I live in a five-apartment building. Up until recently, three of us had dogs and everybody got along. Then a new neighbor moved in, and he has a little yap-yap dog - a chihuahua I think. At any rate, the dog is OBNOXIOUS as hell. It barks incessantly whenever it is let out - which is fairly often (I’m not sure my neighbor has a job because every day that we are home during the day, he is too.)
It has a high-pitched bark that we can hear through the walls. It doesn’t shut up. But worst of all, it is very aggressive. Last night, it tried to block my dog from coming down the stairs to go pee. It got in her face and she started to defend herself. I yelled for her to get moving and she did, but I am afraid of what could happen. What happens when I am not there in time to keep her from eating this little rat? She is easily 10 times the size of this little MF. I’m worried that this dog is going to start a fight, and my dog is going to finish it, and then we’re going to get sued or be forced to put our dog down because of what happens. I’m not going to let that happen. But I’m not sure what to do.
So what should I do? I don’t know this guy very well, but from what I’ve seen, I don’t like him. I’m reluctant to go to him directly because I’m afraid my dislike will come through and anyway I can’t think of a nice way to say “your dog is an obnoxious little shit and if my dog kills him it serves him right, oh and by the way please shut it up because it barks incessantly.” I was thinking about calling my landlord, but I don’t know what he could do. I’m seriously thinking about moving out because of this, and the neighbor has only been here about 2 months! That really doesn’t seem fair to me.
I’d get your other neighbors together and send a group letter to landlord. I don’t know where you live, but a lot of places have laws about nuisance barking.
How Not To Make Friends With Your Neighbor blatantly stolen from Vincent Price
1 Skin, gut and clean neighbor’s dog.
2 Preheat oven to 475 F. Combine seasonings in a small bowl and sprinkle over the meat.
3 Heat a large skillet over high heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil. Brown neighbor’s dog for 3 minutes on each side. Pour off fat from pan, but save any juices in the pan to make pan sauce later.
4 Transfer dog to roasting pan and roast, fat side up, in the middle of the oven for 14-16 minutes or until the internal temperature is 130-135 F for medium rare. Cut and remove dog-racks to a warm platter and let rest for 10 minutes while you make the sauce.
5 Set the original skillet back on a burner. Add stock and scrape up any browned pieces from the bottom of the pan. Reduce to about 1 tbsp. Add vinegar and remove pan from heat and whisk in the remaining 3 tbsp olive oil and mint to form a vinaigrette. Cut the dog-racks into individual dog-chops and top with the sauce.
6 Pack entire meal into a covered dish and leave on neighbor’s doorstep while he’s out looking for his lost dog. Don’t use one of your good covered dishes, as there is very little chance of you ever getting it back…
True, but the thing is, we never had to leash our dogs before. They are all well-behaved enough to stay on the property, answer to verbal commands and walk right by each other without a snarl. I think it is unfair that one person’s badly behaved dog should force all of us to leash our dogs.
The idea about approaching other neighbors is a good one. I’d like to hear what our swing-shift neighbor has to say about the daytime barking. Her dog is even bigger than mine. I’ll definitely do this.
At least you have the option of complaining to your landlord. My neighbor with the nuisance-making dog is my landlord. Not much relief to be had there.