Trisven13 Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 My sister has recently had a barking complaint about her dogs from one neighbour - first contact was to the ranger and subsequent contact has been made directly to my sister through a phone call on Sunday. The dogs sleep indoors at night but are outside during the day. Their yard is small (think Bangor in Sydney) and borders on 3 other houses. The neighbour's house is the house directly behind them. The neighbour rang on Sunday and asked that the dogs be kept quiet - my sister said that when the phone call was made the dogs weren't making a sound. The neighbour said that she was very ill, in and out of delirium and the dogs were causing her stress. I recommended my sister keep a barking diary as she didn't believe they barked a lot AND that she communicate with the neighbour that she would be investigating ways to reduce the barking, including fencing off the section of yard that borders her yard (which she has done). Anyway - she rang today to say that she has supporting letters from two other neighbours that her dogs are very behaved and don't bark and her barking diary shows that her dogs have barked the most today - 8 separate barks over the course of the day. Surely that is reasonable barking? By separate barks she means 1 "woof woof" and nothing more. She wanted to know if that would be considered too much barking and I said that I doubted it. She is very worried about going away for holidays this weekend with her family and her dogs being outside alone but also doesn't like the idea of them being locked up whilst she is away. She has a dog minder who visits every day to care for the dogs & cats - that person has also provided a reference for the dogs. I will be staying at her house whilst she is away so I will be interested to see how much (or how little) noise her dogs make. I'd love to be able to tell her what an acceptable level of barking was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caesars mum Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 not sure in NSW but here in Qld they are allowed 6 minutes in an hour during daylight and 3 minutes in a half hour during dark, I would imagine it would be much the same in NSW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fynesse Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 I should know this *embarrassed* considering I recently sat an exam which included it..... The link I posted in the other threat about the escaping dog has a bit about it on there (considered a nuisance when the barking interfers with the confort of anyone) but not sure on exact amount of time. If noone else comes up with it, Ill look it up tomorrow for you (and I really should know the answer anyway in case I get the same call!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poochmad Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 not sure in NSW but here in Qld they are allowed 6 minutes in an hour during daylight and 3 minutes in a half hour during dark, I would imagine it would be much the same in NSW. Wow, really? We have dogs around here that bark half the night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melzawelza Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 There is no actual time described in the NSW companion animals act. The act describes nuisance barking as barking thy it 'continuous and persistent' which is open to interpretation. Every council will have their own idea or guideline of what they consider to be 'continuous and persistent', but a lot of councils have a general guideline of 10-15 mins of the hour. Less if it's unsociable hours (late at night, early morning) From what she's described most councils wouldn't consider to be nuisance. But is she out of the house a lot? They may be barking when she isn't there. The supporting letters from neighbour's is great and I would encourage her to send those to council. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fynesse Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Was bugging me, so messaged a collegue, then we did some online research. As I stated earlier, there is only the bit in the CAA. I then looked up our noise regulations, but barking dogs isnt listed, so its def on a case by case basis. The neighbour will need to keep a barking diary of her own for any complaint to be followed up and neighbours will be interviewed to see who side they support (sounds like your sisters) Barking dogs can be annoying, but dogs will be dogs. If her neighbour would like to come and see what we live with, she will know the extent of REAL barking! Our neighbours have a cattle dog that hasnt been outside its yard in 2 years, it barks for at least 3 hours at night and is continuous through the day! Ive come to the conclusion that their entire family is deaf!