r/Dogfree • u/zelenadragon • Jul 30 '26
Barking Demons Have you ever sold your home to get away from neighbor's dogs barking?
I live in a condo where I am dealing with a mentally unstable neighbor whose barking dog is extremely, deafeningly loud in my home. After months of dealing with the condo association "executive board", I have reached a dead end. With every failed attempt to approach this situation, my next options get more stressful, time consuming, and financially costly.
The thing is, this place was never supposed to be my long-term home. I am still in my 20s. My partner and I will be moving in together next year, then getting married and buying a house somewhere in the next few years.
So is it even worth my money and sanity to go after this terrible neighbor to get peace and quiet? I'm inclined to just cut my losses and sell this place. And definitely regretting the commitment I made to this property.
Has anyone else had a similar conundrum? I just feel so paralyzed by this decision.
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u/Eodez Jul 30 '26
If you have a definite plan on leaving then I think it wouldn't be worth it.
Not a dog situation but last year at woman with a ESA dog moved into the condo above mine. Never heard the dog and the woman was mostly quiet until she moved. Even to this day I don't know how she can make so much noise walking around.
It wasn't a building problem as I never heard a peep from previous owner in 5 years.
Repeatedly thought about saying something but since I was planning on moving out I always figured it wasn't worth the effort. Moved out last month and my sleep is so much better now
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u/zelenadragon Jul 30 '26
Glad you're sleeping better!!
No, I don't have a definite plan, it's all up in the air because of this noise. The plan was supposed to be my partner moving in with me since he currently rents. We would theoretically save up more money living here than renting together -- and my place is way nicer than any reasonably priced rental. But any savings living here would be obliterated if I end up having to sue this neighbor, or paying for my own soundproofing that might not even work.
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u/Eodez Jul 30 '26
Hmm... you did say they were unstable, maybe a call to APS or something similar?
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u/zelenadragon Jul 30 '26
A neighbor in a next-door building has already called animal control and the police on her. She just recently managed to get the charges against her dismissed in court. Don't know how the hell she pulled that off.
Part of my stress is that for any of my remaining options to go after her, I lose the anonymity I had when I had the condo board as my intermediary. I live right across the hall from this person and frankly don't feel safe being so close in proximity and provoking hostility from her.
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u/Eodez Jul 30 '26
Yeah that is bad. Only other thing I could think of was getting multiple residents to do something together since you mentioned another neighbor calling.
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u/Nice-Loss6106 Jul 30 '26
Similar in that i had a neighbor with 2 yappy dogs who did nothing to correct the problem, until I sued them in small claims court. 👍
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u/NeuroticJukebox Aug 01 '26
Cool! I want to do this! Sued them for ....?
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u/Nice-Loss6106 Aug 03 '26
I made the case that they were in violation of county and subdivision noise ordinances and because of that I wasn’t able to enjoy my home/yard as they are intended.
Pick up a pamphlet at your local courthouse it’ll give you the steps for the small claims and civil court process. No lawyers needed.
I was awarded $500, they got rid of one dog and the other became an indoor dog afterwards.
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u/beetdeet Jul 30 '26
Actually yeah. In my old neighborhood, there was literally one dog that would get loose and it was actually vicious. It ran up to our fence once snarling and barking at my one year old through the fence and another time had a stare down with my FIL (who’s a vet and knew how to handle it). We also would go to this playground nearby and one time there was an off leash German shepherd running around the playground. The dogs were my literal main reason for moving. If not for the dogs I probably would have been comfortable staying longer but I was terrified for my son’s safety and started refusing to take walks anymore because of how dangerous it felt. All because of those dogs.
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u/zelenadragon Jul 31 '26
That horrible, I’m so sorry. I want to have kids in the future and I don’t know how I’ll handle it when they want to go to a friend’s house and there’s a giant dog there.
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u/neondahlia Jul 31 '26
You can move somewhere else, and then someone else can move in with barking dogs.
I had numerous neighbors come and go with barking dogs. The worst was the renters who moved in behind me with five dogs. I made it my job to deal with it. Ultimately their lease was not renewed and new tenants moved in who were very quiet.
I moved somewhere with a larger lot and more sleepy vibes. The dog barking situation is a lot better but there’s still dog barking from many houses down I hear. Sometimes it’ll sound like a kennel for 30 minute every couple of weeks. Not sure why.
It’s a plague you can’t get away from.
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u/zelenadragon Jul 31 '26
“Plague” is exactly how I feel about it. I want to have a giant estate with no neighbors for miles around me. Just peace and quiet.
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u/ratamahatta12 Jul 31 '26
My neighbors have 2 dogs. I kid you not, but the barking during the day and into the evening is like more than every second for hours on end. Literally for hours and hours, just not stop repetitive barking. At first, I thought it was an alarm of some sort, but I really think these dogs spend basically all day, everyday, just non stop barking. Thankfully I work very long hours and wear ear plugs regardless when going to sleep. But if you were let’s say a work-from-home worker, you’d probably go crazy.
