Advice on neighbour's howling dog.

[Retikulan]

I could really use some advice about this from you guys (especially those who have experienced similar) as this is driving me absolutely nuts.
A month or two ago a new neighbour moved into the flat below mine and shortly after moving in he decided to get quite a large dog. He seems to work quite long hours as he can be away for between 8 to 12 hours at a time so the dog can be left alone for long periods of time, and that's where the problems start.
Shortly after being left alone the dog will howl intermittently throughout the entire time it's left alone, and believe me, it howls long, loud and hard. To give you an example of how bad it is, although the howling usually starts around 11am or noon, a few days ago it was howling at around 6.30 am in the morning and howled intermittently throughout the rest of the day till around 9.50pm.

I've spoken to the neighbour on a number of seperate occasions about the noise his dog is making and he's always apologetic and saying things like 'he'll leave the radio on', 'he'll get someone to come and look after it while he's out' (why get a dog in the first place then?), 'he's trying to train it' etc but it's now been going on for weeks and I believe that he's now just making excuses in an attemt to fob me off.

Since this has been going on for weeks now and nothing has changed, how long would you give him to resolve this situation and what further steps would you recommend or take?

 

[Retikulan]

Some interesting advice so far. Especially the one about speaking to other neighbours to see if they are bothered by it to the same extant that I am. I think I'll give that a try next.
As far as I can tell it's not lack of excercise or walking that's the problem. The guy will take his dog out for a walk before he goes out to work or whatever and I think his brother pops in later in the day to do the same, but the dog often starts howling shortly after they leave.

 

[Retikulan]

To be honest I'm getting tired of telling him about it as I've spoken to him about it three times already. Spoke to him about 10am this morning about it as well just before he left, he left sometime around 11am and I just got the first bout of howling at 11.50am...

 

[Retikulan]

I've held off for just over three weeks, surely that's long enough?
Quite a few good contructive ideas posted here that I might as well try, all except for FlakGunna and his cheapshot comment. I already have a job Flak, that's how I pay the rent on this place. It's also the reason why I have been complaining to the new tenant about the noise as I cannot get peace and quiet in the flat I pay to live in.
Perhaps you should get a life? Join reality?

 

[Retikulan]

You have my sympathy Malevolence, putting up with a neighbours barking or howling dog for hours on end can be an absolute nightmare.

Obvious option is to move somewhere else if you’re renting.

We do live in a rented flat and were planning on moving sometime in late spring 2018 but we're now seriously considering moving that date forward to before this Christmas.

I would suggest this as well. Obviously got time to write a post and complain so offer to take it for a walk.

So you believe that I should be taking responsibility for his dog simply because I had a free 10 minutes to make an internet post? Perhaps I should do his housework while I'm there, you know, just in case he's not responsible enough to take care of that as well
I have my own responsibilities such as work, home, 2 cats, private life, car etc to take care of without adding the responsibilities of someone that seems to be shirking theirs...

 

[Retikulan]

Maybe that's why you are miserable. I get on with my neighbours. If we go on holiday they will pop round and feed the cat. If I am going to the tip etc I will take some of their rubbish for them. Will always take their missed delivery etc etc. It seems to be a lost art in this country. Everyone is just angry at each other.

No Adam, I'm currently 'miserable' because my new neighbours dog howls...a lot. My 'misery' has got nothing to do with the rest of my neighbours as I get on quite well with them and they with me, just not this new one. I do the same with missed parcel deliveries for my other neighbours as you do, and they do the same for me. If they forget to take their bin out to the street on refuse collection day then I do it for them and they do likewise. Quite how you reached that conclusion based on my complaint about one new neighbour and his howling dog escapes me.

As Dowie pointed out there's a big difference in doing the odd favour for your neighbour now and again, which I imagine almost all of us do, and doing what (as Dowie correctly stated) would be unpaid work on a very very regular basis.

Firstly, I wouldn't have bothered going to speak to your neighbour. As soon as you do that, it becomes personal in the dog owners eyes. You also don't know how they will react.

I'm wishing that I did as you suggested and not bothered speaking to him about it as every time I complain to him about the howling it stops but only for a few days then it begins again.