My Story
After many posts, writing on how I have stop my dogs from barking in an apartment, causing disruption to the surrounding community, I thought I would place myself on the other side of the fence. Write a post on “how to stop neighbours dog barking in apartments ” providing advice and ideas on how you might develop a plan to reduce or eliminate the noise coming from your neighbours apartment or house.
Notice from the landlord in the first week
I was one week in, and received a letter from our landlord, advising someone complained about our dog barking. I was shocked, and surprised, yes I expected our dogs to take a little time to settle in, but I didn’t expect a notice or even worse in the first week.
From that moment, I learnt everything I could to reduce the barking, and I have since developed a 10 point plan to help anyone who is going through the same thing. For a dog owner, its tough, and I expect most will want to help manage the situation.
The apartments I live in, are close to a hospital, so a lot of medical staff reside here and sleep during the day, the last thing I want is my dog barking and keeping them awake.
So let me provide some ideas on how other neighbours over the past period have worked with us, and more importantly, the methods that have provided the best result.
Get to know your neighbour
This is a real strong method and it needs to be part of your plan. If you already have friction, which is likely if they are complaining then it can be hard to break down the barrier, but something you should try and work towards.
Different personalities and age gap can also make it complicated, you need to manage the relationship the best way possible. Try stay positive, understand they might get upset when you complain about the barking dog. So try a gentle but consistent approach.
Provide advise
Once you have a relationship, even if its partial, you could try providing some advise, even recommend this site and specific article. Suggest you have been doing some reading and found some great ideas and you are trying to help them. Its possible this might go down the wrong way, but just take a calm approach again, the stronger the relationship the easier this will be.
Meet the dog
Get to know the dog, this way, the owners understand you have a connection with the pet and are willing to work on an approach together. If its just one way, its likely they might resist and not listen to your concerns. Spend time saying hello to the dog each time you see it, even buy a little treat if you want to make a stronger connection. This is optional and will vary depending on many factors.
Consider the dogs age and any other condition, in my case our 16 year old cocker spaniel got very uptight with her sister beagle dog. This could be a simple trigger related to food left laying around and the cocker wanting to protect. When she was not happy, she would bark and not stop once started. It could be worth spending some time, building a relationship with the dog and owner to see if there is any area you could provide assistance or help, especially if the dog is older.
Write a log
If your neighbour is not willing to accept there is an issue, write a log or use an app. Simple tools like the google sound recorder on the latest phones will make an entry when a dog barks. You dont need anything too complicated, but just enough to demonstrate how persistent the problem is. You can even record the barking again with the same app to highlight the volume and impact its causing.
Offer to walk the dog
If you are home, and have spare time, reach out and ask if you an help by walking the dog. This is a nice gentle approach and can help reduce initial tension. Obviously the answer will be no at the start, but over time it could become an method that works for everyone.
Suggest a calming collar
Collars like the Adaptil calm collar have worked wonders for our dog problem, you could consider purchasing one or recommending one. They are low cost and can provide good results in a 3-6 weeks.
Connect with the landlord
If there are no signs of improvement, it might be time to loop in your landlord. A simple email or phone call can help landlords understand what’s happening and make sure things don’t escalate into something bigger. Follow up with emails on a regular basis, just to keep the communication flowing. Ensure you keep a record so you can document the number of contact points.
We found reach out to our landlord on a proactive basis has been very helpful. They understand where you are at and continue to get a feel for the magnitude of the problem. Just a single email blowing up, normally doesn’t get the best result for anyone.
Final Thoughts
Its a hard position for both sides, I have been on the other side for some time, working every plan, method and strategy to stop our dogs from barking. Some people might not have time or the same desire, but probably do want to stop the issue. The best approach is to work with them. If they are ignorant and not willing to engage, try a calmer, less intense approach.
If that does not work, then you will have to revert to the landlord and have them manage it. Ensure all communication is documented this way you have a record that can be used if the problem escalates in the future.
All the best, and please reach out if you need any further advice or guidance, we are more than happy to share our experience and provide as much help as possible.
