Neighbor problems... Getting rather frustrated. :(

[thaiturkey]

C&C Chickens :

I haven't read all of the replies to your original post, but I wanted to point out, in case no did else did so explicitly, that your neighbor sounds like she is mentally ill. I'm talking a personality disorder, not schizophrenia. At any rate, she is clearly being unreasonable and using your dog's barking as an excuse to act out her mental illness, unfortunately towards you. Unfortunately it is nearly impossible to deal with someone like her in a reasonable manner, but it can help you to remember that it really isn't personal, she's mentally ill and can't control her behavior. At the very least, I would continue working on keeping your dogs quiet after 9 p.m., and get a copy of your local noise ordinance so you know what your rights are. I would consider providing her a copy of the ordinance with a note worded very carefully and simply that you are sorry that she is disturbed by your dogs' barking, that you are trying to keep the noise down, and that you are in compliance with your local noise ordinance. I would leave it at that. She may continue to act out toward you, but I would try to not let it show that her behavior effects you at all.

You have my sympathy - I have also dealt with a very crazy neighbor and it is very stressful.

There are no grounds in what the OP has written for saying that the neighbour is mentally ill. She is possibly stressed and that might be from other things in her life, barking dogs at 11.00pm being the last straw. She may be able to sleep through music but the sudden barking of dogs might wake her and she may then have difficulty in getting back to sleep. I can empathise with that.

I have previously suggested that the OP check the local regulations on noise to see whether she is in breach of them. If she is, she will have to do something about her dogs. She has not written again to say that she will do that so we are still short on facts here. Still, whilst the facts are unknown there's still room for a good old rant, eh?

Why aren't the darned dogs taken for a walk in the evening? It might be easier to let them into the garden but, if the noise annoys a neighbour, some change of habit should be considered.

Someone suggested that we might not have heard the full story. Every story has two sides. OP, is there more to this than you have yet revealed?​

 

[annageckos]

Don't change your ways for your nasty neighbor. If a dog barks a couple of times at night, so what? Depending on where you live there are always going to be some noise at night. Wild animals, cars, music, people. It is called life. Trying to minimize your dog's barking is good, but don't bend over backwards. I lived in an apartment a few years ago. It was not a good area. All night you would hear cars coming and going, beeping, people shouting, music blaring, fighting. I hated it, but that was the area. Basically, you can not please everyone. And this person sound like someone that will always have something to complain about.

 

[CalebtheChicken]

Get a Rottie, see if she picks on you anymore

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Irrational behavior as described by the OP matches a number of mental illness or developmental conditions. Yes, it is possible that the neighbor simply is over-stressed and angry, but to fly off the handle as has been described, illogically blaming the OP for keeping her away when there are other animals in the beighborhood who bark off and on all night, to call her names whenever she is in her own yard. That is not rational or logical behavior.

 

[sunflowerenvy]

Quote:
hey stop having a boring life

 

[noodleroo]

Good fences make good neighbors. I'd at least get some sort of privacy screen between the two of you so that she can't just look out her window or door and see what you are doing. Mentally ill, alcoholic or whatever; there's something wrong with her and it sounds like she is just looking for something to complain about. Make it so that she can't SEE you and I'll bet she finds something else to focus her attention on.

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
There's not enough evidence here of any mental or developmental disorder. The neighbour is hacked off at barking every evening from the OP's dogs and she's telling them in no uncertain terms. We don't know whether there have been other frictions between the two households except that a previous occupant of the neighbouring house complained about the positioning of the OP's chicken coop.

One fact we know is the OP has dogs that bark late in the evening when some neighbours might be asleep. They are active in other ways during the night and the neighbour has commented on that. Perhaps the nocturnal noise at Chez OP is troubling the neighbour to the point where she is getting angry about it. Perhaps she will soon report the OP to the authorities. Without full and objective information no-one is in a position to judge. We aren't likely to get that here but perhaps the OP would invite the neighbour to register on BYC and give her point of view.

 

[redhen]

Its one thing to be upset at barking dogs and talking to your neighbor about it like a normal, rational person..
its a differnt thing to be swearing and screaming and saying obscene things to them everytime they step out of their house.....
The neighbor IS mentally unstable..period.
Just saying..

 

[thaiturkey]

Quote:
You don't have enough unbiased and detailed information reasonably to make such a diagnosis, even if you happen to be qualified in such matters.. Emotional stress is as far as a reasonable diagnosis could go and even that is relying on an unsubstantiated story. Her emotional condition, if she indeed has one, could result from the dog nuisance, other problems with the OP household or other issues in her life. Emotional issues are not the same as mental illness.

Support the OP's incomplete story by all means but don't let supposition lead to pure guesswork and fantasy. The best way to help the OP, assuming that she has not posted merely to attract the droll suggestions that have been offered, is to consider both sides of the story.

 

[debilorrah]

WOW, did this whole thing stray off topic or what?

I think the post was about the OP wanting to know if she was doing everything right, not about retaliation (I get the jokes), mental illness or diagnosis of same.

Last time I checked it was more peaceful to not comment on opinions you don't agree with. (I am guilty at times too, just sayin).

My neighbor told me I have too many roosters (55 hens 3 roos - NOT too many), and I politely told her that since she is so far away from me, maybe she needs to stop watching her survelliance tapes for entertainment.

And I still have my roosters.