# Psycho Malignant Neighbor



## JD in SC (May 17, 2007)

Has anyone had to deal with a rotten neighbor who objects to their dogs barking? 

We just relocated, we are doing everything right. All legal as far as zoning. 

The neighbor has bombarded us with stadium horn, car alarms, and gunfire. One note on the mailbox telling us to fix the problem immediately. This has gone on for 4.5 months and with up to 300 ear piercing alarms a day we are frazzled. 

Cops have come once. Alarm started again as soon as they drove off. The wife is the secretary to the local chief of police. But we are out of their jurisdiction as we live out in the county. 

The PI finds an aka on him. 28 former liens on his property. DUI and one child endangerment. I am praying he's a felon so they can both be arrested. 

No SS&S comments. Can't move, took all we had to get here. I've thought of giving him a dose of 'Non-intelligent' type predictor control like a propane cannon but those are expensive! 

Please help. This freak is very unstable he's tried to garner support for his cause but no neighbor is bothered by our dogs. 

Thanks.


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## Belfrybat (Feb 21, 2003)

Your neighbour certainly seems over the top, but one question I have is are your dogs barking except for when someone comes on your property? If so, it is up to you to control your dogs. 

I lived next to someone who let their dogs bark all day and all night. I wish I had had a stadium horn or something during that time. Actually I was close to shooting the dogs but thankfully the people ended up moving. 

So -- if your dogs bark a lot do something to control them and let your neighbour know what you have done. Maybe if he knows you are working on the problem, he'll settle down. Dogs should bark only when there is a reason to do so.


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

I agree. We have a neighbor that lets the dog bark nonstop. It is unacceptable. Hope that is not your situation.


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

Me three.

I've lived for long stretches in more urban areas as well as in the country, and I don't care who you are or where you live -- letting dogs bark ceaselessly is a jerk thing to do. 

Your neighbor may be a no-hoper, but that does not give you the right to interfere with his peaceful enjoyment of his property. If your dogs are boredom-barking or barking non-stop for any reason, you must be a good neighbor and put a stop to it. His methods may be unacceptable, but by not addressing the underlying problem, your methods are no better.

Besides, are you willing to see how far he will go to stop your dogs barking? The situation can get a lot uglier than it already is. That would be a real shame, if you're both stuck there for the foreseeable future.


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## JD in SC (May 17, 2007)

Nope. Not nuisance barkers. They've warned off bear, scared off thieves trying to steal the water pump at the empty property by us, barked when the landslide on the road above occurred. Things like that. These are smart dogs, not senseless idiots.


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## Raeven (Oct 11, 2011)

Ok, apologies if I judged hastily. It just seemed like the easiest solution to your dire problem is to remove the antagonism â meaning stop the dogs from barking. If it is true your dogs only bark to warn or defend you or your property, then your problem is much more difficult to solve and you have my heartfelt wishes for a good outcome â though I am not hopeful.

I will mention that I once had neighbors who had learned to tune their dog out. In fact, the dog barked morning till night and beyond. But it wasnât until I tape recorded the animalâs ceaseless barking and shared it with them that they realized it really was intolerable. They just didnât hear it. I share the tale as a gentle caution to make sure you are being honest with yourself about how much your dogs are barking. 

Is a family member home at all times to assure you that your dogs aren't barking while you're away? I once had a dog who didn't bark at all when I was around, but as soon as I left the house to go to work, he started with the boredom-barking. My neighbor told me about it (I had invited her to tell me if the dog was ever a problem, so was glad she did), and I was then able to take steps to stop the dog barking during the day. I would never have known if she didn't tell me about it.

I have no problem accepting that you live next to a crazy person. Someone has to live next door to them, and having myself drawn that short straw a time or two, you have my sympathies. Unfortunately, the only real solution I was able to work out was the one youâve already eliminated as a potential option: Move.

Have you ever had an actual conversation with this neighbor? Have your interactions been confined to him making loud, threatening noises in your direction and leaving a note for you about your barking dogs? Have you prevailed upon a lawyer or other authority who may intercede on your behalf as a mediator? It does sound as if things have gone too far at this point to take over a six pack and just jaw your way through it.

I suggest compromise of some kind if at all possible, because even if you manage to get him arrested, this is merely a temporary solution. Unless he commits a murder (and letâs not think who his victim might be!), he wonât be gone for long, and your problem will be no closer to being solved. I have a feeling SS&S may end up being the solutionâ¦ only the victims will be your dogs.  And that would be a dreadful outcome.

What do the neighbors say about this guy? Does he complain about any of their dogs, or just yours?


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## painterswife (Jun 7, 2004)

Why are you being bombarded with 300 ear piercing alarms a day if your dog is only barking occasionally? Sorry but I don't think we have the whole picture.

You may not be in the wrong but there is more to this.


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## mzgarden (Mar 16, 2012)

Perhaps an old video camera that captures video & sound or downloading a smartphone app will provide the proof you require to get some local help. Video with sound would provide proof 1) that your dogs are not barking for unreasonable lengths of time and 2) your neighbor is being unreasonable and, it sounds possible it may escalate to danger (you said gunfire).

