Neightbour complaints about our dog

borderlinemeath

average_runner wrote: »

Eh, a dog belongs outside, a dog inside is bad for it.

Eh, no. Time to catch up on 21st century animal welfare way of thinking.

It's extremely bad for a dogs mental welfare to be left out in a garden 24/7 unless it's getting ongoing and stimulating human companionship outside too - ie a working farm dog. Dogs belong with their family, they crave human companionship, so unless you live outdoors too, then a contented happy dog is inside with their family. The majority of behavioural problems originate in either anxiety or boredom because a dog is left to rot in a garden.

Don't get one if you're going to leave it out in the garden.

emeldc

CruelCoin wrote: »

Not everywhere with a housing estate is in a city.

It's still the country as compared to galway/sligo/dublin et al.

She barks at stimulus. I'm really not sure how you're equating this to unhappiness.

Also, i never said i was a dog lover. Those words never left my lips/fingertips.

Jesus, up to this point I was giving you the benefit of the doubt, but not any more. If you're not a dog lover why in the name of fcuk did you adopt a German shepherd. I'm out. You deserve everything you get.

scamalert

well op made mistake of saying he/she isnt dog lover-guess what made such mistake more then many times in life,on every aspect.
got a dog from shelter couple years back just because i wanted it,then day later it was back to shelter-didn't account for size of dog,accommodation needs at the time,and share responsibility of daily impact.granted it was stupid move,but dog was brought back and left any money paid to shelter.

then on few years later person i know offered dog for adoption-as was leaving country,thus again felt need for a pet and decided to take it on.
was i wrong and wanted it gone,yes about 100 times,the troubles and learning curve is like having 3-4y old baby and realizing it will stay such until its old days,thus when its happy moments its great when $hit happens because of animal instincts its raging moments to cope with it,since once you calm down you realize animal will stay animal to most extent,no matter how much youll try to humanize it or train-had few bad instances where because of my lack of underestimating my dog i could ended in worse situation then op,just because didn't secure my dog properly and someone got $hit scared when dog protected home territory.
and many more stories that happen daily when you cant let your dog off sight just because it feels like crap is perfect thing to roll in,thus getting 2h of pain bathing your pet when you had more plans for the day.now i dont own over-sized dog nor aggressive in nature,nor issues with barking without any reason-lucky enough it was trained somehow before i got her.

what i learned so far that pet is like a kid for life,thus any crap it does you will be responsible,be it barking or collecting crap outside for the rest of your life or keeping it on the leash.Then you have moments where you enjoy same animal you have thus if something to happen you feel emotions like for any human or creature.But getting one easy part as said before,letting it live inside house,taking for walks when your drained or its pissing outside or freezing and you have no will,doing daily tasks of cleaning feeding and interacting is 50% of your day to day activities,unless you get a breed that sleeps for 20h.


so all this said while my dog cant be left outside either as it will scratch the doors out to get in, to the point making whole house shaking and whining outside,but let it in and go away for day and its happy lying and protecting the house.

only thing i dont get idea people who live in estates and get dogs to throw them outside,whenever they leave and let them in when they feel need to play themselves or get entertained.

While im not against idea of having pet on chain,old generations used dogs just to warn them if someone is around in area or coming for that reason and if done right they adapt to living in such conditions until they get fed and have shelter,same with working dogs,most can be left outside for days,provided that they know their role and have freedom to keep them busy.but you cant have both pet for your own enjoyment and someone to be your family member-just to toss it out when you get bored or have no time.

and this comes at the price of forking out cash to have someone walk or watch it for you,invest in training,playing interacting,up to the point where you even incur daily losses be it wasted towels,ripped carpets or some other things dogs do-thus everyone loves sight of big k9 dog when someone is walking one beside,but in reality keeping one and making sure you can sacrifice sharing house,keeping your animal fit,trained motivated and dealing with its instincts and needs many oversee that and it doesn't end well when nerves kick in.

Thus not bashing op but consider if your to keep your pet its needs more then some kennel outside and food,if you cant keep it in the house because hair will cover everything and youll be hoovering every day,taking it for walks and with you whenever you can,which in many situations people rather throw pet out when it could easily accompany person for few hours in the car,then whole training routine and cost to it brings one either get used to loving your pet or consider alternatives.

