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Advice needed re: nasty neighbor
Hi - I'm not a regular but I posted back in August about our dog alarm barking and having issues with our neighbor about it. He (the neighbor) is at it again.
Back in August our neighbor called the cops and Animal Control on us. He told the cops he was speaking for everyone in the neighborhood (he wasn't) and complained that our dog was outside barking in the middle of the night (she wasn't). He also told Animal Control that there were huge piles of feces in our backyard (again, a lie). They came to check it out and the woman rolled her eyes and let us know a man had been calling weekly to complain and seemed "hell bent on getting someone out here".
Since then we've been working on getting our dog more exercise, shutting our windows when we're not home (I'm a SAHM so she's home with me all day), and calming the dog when she alarm barks. This usually only happens when there's someone at the door or near our house, and we get her calmed down quickly. We've spoken to all our other neighbors, and they all agree that the guy is an @$$, and that our dog isn't a problem.
Yesterday I let the dog out to pee around 5 PM, and she barked a couple times as she ran around the backyard. Then I start hearing this high-pitched whistle - a dog whistle. It came from the direction of his house, and when I looked over there, he was standing in the window. When he saw me look, he closed the curtain and the whistle stopped.
This is starting to border on harassment, but I'm not sure what to do since I can't prove it was him. I've been keeping a log of when she goes out, so he can't call the cops again and say she was barking all day long. He won't answer the door if I go and try to talk to him - he's very passive-aggressive. He's never actually personally spoken to us about our dog.
Seriously - she's only outside for the amount of time it takes her to do her business, and we don't let her out before 7 AM or after 10 PM. I'm home with her all day so I know she doesn't bark all day. What else can I do about this? I feel like he's blowing the whistle to encourage her to bark more, so he can call the cops again.
BFP 12/10/10 - Elise 8/16/11
Re: Advice needed re: nasty neighbor
As part of your log (which should be detailed as possible), include these strange behaviors from him. I wouldn't do anything right now but if things escalate, you'll have that record.
Sounds like you don't - but never leave your dog unattended in your yard because this guy sounds like a wacko and who knows what he might do.
Sheesh -- I'm sure your dog only barks when she hears something odd or thinks somebody unwarranted is outside. Who knows what dogs hear that they start to bark?
This guy sounds like a real gem. If he keeps this up, perhaps speak to your town council person; maybe this guy also has a health problem or some other issue that is causing him to go after you for something that isn't happening.
I agree with this 100%. If you're already keeping a log, I would add details about his craziness to it. And I would definitely hang out in the yard with her -- even if it's just an quick pee and back in. We do this anyway, but with an unstable neighbor, I wouldn't be comfortable with my dog out there alone for one second.
Ditto about keeping a close eye on your dog when she's outside.
Aside from that, I'd just try to ignore him and his whistle. You're not violating any noise regulations, you're not going to get into trouble, so there's no reason to stress yourself out over a wierdo neighbor.
However, if he does do something more or makes you feel like your safety or your dog's safety is threatened, then I'd just call the police. They likely won't do anything except talk to him, but just having the cops talk to him will likely intimidate him enough for the behavior to stop.
That is some odd behavior, I'm sorry you're dealing with it.
Definitely document. They'll know if he's full of crap, and they probably already do.
We had a BSC neighbor once who would come INTO the yard to video the dog barking. Idiot is lucky he didn't get bit. He also used to open the gate everyday. This was longggg ago when I was in elementary school.
Animal control came out, and the dogs didn't even bark at the lady when she rang the doorbell. So she and the cops went to his place, she told him he was full of it, and the cops told him if he continues he will have a trespassing charge and animal neglect charge against him.
There was a dog that barked endlessly, but it wasn't our dog. Not once did he ever approach us. Another neighbor was a cop in a neighboring city and found this guy in our yard. It was so weird.