If you have confirmed your dogs are not barking unreasonably then you'll likely need to escalate to get help with the neighbor or, and it would be very unfortunate, you may find your dogs missing, poisoned or shot. This has happened near us when a neighbor becomes out of control and stops thinking and just begins to strike out.

I do think there is an immediate assumption that dogs bark more than owners think they do and so having proof that your dogs are not nuisance barkers may help you.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

JD in SC said:


> Has anyone had to deal with a rotten neighbor who objects to their dogs barking?
> 
> We just relocated, we are doing everything right. All legal as far as zoning.
> 
> The neighbor has bombarded us with stadium horn, car alarms, and gunfire. One note on the mailbox telling us to fix the problem immediately. This has gone on for 4.5 months and with up to 300 ear piercing alarms a day we are frazzled.


I had a neighbor move in that had a LGD that barked all night long. ALL night long. 
The last 4 years in my home, I could not sleep with my widows open because of him. 
I get that he is 'protecting their 4 lambs" but dang, put him in the barn with them at night so others can sleep.

4.5 months?
Did they come over and say "hey, can you stop the barking" first THEN resort to the horns?
1) This guy is very irritated by a barking dog
2) There is a lot more to this story.....



> Cops have come once. Alarm started again as soon as they drove off. The wife is the secretary to the local chief of police. But we are out of their jurisdiction as we live out in the county.


So......for 4.5 months, your dog has driven him crazy, his retaliation is driving you crazy and the cops have only come out once?
So, it sounds like you called the cops???
What did they say?



> The PI finds an aka on him. 28 former liens on his property. DUI and one child endangerment. I am praying he's a felon so they can both be arrested.


Sounds like this not the guy to pssi off. 
If you are 'an outsider' (meaning you have moved to the country and you were not born and raised there) and then you bring a barking dog that you won't control? 
That is NOT the way to become part of the country community. 
That's a good way to be on the receiving end of mountain justice. 
You spent $$ on a PI to dig up dirt on your neighbor, but you didn't spend the money on ways to get the dog to stop barking? 
That seems a little off to me.



> No SS&S comments. Can't move, took all we had to get here. I've thought of giving him a dose of 'Non-intelligent' type predictor control like a propane cannon but those are expensive!
> 
> Please help. This freak is very unstable he's tried to garner support for his cause but no neighbor is bothered by our dogs.
> 
> Thanks.


He was there first.
The neighbors were there first.
You will lose this battle.
Shut the dog up before they SSS this dog, and every dog you buy after that.
You are the outsider, you cannot win this fight.


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## JD in SC (May 17, 2007)

Lol! I am once again reminded of what this forum once was and what it has become. I am in a forum for 'Working Dogs' looking to see what anyone has done about a sour neighbor. So the denizens here use it for an opportunity to let me know how suspicious they are of my story, and how many barking dogs they've been faced with. Apparently the anger still runs deep upon remembering it.

SMH. So you've ended up on the wrong end of a neighbors barking dog. I get that. However this is different. Think I'll head out of here and talk to breeders in my area. 

As seen on bathroom walls: Beam me up Scotty, .... 

Have a nice day, if you remember how.


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## frogmammy (Dec 8, 2004)

Since you may not be back, this may not matter, BUT.....

The man seems to think it's YOUR dogs barking excessively...are there OTHER dogs in the area? I live in the city and have had neighbors tell me, they heard my dog barking at 3am. I was able to tell them, no, not my dog, because after 9pm, my dog is ALWAYS in the house, and sleeps in a crate about 10 foot from me. BELIEVE me, I would DEFINATELY hear if it was my dog barking. Then I point out to them where the other houses with dogs are.

Mon


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## wiscto (Nov 24, 2014)

Is someone home at all times? The only thing I can think of is just keep some kind of record. Someone else mentioned video, so I guess I'll let it lay. Other than that... I hear SimpliSafe is a nice cheap and reliable home security system...


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## Hitch (Oct 19, 2016)

I wouldn't do anything to instigate an unstable neighbor. What you claim is reasonable barking is your opinion. Personally we have a neighbor who's dog barks a lot. I really don't mind it during the day but late at night is over the line. I've talked to him several times, he apologizes but then it happens a few weeks later. I now just file complaints with the city. In your case, since it's your dogs barking you should look at other measures such as a bark collar or restricting your dogs access to the area of property you share with him.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

If the OP lives in a rural place, there is literally nothing that the neighbors can do if the dog is a working dog and guarding the place from unwanted critters by barking. Some places even have laws that enable the landowners to possess dogs that are livestock guard dogs.


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## Lady89 (Feb 22, 2014)

i suggest you invite a plain clothes cop, who&#8217;s jurisdiction you are in over for diner, see is any one your wife works with knows someone. Do your best not to let you neighbors know someone is coming over at all, and don't let any one know it is a cop. Give your neighbor just enough rope to hang him self


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## CountryMom22 (Nov 27, 2014)

So JD where do you stand with the neighbor now? I've been in your position, but in my case the neighbor was wrong. Although she did hear a dog barking all day, it wasn't mine. Once I established that fact, she left me alone. We haven't heard from her since.

Hope you got this thing resolved!


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