neighbor's dog | Imamother

Ima2

Sun, Jun 29 2008, 11:05 pm

So my non-Jewish upstairs neighbors are really nice pple and are generally considerate about not making too much noise upstairs (they have a 10 year old oy and 15 year old girl). But they have this dog, who by the way is really cute and really kind of quiet when inside the apt. The only prob is that they tend to put their dog out on the porch at the times that my dd takes a nap. He apparently doesn't like being on the porch b/c he barks the whole time he's out there. So usually I go upstairs and ask that they put him back inside. They rae really nice about it and apologetic and all so no prob. On shabbos, they did it again and I wasn't dressed yet-it was shabbos!- and it was 9am. So I figured it'd be ok to just bang on the ceiling. It worked. Now I kind of feel mean for doing that. Do you think that they think that I am obnoxious or that it wasn't nice of me?

mimivan

Mon, Jun 30 2008, 12:29 am

I'd try asking rather than banging on the ceiling...but it depends on how sensitive they are...it seems they got the point...

talking about being disturbed during Shabbat...

a secular neighbor who hates us used to bring her dog to do doo-doos in front of our door every Shabbos morning...we figured out it was them, but we couldn't prove it.

B'h they are moving today Cheers

I give you a bracha that your neighbors either get the message or move!

Ima'la

Mon, Jun 30 2008, 1:22 am

Maybe next time you see them, apologize matter-of-factly, "Oh, really sorry about banging on the ceiling the other day - I felt really rude doing it, but it was just one of those late weekend mornings and I wasn't dressed to come upstairs yet. Thanks for being so accommodating about keeping the dog indoors while dd is sleeping."

Mommy3.5

Mon, Jun 30 2008, 9:42 pm

9 am is a perfectly reasonable time for a family to make noise. While your child may be napping the rest of the world is wide awake. I think if you were my neighbor, I would not be too happy with your requests. Try putting the baby down to nap in another room. It's also REALLY rude to bang on the ceiling.

Tehilla

Mon, Jun 30 2008, 9:44 pm

mimivan wrote:

talking about being disturbed during Shabbat...

a secular neighbor who hates us used to bring her dog to do doo-doos in front of our door every Shabbos morning...we figured out it was them, but we couldn't prove it.

why didn't you redeliver in a pretty package to their door Motzei Shabbos?

just kidding. sort of.

GAMZu

Mon, Jun 30 2008, 9:51 pm

Tehilla wrote:

mimivan wrote:

why didn't you redeliver in a pretty package to their door Motzei Shabbos?

just kidding. sort of.

With a bow and all...

HindaRochel

Tue, Jul 01 2008, 3:01 am

Ima'la wrote:

Ima'la has the perfect response imho. And then I would also keep my dd in a different room for naps etc.

DefyGravity

Tue, Jul 01 2008, 10:28 am

Ima2 wrote:

He apparently doesn't like being on the porch b/c he barks the whole time he's out there.

Dogs bark, that's what they do. I doubt he's barking to be let in (unless it's his "let me in bark" which sounds very different from an excited bark). Dogs love going outside and barking at things that they see out there. That's usually the highlight of any dog's day, other than going on a walk.

Ima2

Thu, Jul 03 2008, 11:56 pm

Thanks for your responses. I can't put dd to sleep anywhere else. She needs a crib and my other dd's room is an outside wall to the hallway and the walls are paper thin. Hence, my problem. The porch is right off the room where my dd sleeps, so it's particularly bothersome. And in my opinion, 9am on a weekend is early. The rest of the world is wide awake, but it's not considered considerate to make noise before 10am on a weekend b/c pple like to relax...no phone calls, no noise etc till 10am. I just don't think they get it, I mean the last time she's had a baby was 10 years ago! We'll see what happens this weekend.

Butterfly

Fri, Jul 04 2008, 4:18 am

You might want to consider to buy a noise maker for your DD? I believe that it could be very helpful in this case. Even though the sound of the barking is louder than the noisemaker, it somehow delivers enough soothing sounds, like rainfall or waterfall, to keep the child distracted from the outside noises. In our family we use it all the time.. it works wonders.

You might want to apologize to your neighbor for knocking on her ceiling... It can only help to make both of you feel better about it.. And you never know.. she might even suggest that you do it again if necessary.. What is most important, is to stay in good terms, and work out this issue in a compromising manner. Dogs need their time and space too..
good luck

Ima2

Fri, Jul 04 2008, 8:21 am

thanks for the idea. we actually used to have a noise machine for her and it really worked. But we didn't want her to get dependant on it and she can really sleep without it now. The neighbors don't do it so often, mostly on the weekends. They let him out usually to clean the apt. Why can't they just put him in a room while they clean? Nobody else's dog barks on the porch! Anyways, that's my feeling on it. My husband thinks that they're not doing anything wrong. But I think that it's rude to let your og on the porch by itself if you know it's going to bark a lot, especially on the weekends. We live in an apt complex where the apts are close together. I think that it's just not nice.

Butterfly

Fri, Jul 04 2008, 10:45 am

Unless it were an everyday thing, I wouldn't worry about your DD becoming dependant to a noisemaker. if it is only used occasionally, or just at weekends, it wouldn't have that kind of affect at all.

About your neighbor's dog barking constantly while he is on the porch, is probably just as annoying to your neighbors as it is to you. Why don't you discuss this with your neighbors, and decide between each other how to handle this situation in a delicate manner. Maybe through the landlord... a letter...

Good luck