Frustrated Homeowner Snapped At Neighbors' Noisy Dachshund To Shut Up After Tolerating Its Constant Barking For Months

The neighbors said that yelling at their dog was unreasonable but even they admitted that the dog was their "biggest mistake"

Chelsi

• Published in Animal Stories
• February 28, 2023

Dogs bark, it's what they do, and it's one of the ways that they communicate with other dogs. A dog barking non-stop, however, is most definitely annoying.

No one can attest to this better than this OP, who happened to be neighbors with a loud dog. OP is new to their neighborhood, and they immediately noticed how barky the next-door Dachshund was.

OP tried to tolerate it, but the dog has been upping its vocal exercises for the past few months. The terrible thing is it stays outside from 10 AM to 5 PM near OP's home office.

It has been difficult for OP to concentrate on their work while the dog barks its head off for hours on end. OP's mental health and job have suffered because of the dog's barking.

OP even tried to work later in the day to avoid the dog's morning schedule but found it impossible to sleep after work the following morning because of the dog's shrill barks. OP is constantly stressed out about it.

They even had to cancel an important work presentation because the dog was that loud, even with all of their windows closed. OP's significant other had already approached the neighbor about the problem, and they sheepishly admitted to it.

The husband said that adopting the dog was his biggest mistake

Since the talk, the dog wasn't left outside as much and the barking has lessened however, when it does bark, it's still extremely loud

It has improved, instead of barking for five hours, the dog now barks for an hour combined every single day which is still distracting for OP

It all came to a head when OP was working on a project near its deadline and the dog kept barking

OP tolerated it for awhile but after 30 minutes, they yelled at the dog to "SHUT UP." The husband texted OP's SO about this and said that OP crossed a line.

OP knows that yelling at a dog is a bad move but it was out of frustration. Did OP really cross a line?

Barking is natural to dogs, the blame should be placed on the dog's owners

They can desensitize their dog to some triggers and maybe keep it indoors or they can pay someone else to train it not to bark as much

OP can look into their local laws and ordinances to see if there is something official that they can do about the dog's constant noise

If OP doesn't have that kind of time to research, they can directly ask Animal Control what to do

OP's neighbors are lazy dog owners who can't be bothered to keep their dog from being a nuisance to their neighbors

For the time being, OP can look into buying a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones for their own peace of mind

OP's neighbors probably didn't research enough if the Dachshund is the right dog for their family, hence it's their "biggest mistake"

Based on this story, they really are neglectful owners and the dog is expressing its discontent

OP admitted that yelling at the dog was not the smartest move, but the owners weren't doing anything about the noise. They had already approached them about how distracting the dog's barks can be, but they didn't really follow through with any real solutions.

OP has a lot of options here, but the best course of action is to look into local laws about excessive noise and to communicate to the neighbors that if they don't deal with the barking, OP has no choice but to report them. All things considered, Redditors voted that OP was not at fault here.

Chelsi