Need some advice about my neighbors

[chickened]

We had a kennel for years and barking dogs offending our neighbors was a top priority and we spent a lot of money keeping our dogs quiet. The key here is being respectful of your neighbors before they complain and quite frankly those that are oblivious to that in the first place usually don't care anyhow. We have great neighbors now and that is invaluable.

 

[chickenzoo]

I have GPs, and they bark often at night. That is their job and part of the breed. They bark to warn off not wait for something to bark at. They are quiet during the day however. And I do have to keep one on a run line. They are bad about wanting to wander..and even with hot wire at the bottom of 16 acres, he still finds ways to get out. I'm working on other options for him as the other four stay put.

As for the op's question.... Their are laws in the country about barking dogs. Some due not apply to LGD on a farm. I know where I use to live, if a dog barked more than five min straight, you could complain. Each state, county etc.. Is different.
I would try to talk with them. I would let them know you appreciate them chaining the dogs to keep other pets safe. You can tell how unhappy they are being chained and how much they bark all day. Tell them you were looking into other possibilities for them ( ie. the stronger bark collar...longer run line) so their dogs wouldn't be so unhappy and the barking wouldn't bother you. If you go about it in a way that you want to help them solve their problem by helping research other possibilities...maybe you can keep peace.
If they refuse, then you have no choice but to complain.

 

[canesisters]

I have GPs, and they bark often at night. That is their job and part of the breed. They bark to warn off not wait for something to bark at. They are quiet during the day however.

Is this typical of them?

I live in pseudo-country; everyone around has 15-25acres but all of our houses seem to be clustered in the corners of our properties so we're not very far from each other.
Anyway, the folks across the street have one of the LGD breeds - I'm not sure which one, it's a big white dog that looks a bit like a white Newfoundland. They don't have any sort of livestock and keep him in a large pen inside an enormous 3-sided shed.

For the past several months we've been bothered by barking at night. It's not the 'I've got something! Come help me!" bark. More like just a few woofs every few minutes. "Woof, woof-woof" pause "Woof, woof-woof" pause "Woof, woof-woof". I notice it starting around 2am and continuing until I leave at 5am. It's very steeply hilly and I can't pinpoint where the sound is coming from.

I hadn't considered the big dog across the road because I had assumed they were (by nature) quiet until they had something to bark at. Now I'm thinking that this might be exactly the sort of thing I should expect from him.

 

[chickenzoo]

Yep....they are most active at night and patrol the area often barking to ward off. Sounds like a Great Pyr by your discription. Mine mostly bark if they hear something but on often you can hear the woof woof with nose up in the air as they patrol. Sometimes they just lay and bark.....If they keep him penned he is probably more inclined to bark out of boredom or because he can't see what's going on.

 

[gg706]

We are going to speak to her this weekend. I am concerned because of our passed experience with them. I live in the country so my chickens are not a problem, they also have chickens and roosters. I totally agree with Mattemma. The situation you explained about your neighbors is EXACTLY what happened to us the last time there was an issue. It got resolved but got really ugly....the law did have to get involved and they were close to a lawsuit. We did not speak for several months. We have been on friendly terms the last 6 months or so. Hopefully it stays that way.

 

[Going Quackers]

Personally, i'd arm yourself with the law just so you know where you stand legally, then go have a chat with the neighbour if it goes poorly at least you know what your rights are and can go from there.

 

[NativeBeauty]

I'm following this thread with interest because my neighborhood sounds like a kennel, day and night. I keep my mouth shut because the HOA doesn't allow chickens and although I don't have a rooster, we all know how loud the egg song can get! Still, that goes on for a few minutes each day, and never at night--a far cry from the constant barking of neglected dogs. Anyway, I hope someone can answer a question that has long puzzled me: what is the point of having a dog if it is penned or chained up outside all the time? Obviously nobody is interacting with the dog or it wouldn't be barking, so if the family is not enjoying the dog's company, why have it?

My sentiments exactly...dogs are NOT lawn ornaments

 

[LissyB]

Soon as my dogs start barking and I can't quiet them down I bring them inside. We have gotten nasty letters and phone calls from our neighbors, and it hurts. When you talk to her don't be nasty about it, try to say it in a nice way but get your point across. What really bothers me is that we get nasty letters and phone calls about our dogs and our dogs don't even bark much, the random bark at the dear and that's it, and they don't talk to us directly, it's always and anonymous phone call or letter with no return address in our mail box.

 

[gg706]

We have not spoken to her yet......We got home from vaction with intentions on speaking her that weekend and things were quiet. It has not been bad since we have been back so we thinking maybe someone else said something to her? Or maybe she got something else worked out while we were gone.....crossing my fingers. I will update if anything changes.

 

[LissyB]

That's good! My goldendoodle would run through our invisible fence so we had to get the stubborn dog one, never ran through it again, now he doesn't bark nearly as much!