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Noisy dogs??


Sandg
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I am not quite sure if this is the right place to post this but has anybody any idea as how we should tackle the problem of our neighbours very noisy dogs. When any of them get left behind when the others go hunting - they bark continually - 8am to 8pm.

Madame goes out because she can't stand it either!

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Clair gathered and posted this information with links when a similar question was asked. I've just copied it here so don't thank me![:)]

[quote user="Clair"]This is the official line to follow, as described here too, from the Ministère de l'Intérieur

 This is their advice concerning neighbours

This is something you could suggest to your neighbour as an alternative to a fine

This is an advice group to help resolve neighbours conflicts.

This is their page concerning animals

[/quote]

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We have had no sleep due to the constant dog barking. It started at about 10 last night and has gone on incessantly since then. We gave up at  4 this morning and came downstairs. Its still going on and we,re tired fed up and grumpy. OH wants to go and bang on neighbours door but we don't know enough french to have an arguement with them. Unless they are not in because surely they couldn't be sleeping through this. How the dog has still got any bark left i don't know. Apologies for rambling but i'm hallucinating due to lack of sleep.

From a very miserable geordie girl[:@][:(][:(]

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Tresco,

Many thanks for your response - the info. that you tracked down is very useful. I think that we will have to pluck up courage and have a chat with our neighbours - we get on with them well normally. The mayor will be our next port of call however.

SandG

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To sandg and Geordigirl - we were at the other end of this once ie our dogs were barking all night and the neighbours couldn't sleep. We couldn't hear them as they were enclosed at a distance. The madame came round to ask us to do something about it and we kept them in near us after that. So try speaking nicely to the owners, as someone else said. Now we have moved and have no near neighbours so they can bark as much as they like - except they don't for some reason.
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Hope you have more luck than us.A new neighbour some couple of hubdred yards moved in over a year ago with multiple dogs enclosed in a resonating "barn.Never seen them,so obviously no exercise.They bark most nights at around midnight for 10 mins or so,sound like the Baskervilles,and then again usually abput 5 am.Our maire is as much use as a candyloss door knocker,and didnt want to know and in fact refused to accept my letters of complaint.I showed him the letter copies and also the Ministry print out and he told me to go to the gendarmes.When this moron moved in the locals said that they were going to monitor the dog situation and do something about it if there was any disturbance.Surprise,surprise,no one else hears the din although living much closer,they must all be out of their skulls with alcofrol.Cant join them cos I cant drink that amount to induce oblivion.Saving up for a crossbow with dum dum arrows.For the owner first.Obviously no point in trying to persue the problem higher as there is no back up.Will try and move house!!!!  A not unusual problem here in France,even the new build lotissement put a dog kennel up before the kiddies swings and barbeque.When we moved in ,the locals kept asking if we liked the "calm",what a larff after 5 years!the first two were ok,now slowly degenerating.       Maude . Roll on the revolution
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Our neighbour was reported by her next door neighbour to the Gendarmes and they came round and threatened her with a fine.  She was very upset but the dog does not bark as much now so she must have been dealing with it.  Some people just do not realise that they are barking.  It's a bit like kids, you have them and you filter out the noise most of the time. However, I make sure our dog does not bark unless there is someone coming to the house.  I have never had a problem stopping her.  Ask the other neighbours if they have a problem with it, be prepared to be unpopular as my friend's neighbour is.[:D]

Georgina

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I am not sure of the purpose of all these barking dogs. Our otherwise charming neighbour has half a dozen, some chained to a tree in his yard. Every time someone comes down the road between our properties the whole pack sound off.

His mother (in her mid 80s) lives in the farmhouse - which he does not. If the dogs are there to guard his property what are they to do when someone comes through his gate? Other than bark, which they do anyway.

If the barking is to warn her of burglars at night - how can she distinguish burglar barking from any other barking?
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[quote user="Georgina"]Some people just do not realise that they are barking.  It's a bit like kids, you have them and you filter out the noise most of the time.[/quote]I think you're right, but I don't think it's always a matter of "filtering out". 

We had an appalling noisy-dog problem in Spain, where we happened to have several neighbours who often went away for days at a time, leaving the dogs free in the yard or garden - with water and food, of course.  I had many arguments, sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes quite unpleasant, and I finally realized that a lot of people genuinely think their dogs don't bark because they only bark when they've been left alone, i.e. when their owners aren't there to hear them.

So when you complain, they think you're either lying or exaggerating, or it must be someone else's dog.

We never found a way of dealing with this.   Neither the police nor the mayor were of any use.   So far  in France we've been lucky, but you have my sympathy.

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Actually, a very close friend of mine had a complaint made against her and got a letter from the Environmental Health in England.  She was really furious (which was totally out of character for her) and said to me "they don't bark a lot do they"?  I said "well actually if you want me to be completely honest, they do".  I was shocked at her total surprise and I don't know if she believed me.  They really don't notice I am sure of it.  She knows I would never lie to her, so it was peculiar to see her face when I said that.  My neighbour also thinks her dog does not bark a lot, it does, but it does not bother me as I have a dog.  Selective deafness, it's the same when someone plays their music too loud, nobody likes being told what to do basically.

Georgina

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I wonder if some of the anger might be the route people take to address the issue.  Going direct the the Gendarmes, Mairie, Environmental Health (in sort the authorities) rather than discussing it with the dog owner would really annoy me as well.  Direct to the authorities is a great way to escalate the issue rather than address the problem.  Still, its the best some people can do.

Ian
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Tried this "nice" chat route before and also here in France-most owners dont even accept that their dogs annoy other people and usually defend their actions by return abuse or at least indignation that others have the dislike of noise.Have politely requested the local to curbe his many dogs- nothing has happenned.No one else will complain so  will just try and move !!!    Maude
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If the nice chat route does not work and it is necessary to pursue things through the authorities then fine.  At least the dog owners will not be totally surprised by you taking the next step.  However, even if you know the nice chat is not going to have any effect then I would still say do it anyway.  It ensures the owners are aware of the problem and are aware it is a nuisance.  Then when they get something from the authorities it will be less of a surprise and they cannot be angered because you never said anything to them.

Certainly if I got something out of teh blue I would be angry that the person complaining had not come and seen me to discuss, not that they had complained.  Whatever the dog owners reactions, forewarning them will probably lower their reaction when they do get contacted by any authorities and they are thus more likely to be cooperative.

Ian
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I think that is good advice Deimos but easier said than done.  Most people hate confrontation and avoid it at all costs.  When someone is annoyed by noise, they start to expect it to happen all the time and don't do anything about it until it really drives them insane, which is why you hear of sometimes neighbour shooting each other etc in England (possibly here too). Noisy neighbours - no one will understand unless they have had them,  it is hard to be reasonable after you have suffered any length of time at the other end.  Not easy.  We can all be reasonable about something when it does not affect us at all.
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