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The Kitchen Table

Speaking of barking dogs

14 years ago

Mine are barking their heads off lately. We have new neighbors next door. The older lady that owned that house died over a year ago and then the family had renters in there. Now there is a new family that bought it. A very loud family. All our other neighbors are so quiet that they are very noticeable. My dogs are barking over multiple car door slams, people laughing and carrying on in the backyard, etc...

Last night their car doors were slamming late into the morning. I hope it's only temporary. They have between 5 and 9 cars parked in their driveway and in front of the house at any given time. I hope that is temporary too since all those people coming and going are going to be noisy.

The first thing I noticed when they moved in was the downspouts on their house. They put extensions on them on this side of the house...all pointed toward my yard/house. I'm waiting for a heavy rain to see if it runs at my house or just down the yard into the street.

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Comments (5)

azzalea
14 years ago
Around here, pointing your downspout toward a neighbor is against code--don't they have to have them pointed to the street or toward the back yard? I'd be checking with the building code official on that one, sooner rather than later.

Hopefully, your dogs will get used to the new neighbors after a bit. When we bought our house, the previous owners (6 dogs) moved next door. Their dogs were out back in pens in the daytime, and barked EVERYtime we went to our cars or the garage. But they soon got to recognize us and now they rarely bark for us.
Kathsgrdn
Original Author
14 years ago
My dogs are inside the house and can't see them. All they hear is the slamming door.
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This is when I'm so glad we live in the country. After we moved here in our mid-20's is when we got our first dog. I can only remember two instances when dog barking was a problem. When I used to babysit DS1's children from birth to 4 or 5, it was at their house in the country about ten miles from us. UPS always delivered packages (ringing the doorbell then leaving) during nap time and both of their Shih Tzu's would yap and yap and yap. Always woke the kids up, and me too. :) I finally put a note on the front door asking them not to ring the doorbell because of children sleeping. They never did it again. Now this story really burned my hide & I had no choice but to find humor in the situation. Living in the country and having indoor/outdoor dogs, they'd bark when they'd hear something or see a critter whenever we let them out to potty. DS1, his family, and the two Shih Tzu's, built a house behind us. I believe it was the first morning when DS1 had to go to work after the move. He gets up a 5am and leaves at 6am. He needs his sleep. At the time I was waking at 4am, and the first thing I had to do was let the dogs out. While they were out I had to go to the bathroom, and the dogs started barking very loud because they're big. The phone rings and it was DS asking me if I'd get the dogs in the house so he can sleep, plus they were waking up the kids. Now we have to watch their barking in the early morning hours and after bedtime for DS1's family. Neighbors, how dare they! :)
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FlamingO in AR
14 years ago
Ugh, I hate noise and noisy neighbors would (and did, years ago) drive me crazy. I hope they settle down or eventually move away. Sorry, Kath! What a way to make an entrance, by ticking everyone off!
sarahlee123
14 years ago
I had a similar problem with the next door neighbors directing their sump pump flow into our yard. The owner was off -site, so I sent him a letter, with a cc to the town commissioner. The problem was resolved ASAP. If I were you, I'd deal with the situation immediately. That water flow can do a LOT of damage!
joyfulguy
14 years ago
Usually, they can flow the water any way that they choose ...

... as long as it stays on their property.

But when it enters yours, there may be cause for action.

On the other hand, in many rural areas, one can not refuse water that is following the natural watercourse. If there is some action taken upstream that changes the volume or the normal time of flow, there may be reason for complaint.

ole joyful

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