I'm in a residential community. I've never heard of an HOA in Berkeley, CA. There is a noise ordinance with vague language as I said in the OP.
Last night I realized that I still hear barking at night, it's just not as frequent. Maybe because not so many people are walking by the fence in front of the guy's house.
A couple of weeks ago I was tarping my garage and from on top I could see two largish dogs, one black the other brown. But I never hear a litany of barking as if two dogs are barking. Maybe it's just one of those dogs that barks, the other keeps quiet. Seems weird, but don't know how else to explain it.
The barking is not like [BARK] [3 seconds] [BARK] [3 seconds] [BARK] [3 seconds] [BARK] [3 seconds]
There are really long roars that last up to ~10 seconds. It's like [ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR] [1/2 second] [ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR] [1/2 second] [ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR] [1/2 second] [ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR] [1/2 second]
Last night I turned in after 9:30PM and the dog was barking a fair amount, pretty loudly. I needed these to get to sleep:
Yes, I've been thinking that the next action on my part (I've done nothing so far other than post this thread) is to have a talk with the owner. However, I want to be prepared, not just walk up and knock on his door and go "you know, your dog(s) are driving me crazy, can you do something about that?" I already know he's not the most accommodating guy in the world. It took some cajoling to get him to clean up the more-than-a-hundred dog turds that littered his back yard and stunk things up big time a few years ago. However, he didn't just blow me off, he eventually started cleaning up, at least occasionally.
I can't disagree with this. My eastern neighbors are my best, maybe because they share a house. When you share you have a sense of the give and take of not annoying your neighbors. I used to share this house. When the owner decided to sell, I managed to buy it and subsequently kicked out my lazy roommates.I feel really sorry for you. I never gave dogs much thought one way or the other until I moved into my current neighborhood. It ought to be called Dogpatch given that almost everyone has at least two or three in their backyards unchecked. Have two on either side and have spoken with the owners repeatedly over the five years I've owned this house. It works for a short time and then they get lazy and stop tending to them (and its back to barking). I don't want an all out war with them so I just put up with it and fume. Within a few years I should be able to sell and I have no intention of buying a house in town again. Close neighbors suck.
Witnesses would be unlikely, however I don't know how I'd know the owner wasn't home.2nd the bear spray idea. Probably want to make damned sure the owner isn't home and there are no witnesses when you hit them with it.
Yesterday I took down the extensive bamboo trellises that I had up for my tomatoes and squash. It took me around 3 hours. The dog was barking most of the time. But I couldn't hear it most of the time because I had my MP3 player going and my earbuds crammed in my ears. Without that I would have gone nuts!No advice other than I can feel your pain.
I am so lucky my current neighbor's dogs are like 14 and rarely bark.
It would suck hearing that all the time and would make you a prisoner in your own house.
You wouldn't want to do anything outside.
I feel really sorry for you. I never gave dogs much thought one way or the other until I moved into my current neighborhood. It ought to be called Dogpatch given that almost everyone has at least two or three in their backyards unchecked. Have two on either side and have spoken with the owners repeatedly over the five years I've owned this house. It works for a short time and then they get lazy and stop tending to them (and its back to barking). I don't want an all out war with them so I just put up with it and fume. Within a few years I should be able to sell and I have no intention of buying a house in town again. Close neighbors suck.
it's been a month and a half since you posted and i'm guessing you still haven't just talked to your neighbor about this have you.
I had a chat in the gym a few weeks ago concerning this problem with a guy I met there, we've talked about this and that before, a savvy guy with a lot to say. His response was that people in the city don't realize, so often, that some breeds of dog just won't work out there, they are completely ill-suited by breeding, they will never be happy and many of those breeds will let everybody know by being awful barkers.I have a Dachshund. Horrible apartment dogs, but not my choice.
I prefer boston terriers. He barked at his own reflection once, it scared us because he never barked.
The Dachshund though... barks at leaves...and...planes flying overhead... and movement. Its terrible.
Man, I can relate.I hate dogs & dog people.
I had a chat in the gym a few weeks ago concerning this problem with a guy I met there, we've talked about this and that before, a savvy guy with a lot to say. His response was that people in the city don't realize, so often, that some breeds of dog just won't work out there, they are completely ill-suited by breeding, they will never be happy and many of those breeds will let everybody know by being awful barkers.
I think people used to own dogs & proper dog breeds in more appropriate houses.
These days cuteness is more important. Way too many irresponsible owners. Nothing against dogs themselves, its just I've seen way too many bad owners.
"Just talked..."
You're right and the reason is I don't want to get into it with him, at least not just now. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing rather than do something stupid. If and when I do have that talk I want to be prepared, know what the issues are, know what I want to say, have a fair idea of what I'm going to say in case he says, this, says that. This isn't trivial. I don't want to blow it.
Easy to criticize people from a distance. You are not walking in my shoes, I do not tell you how to live. Yea, maybe I should talk to him now, but I have plenty on my plate, it's not like I don't do anything.you've had over a month and a half and you had time to prepare what you want to talk to your neighbor about? holy shit, grow a pair.
Yup, it absolutely drove me up the wall a couple weeks ago when that dog barked virtually incessantly after dark until the owner evidently got home around 10PM. It was cold, I figured that's the reason. I'm sure it's getting colder where you are in Texas than here in Berkeley. The coldest I've experienced here is maybe 26 on the coldest night in the last 30 years, that was around 1991, we had a very cold week that year right around Xmas. This week's been chilly, but around 6 degrees higher. I'm hoping, but I've never seen a snow flake here!OP - Be glad that is ALL you have.
...here in Texas, we do get mildly cold winters. A few times it does get below freezing. These people are also too fucking stupid to realize that not every dog breed is built to handle harsh winters.