Zette and nisosbar, I am not defending my dogs’ barking. I am aware it has been a problem in the past and it has been addressed.
For the record, my first approach to the problem was to make sure the dogs were indoors any time I was home. This is on top of being indoors between 6pm and 7am anyway. There was no further complaint,and I took it from that, that whatever their issue with the dogs was, it had been addressed to their satisfaction.
When my work situation changed, there were occasions they would not be inside until 8 or 9 pm. The first I knew that there was still a problem was upon receiving a letter from the council. The neighbour asserted that my dogs barked constantly day and night. I cannot dispute the daytime part one way or another as I work 8-5; I have to take the neighbour’s word for it.
As for the “all night” part, this is very difficult (ie not possible) to substantiate - the dogs have always been inside after 6pm (and as I said, occasionally as late as 8pm, but never any later). In short, the neighbour in question exxagerated the problem to the council and I have to live with the consequences of that.
Fine. My issue is not with the complaint about barking - I have already stated that I acknowledge there has been some problematic barking which has been addressed.
My issue is with the methods employed by the neighbour in question. A single anonymous letter, followed up six months later by a complaint to the council does not fall into what I call “communication”.
If the neighbour really had an issue with it, they should have spoken to me directly about it, perhaps assisted me in monitoring the dogs’ progress etc etc etc. Had I received feedback that there was still an issue with the barking, it would have been dealt with much sooner.
Max.