are - and assuming the situation is as you said - you'll be fine. If it is just one person complaining and the situation is fine everytime they show up, they will eventually ignore the 1 person who is a nutcase. Now if more people are complaining than just the one, you will have a problem.

Now with all of that said, I agree with some of the other posters that it might be a good idea to try and make nice with whomever is complaining. Be very humble and ask them when it is a problem, etc - make sure to mention you're home with them.

And some people do like to complain to complain - it makes them feel important.

When you are in the house, the dogs don't bark much. When you are away, how can you know how often they bark?

nalz,
1. drop some nails all around the kid's yard with the bike.
2. record the sound from close by and play it back from your car for 20 seconds at 12am and leave the scene.

You can buy collars for your dogs, special for teachign dogs not to bark. They give a small electric shock to a dog when it starts barking. This will get rid of the barking problem and hopefully your nasty neighbor issue

You have the right to the peace and enjoyment of your own home. Most municipalities view noise complaints as a quality of life issue, but for people exposed to noise on a constant basis - it is a form of assault.

One of the biggest sources of neighbor complaints noise wise is barking dogs. The real problem is the negligent owner who is indifferent to the welfare of their dog and the consideration of their neighbors. Some owners will even cast their pet outside all night and assume it can act as an effective guard dog.

Some breeds are more likely to bark more than others, such as Shelties and Collies. However, all dogs can learn to stop barking when it is properly trained and socialized. Some dog owners and affected neighbors install electronic devices that uses a specially designed microphone and speaker that picks up a dog's bark and then sends out a "corrective tone" to keep the dog from barking. As a final resort, a few dog owners opt for a controversial veterinary procedure called debarking, in which the dog's vocal cords are permanently severed. I do not advocate this proceedure.

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