Barking Fine

[Clarkey]

Have any of you received a fine as a result of your dog barking?

I received a complaint letter from Animal and Bylaw services today. My dogs bark inside the house if someone comes up to the door or walks by on the front lawn (I think this is fair). They will also occasionally bark in the back yard at a magpie or whatever. It is not incessant and we stop it immediately whenever we hear it. I'm not saying they are perfect but I think it is reasonable.

I'm looking for stories from people on either end of the fence. I want to be a good neighbour but I also don't appreciate having anonymous complaints from the city.

How many warnings and steps does it have to go through before I start getting fines (I've read the rules on the City's site, I'm looking for an actual experiences)? Has anybody here actually received a fine?

[RougeUnderoos]

Is your dog cute?

Do the kiss-ass thing. Write a note and put it in all your neighbour's mailboxes.

"Sorry about the dog barking. Don't be afraid to come by and tell me to keep the dog quiet. I've had a complaint from the city and I'll be taking all the necessary bla bla bla..."

I hate dogs barking but if someone put that in my mailbox I'd give 'em way more leeway and I wouldn't complain to the city again, even if things didn't really change.

[604flames]

We just got a letter last week about my 10 month-old flat coat, the validity of which I highly doubt.

First of all, we haven't heard one peep from any of our neighbours about his barking, until all of a sudden the District sent us an anonymous complaint (warning, no fine). We have two dogs, who keep each other company when we (myself and my parents, all of whom work at least 3 days/week) are away from the house, and we have dog walkers come twice a day on the days when all three of us are away.

My mom (who is, to say the least, quite assertive), went to all of my neighbours with a hand-written note first and foremost apologizing for any inconvenience, but then also inviting the complainants to talk to us personally about any problems.

Turns out it was the people who live three houses down and behind us. They must have REALLY good hearing...

EDIT: Clarkey I admit I laughed at the Coyote logo in the title

[Kybosh]

You should try keeping a log of when the dog barks. That way you'll have a little bit of evidence to back yourself up if the bylaw guy stops by again. My parents did this to prove to the city that the person filing the complaints was just an ass.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

You should try keeping a log of when the dog barks. That way you'll have a little bit of evidence to back yourself up if the bylaw guy stops by again. My parents did this to prove to the city that the person filing the complaints was just an ass.

Why not just quiet them down? Seems sort of rediculous to listening to your dog barking and do nothing about it, except note the date and times. Our neighbours next door decide at 5:15am everyday to let their dogs out for 35-45 minutes where they bark constantly. We've never called the city and instead tried to get them to stop it. It doesnt work, they are obviously morons using excuses like "The rabbits in the yard always get them going". As dog owners its our responsibility to deal with that kind of behavior, not tune it out while the neighbour rips his hair out.

[4X4]

If your OP is 100% true (as far as your perception goes), then you may be dealing with a class-A butthole. I didn't believe these people exist until 5 years ago when my friend bought a house in Bridlewood and had the unfortunate experience of living next to (SOB that I probably better not name lest I be reprimanded by CP authority for besmirching the name of a dickface without any proof other than my rage) some guy.

OP, batton down the hatches and prepare for war. You've got an a-hole in your midst. Most likely one of your next door neighbours. Be careful not to accidentally set your BBQ on fire and need to borrow the neighbour's hose. He probably wont lend it to you. And if you use it anyway, he'll go to his basement and shut off the water regardless of the fact that an explosion will significantly damage his house.

[Robbob]

Wow, I have a dog right behind me that barks for hours straight and I haven't called him in. Some people must have nothing better to do with their spare time.

[Flames in 07]

They may not complain in person because you never know how anyone will react.

Whenever we had loud neighbours we'd have quite a wide range of reactions to a polite complaint.

[icarus]

Probably a retired old-person who has nothing to do but complain. If your dog just occasionally barks outside the house then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Do you have any neighbours you are on good terms with? Ask for their opinion on the barking, and then you'll get a sense of how bad it really is.

[LeftWing]

Our neighbor is completely oblivious to the fact that her dog barks *every time* its outside. I honestly believe that they can't hear it. We happen to like our neighbors so we've been gritting our teeth and waiting for the barking (sometimes at 5:00 am) to pass, but I happen to know that some of our other neighbors (as far as 3 doors down) can also hear it and are quite annoyed by it. We won't be calling the City, and we haven't even mentioned it to them since we don't know them all that well, and we want to keep relations cordial.

If someone has called the City, it's possible that it's some 80 year old with too much time on their hands, sure. But it's also possible that your dog is genuinely annoying to some of your neighbors. Just sayin'.

[Antithesis]

Originally Posted by 4X4

If your OP is 100% true (as far as your perception goes), then you may be dealing with a class-A butthole ...

Did you forget the green text? Dog owners (in my experience) seem to have little understanding of just how annoying their precious little friend can be when it "gets all worked up because of those dag gum rabbits".

There's a variety of reasons why even the slightest barking (or what the OP is describing) could be a very real annoyance and detriment to neighbors. My son goes to sleep at 7:00. You try to calm my wife down when your dog feels the need to announce its presence and wake my kid up.