Since you are the owner and while dog barking issue is more then one time thing and it can drive even most patient people out nuts you are responsible for every aspect of dealing with it,thus hiring someone to look after it,keeping dog inside where she might feel part of home and not so stressed to addressing issues with barking-be it paying someone daily who can look after it,or having someone to look after and train since this breed responds well to proper training which can rake in huge costs and time needed.But if theres no love at the end,then as someone posted its ripple effect on you and your animal including others to suffer.

dialer

If I were a nurse or factory worker that worked nights, within ear shot of a barking dog during the morning I'd be p!ssed.
We got our dog a companion & both are happy outside. To manage dogs in estates can be difficult.

FrostyJack

On every adoption form for rescues I have ever read, the question will the dog ever be tied up is on it is on it, for good reason. No dog should be tied up except for things like cutting the grass or having someone do work beside etc. And all these cases the dog should just be put inside. The OP has stated more than once that the dog barks every time it is left out, which is for 2/3 hours at a time but it is the one Saturday that the complaints have come in from?? You know that she uses the kennel because the food is eaten when you get back, what a brilliant assumption. Both my dogs would going into a burning house to eat their dinner but what does she do for the other 2 hours 55 minutes. I too have seen dogs shivering drenched in the rain while a perfectly good kennel was beside them. If there is a part of the wall that she could escape over would it not be better to remedy this before getting a run? Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. The neighbours kid jumps into the garden? Talk to the neighbours and explain there is a big dog there and if he gets hurt they will be liable. Unless the child has mental health issues they will not jump in with a GSD. I live in an apartment with two dogs and am totally paranoid that they will disturb the neighbours even for a second as I know what it is like to live beside barking dogs. I would never leave them alone for any length of time without running the legs off them first in the park. They are quite content to lie on the couch until I come back to them. If I am going out at 9am, I get up at 6am to take them out. GSD's need a lot of exercise so throwing a ball for ten minutes or a walk around the block is not considered exercise. Hopefully with the suggestions in the other posts and maybe a visit from a behaviorist things will be better.

CruelCoin

Cheers for all the advice/criticism guys.

We've discussed how we're going forward, and some of your suggestions are it, some are not.

As for our reasons for having a dog? My partner is the one who owns/wants the dog. I'm a cat person. She tolerates my cat, I tolerate her dog. The notion that i must be a lover of xyz in order to have xyz is laughable. Ask any middle aged man who drives an mpv...
Can i just say that the inferences that i'm a ****ty person are patently unhelpfull/unwelcome given the only references you have as to that are the fact the dog barks, which i've tried/am trying to remedy.

The garden is still being worked on, given we've only recently moved into the house.
The one part of the fence she could jump, i didn't notice untill recently.
She's on a chain outside to protect the kids who keep jumping the walls. I've not spoken to my neighbours on their doing so, but i will do now.

Anyway, thanks again for the suggestions.

CC.

sillysmiles

CruelCoin wrote: »

I have never given the impression i can't be talked to.

I'm on a cul-de-sac, end of row house, and my garden being quit large borders 9 other gardens which are on a seperate cul-de-sac. The rear-of-house gardens are back to back.

Seeing as that we're on a different road, i've never seen these neighbours, i've never heard them in their gardens. I have had zero contact with them whatsoever.

This is not a case of me being unaproachable, rather its a case of them not bothering their hole.

Hi Op, to be clear, I'm not saying you are unapproachable.
what I'm say in that the amount of times I've read on this forum where somebody is complaining about a dog barking and they are told to go talk to the owner and very often they reply that "they can't".
People don't like conflict. A lot of people can not be assertive.

Also, unfortunately as the owner of a RB you are probably going to be stereotyped.

In my opinion, you need to be proactive and positive. Why not call around to you neighbours and apologise, say you didn't realise she was so bad and you are working on the barking, but if she starts bothering them to let you know.

The way I see it, you can either get bitter and vindictive or you can be positive and proactive.

The action from the authorities has already been satisfied. Now move on and build bridges with your neighbours to stop repeated reporting.

Mark Tapley

OP have you considered a dog flap ? Your dog might be less inclined to bark if it could go in and out. You would have to secure the garden though.