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caesars mum Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 not sure in NSW but here in Qld they are allowed 6 minutes in an hour during daylight and 3 minutes in a half hour during dark, I would imagine it would be much the same in NSW. Wow, really? We have dogs around here that bark half the night! so do we, we have a lab out the back of our house that barks nearly all night on friday nights, I'm sure the family must go out or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowanbree Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 The problem is regardless of whether council thinks it is an issue the neighbour does and it is difficult to resolve without things escalating. It really is best to try and work with the neighbours and try and get them onside. When I lived in town I had a similar neighbour so I tried to involve him. I told him how much the dogs were allowed to bark and how much my dogs had improved as they only barked this amount of time which was well within the limits. I thanked him for letting me know there was an issue and asked him t let me know if the dogs ever barked more than what was legally allowed. In my opinion I never had an issue but I don't want unhappy neighbours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 We had neighbours who locked their poor SWF in the garage all day Obviously, it barked pretty much the whole time. After trying to resolve the issue with them, we contacted the council and were told dogs that bark for more than 20 minutes at a time could be considered a nuisance. We had to keep a diary etc. Nothing came of it though, the neighbours moved, hopefully to a place where they could keep their dog somewhere other than the garage. I really don't think 8 barks in the whole day is a nuisance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trisven13 Posted April 13, 2011 Author Share Posted April 13, 2011 My sister is dropping in her letters to the Council and her barking diary. She is also going to mention that the woman said that she is in and out of delirium because IMO that points to the fact that she doesn't always know what is going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bark Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 Hi I think it depends on which Council area you live in. I had a similar issue and found out that my Council considers any continuous barking for more than 6 minutes a nuisance. We spoke to the neighbours, found out why our dog barks and have tried a few things, I also take my dog to day care a couple of days a week provide a change in scenery whilst I'm at work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagsalot Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 My sister is dropping in her letters to the Council and her barking diary. She is also going to mention that the woman said that she is in and out of delirium because IMO that points to the fact that she doesn't always know what is going on. If its only this neighbour complaining then Id say the illness would probably have a bit to do with it. I've been in a similar situation where a elderly neighbour complained, but he ended up apologising and bringing Riley a Christmas present, as he said he was ill and just cranky at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 not sure in NSW but here in Qld they are allowed 6 minutes in an hour during daylight and 3 minutes in a half hour during dark, I would imagine it would be much the same in NSW. That's a lot of barking - especially at night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leelaa17 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Ive heard quite a few people mentioning doggy day care - what is it like? are there any nplaces people could recommend? I would be really worried about taking ym dogs there just because I would be so paranoid something would go wrong/. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Lab Love Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Ive heard quite a few people mentioning doggy day care - what is it like? are there any nplaces people could recommend? I would be really worried about taking ym dogs there just because I would be so paranoid something would go wrong/. Hi Leelaa17 My two go to day care in Penrith - Scooby Dogs and they LOVE it..... love it Linda runs the day care and she is amazing..... they get so excited when we get there and come home happy and exhausted ! They have so many regular doggy friends they play with and are looked after extremely well - their socialisation skills were not so good initally (completely our fault) but have come on in leaps and bounds since starting with Linda. Dogs are seperated according to size/age etc and I never have any hesiations or fears about leaving them there. I too was initially of two minds re day care but as OH and i both work full time in the CBD and long hours it has been a good solution for us as our two young Labs - in spite of a big daily walk and nightly training - were destroying our back yard through boredom.... We had been to see Steve at K(Pro for a few issues and Linda helped us implement them during the day ( and we carried on at night / weekends) and the change in their behaviour has been fantastic. She has been a godsend... So it may not work for everyone but is certainly has for us..... I love knowing that while I am at work they are safe/being looked after and having the best time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trisven13 Posted April 16, 2011 Author Share Posted April 16, 2011 Well I've been here now for 2 1/2 days and her dogs barely make a sound. My sister said that on the afternoon that she received the phone call her husband had been playing in the pool with their kids. My niece, God love her , has a very, very, very highpitched squealy voice when she is excited. Her husband said that he hadn't heard the dogs barking when he was in the pool and they actually think she was complaining about Tamsyn thinking it was a dog . Tamsyn's voice really cuts through you so I wouldn't be surprised. I will be writing a letter for my sister when I leave because, unless they're barking when she is out which is not what this woman is complaining about, I think she has confused my niece with a dog Poor Tamsyn, at 7 she is a little young to be really called a dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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