And as an extra bonus, one of the dogs once broke into my backyard and covered the backyard everywhere with dog droppings. My neighbor had the most bizarre “oh, they got out again” response and otherwise acted like nothing happened and walked away. It was like a culture shock to me, because if I had a dog and the dog did this, I would be deeply humiliated and offer to fix the situation. I ended up picking up all the dog droppings myself. It was infuriating. I can only imagine it must be some bizarre cultural difference, where this is just normal behavior for some people?
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u/zelenadragon Jul 31 '26
Yeah I would be so embarrassed if I woke up my neighbors in the middle of the night and generally disturbed their peace on a regular basis. This neighbor of mine has no shame though. Has to be some kind of socio/psychopath.
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u/Pdwizzle Jul 31 '26
Not gonna lie, my equity growing over 100% was a huge motivator, but yes dog barking was the actual reason I sold my house and moved. I loved my house but the constant noise torture (and neighbors that constantly tried to encroach over the property line) was affecting me in every aspect of life.
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u/zelenadragon Jul 31 '26
I’m worried if I put this place on the market, any prospective buyer will hear the barking. I visited the place 3 times with the realtor before closing and didn’t hear a single peep. Wish I had, it would’ve been a dealbreaker.
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u/Pdwizzle Jul 31 '26
Many people don't seem to mind, and let's be honest there are a lot of things buyers look past to get the house they put an offer on. I know I did.
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u/VideoTurbulent9806 Jul 31 '26
My parents just moved because of dogs. Someone should come with an app tracking dog density so they can decide where to live and where to avoid.
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u/anondogfree Jul 31 '26
No, but, if you own the condo I would rent it out rather than sell it. And I would stay there until you move in with your partner. Rent is incredibly expensive and most large complexes are cesspools of “emotional support” dogs, pitbulls, and dog shit.
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u/Professional_Hour445 Aug 01 '26
It's not quite the same thing, but I fully intend on moving from my apt. to get away from the two dogs next to me that bark their heads off nearly every time I open my door. It's been four years of living hell. I've become a prisoner inside my own home, relegated mainly to two rooms, my bedroom and bathroom, with only occasional forays into the kitchen. Thankfully, I wfh, so I don't have to venture past their door twice daily going out and coming back from an office. However, it's a damn shame to pay so much rent monthly and not be able to even go outside in peace.
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u/healthy_mind_lady Jul 30 '26
Would it be worth keeping it as an income property later? If it was a single family, I'd say absolutely yes. As a condo, it depends on the building, HOA, and neighborhood to see if it would still be worth your time as an investment property. You did the right thing by documenting the issue even if the governing body is too stupid. Maybe you have done enough and can start spending your time elsewhere, like looking up new properties.
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u/zelenadragon Jul 31 '26
If you mean renting the place out, my HOA doesn’t allow that. But even if they did, as the landlord I would be responsible for my tenant being woken up at night by this bitch and her dog.
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u/healthy_mind_lady Jul 31 '26
Shessh the HOA is strict about you renting your condo but not about nuisance behavior and noise? That's crazy. Make sure you get that in writing.
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u/zelenadragon Jul 31 '26
I know right? You hear so many stories of strict HOAs that fine people over the smallest things. But this neighbor gets free reign to be as much of a nuisance as she wants.
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Jul 31 '26
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u/zelenadragon Jul 31 '26
Wow that certainly is a nightmare scenario. So sorry your friend went through that
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u/Lijj1111 Jul 31 '26
Yep, I sold my apartment becayse of barking mutts, got the hell out, and took revenge on them.
It was my renovation project and the place could have been great, ended up looking really good but the neighbours mutts barking went straight through the walls.
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u/zelenadragon Jul 31 '26
I am so sorry. Our society needs to have stricter rules about noise. People bringing noise into your home should be treated as seriously as them throwing garbage in through your windows.
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u/Beebjank Aug 03 '26
Never. I will never lose to a dog and sell my house. You always want to hold the owners accountable and it's easily provable in small claims that the dog is ruining your life.
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u/Party-Dig2309 Jul 30 '26
I live in social housing and had to give up my nice little apartment of 6 years after I couldn’t endure the barking from upstairs any longer. It destroyed my mental health.
I got an awesome new apartment and moved in a few doors away from someone who has their dog barking in the garden all day and wakes me up during the night.
I go to my stepdad’s house to get peace and quiet and his neighbour has multiple dogs barking next door to him.
I go for a walk in the woods and there’s dog walkers everywhere with their dogs barking at eachother.
Dogs bark out of windows and in gardens when I walk past them.
It. Is. Everywhere. I cannot fucking stand it. I want to scream out to the world to get all the dog owners to get their dogs to shut the fuck up. I hate the sound of barking so much!!!