This doesn't even mention the fact that a dog barking is one of the most hideous, annoying sounds in the entire world. It's certainly in my Top 5 most annoying sounds, so I can see being annoyed by it.

Not to mention the very real possibility that the person described in the OP might be leery of going directly to the neighbor to complain - you never know what you might get in return. If I had a problem with a dog I'd likely call bylaw sevices too, and from the sounds of it, no harm no foul at this point.

Then again, this might be some old person with too much on their time as well.

[ken0042]

As mentioned, it's quite possible that the person doesn't know you well enough to approach you.

Funny story; one of my neighbours who is also a police officer had his dog barking half the night one night. The dog was known to go on barking fits from time to time when he was away. None of my newer neighbours wanted to approach him; because he does come off as being a little short with people, and nobody wanted to piss off the local cop. I went up and asked him one day what his dog's name was again. He asked why and I told him she was barking up a storm one night, and even when I went out to talk to her she wouldn't stop.

He apologized over and over, and even gave me some of her commands to instruct her to be quiet. (She was being trained to be a police dog, so she had some non-English commands that she would follow.)

I like the idea of the apology letter- who knows if the neighbour who made the complaint just didn't know you well enough to approach you.

[edn88]

A few years ago, our neighbors would let their three small poodle like dogs out into their back yard on weekends and they would bark their heads off to get back in. Well they would be out there for at least 15-20 minutes barking.

If I had realized I could call bylaw services, I would have done so in a second. After the second time being woken up by inconsiderate dog owners I had had enough.

[fredr123]

I've been on the other end of things before. The people who lived in the apartment above us had a small dog. They worked all during the day and their kids went to school, leaving the dog alone in the apartment all day. My wife and I both worked shift work so we would be home during the day quite often. That dog would bark fairly constantly whenever it was left alone.

I tried going up there on a couple of occasions but to no avail. The people who lived there were a bit unapproachable and I assume they were reluctant to believe their cute little fido was such a bad widdle boy when they weren't around.

Eventually building management used that, and a bunch of other things, to finally turf those guys from the building.

There's a lot to be said for being reasonable neighbors and trying to talk things out before calling bylaw services. But for every a-hole dickhead out there that complains about the tiniest thing, there is probably at least one pet owner who shows little respect for the peace and quiet enjoyed by others.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Why not just quiet them down? Seems sort of rediculous to listening to your dog barking and do nothing about it, except note the date and times. Our neighbours next door decide at 5:15am everyday to let their dogs out for 35-45 minutes where they bark constantly. We've never called the city and instead tried to get them to stop it. It doesnt work, they are obviously morons using excuses like "The rabbits in the yard always get them going". As dog owners its our responsibility to deal with that kind of behavior, not tune it out while the neighbour rips his hair out.

You misunderstand me. Keep a log of when the dog was out, if and when they were barking and when you stopped them and brought them back inside. If you seem like a decent person and the complaints are only coming from one person, the bylaw officers will likely side with you.

[habernac]

I called the local bylaw on a cat owner. I really had no desire to go over there myself and talk to them. I was tired of it taking a crap in my front flower bed. I have cats, also, and they go out in the backyard on leashes. The last straw was when the cat got into a fight with mine. He's pretty much defenseless if he gets tangled up (luckily, he didn't). Mine actually won the fight but I really don't want to take the chance again.

I haven't seen that cat out much since then (and maybe he's not coming into our yard because of the ass kicking he got last time). I had to laugh, though. As soon as the frickin bylaw went to their house to talk to them, he comes right over to my house to talk to me. Way to keep my confidentiality you morons.

[Tron_fdc]

There's a certain flower (I think it's a marigold) that cats apparently hate. If you plant them, supposedly cats won't come anywhere near your flower pots.

Don't ask me why I know that.

[The Ditch]

Two weeks after I moved into my new house the by law officer came to my house. Turns out my next door neighbours phoned me in for my dogs crapping in my backyard (we always clean up). That was a nice welcome to the community. They have also phoned the bylaw officer on me twice for not shoveling my walk, but I am religious about shoveling the walk. I seriously now have to document pretty much everything I do in picture or writing. I moved into this place in September.

So in conclusion, some people are just jerks.

[burn_baby_burn]

I had neighbors across the alley who had small dogs that would sit and bark constantly when they were outside. Drove me nuts and I couldn't believe that people would be so inconsiderate. I'm not one to complain, but somebody must have. I haven't seen the dogs around for a year or so.

Another neighbor up the block lets their dog run around without a lease on to crap on everyone's lawn. I have visions of punting that thing off a bridge. Then I remind myself that it isn't the dogs fault that his owners are complete jerks.

Seriously though, there should be some sort of legislation on who can and who can't own pets in urban centers. My next door neighbor has a large dog only about 2 years old. The poor thing just sits on the deck staring into our backyard. I feel so sorry for that dog. Her life has all the charm of a maximum security prisoner.

[Barnes]

^^We may be neighbors. When my dog barks, I go out to correct her right away. She's usually barking to try and get people to come and play with her but she's a rottweiler so people assume she's mean.

When she hears kids coming up the block, she shakes her tail so hard I think her ass is going to fall off one day.