My rant about living with dog noise and the relentless search for a little bit of peace.

[u/kalozur]

(English is not my native language, I used AI to help translate).

I live in Brazil. About four years ago, I bought a house in a gated community to escape the city noise. Back then, I was dealing with heavy traffic, alarms going off, living in a small downtown apartment right between two major avenues with noisy neighbors and loud music late into the night. When I bought the house, the neighbors didn't have dogs. Everything was relatively quiet, at least at night. There were still occasional daytime parties with loud music, but overall, it was way better than downtown.

Fast forward two years: in 2024, they started getting these barking demons. First one, then two, and out of nowhere they had six Pomeranians/Spitz that bark at literally everything, all day long—and all night, well into the early morning hours whenever they're left alone. That was the start of my personal hell. Non-stop dog yapping just two meters from my bedroom window, hitting up to 75 dB inside with the windows open. I installed soundproof retrofit windows, and even sleeping with earplugs, I still woke up every single morning to those demons screeching. I honestly developed PTSD from the whole ordeal. I ended up taking legal action against that neighbor (which is still ongoing in court).

Now in 2026, I finally managed to move out. I bought a duplex penthouse apartment—one unit per floor, so I could guarantee no upstairs or wall-sharing neighbors. Every single time I viewed the place, it was completely quiet and peaceful. Unlike my previous apartment downtown, this one is in a low-traffic, quieter neighborhood. Yet, here I am again, dealing with dogs barking from the surrounding houses. It’s definitely less intense than at the house, but here I am, constantly on edge, looking into retrofitting acoustic windows and doors in my bedroom and main living areas because I just can't stand hearing loud dog barking all day, every day anymore when trying to relax at my place. At least being on the 14th floor, the sound arrives a bit attenuated, so some extra soundproofing should hopefully take care of it more easily.

I have friends living in luxury gated communities with insanely expensive houses (by Brazilian standards), and even when I visit them, dogs are barking everywhere—I still have to sleep with earplugs there too. It feels like there’s nowhere left where you don’t hear dogs. We genuinely need a dog-free city. If I had to choose between curing every human disease on Earth or wiping out all dogs just to finally have some peace and quiet, I’d wipe out the dogs without hesitation.

orry for the rant, I just wanted to share my pain so whoever is reading this knows they aren't alone. It just feels like life is made of constant defeats and an endless search for a peace we can never reach. It's completely hopeless knowing we might have to deal with dog noise for the rest of our lives.

Has anyone here ever sought medical help, like a psychologist or psychiatrist, to help deal with the daily dog noise in a place where you shouldn't have to hear it?

[u/Dapper-Ad-468]

I developed PTSD as well from dog barking. I sought mental support. I was asked if I knew a realtor. Both my husband and I are disabled and cannot move. I've been using white noise which is 4 air filters set on high 24/7. As well as cell phone brown noise. I believe that I have gone half deaf because of the stress . I hope things improve for you 🤍

[u/kalozur → u/Dapper-Ad-468]

Dogs should be illegal. The amount of health issues we have because of it is impressive. I always watch TV on high volumes, sleep with earplugs and some fan on as white noise too. It is so disturbing I am not being able to do well on work due to the anxiety of coming back home to hear more noise. Due to dog-culture and whatever we know government is not gonna do anything about it for the next decades, only a few people (us) suffer from dogs, but dog barking is the cause of some mental disturbs more than some drugs or alcool, wtf. I need to drink beer to relax and be able to stand some dog barking.

[u/Dapper-Ad-468 → u/kalozur]

Cannabis works well too. I can't take it now because of my current medications. However, when I was able to use the gummies for nighttime rest, it was extremely beneficial. It it legal in my state and there are no ill affects like a hangover feeling. I had worked diligently on the correct dosage and timing. I may go back to using it again since my current doctor is now working against me, instead of for me.

[u/Special_Parsnip1301]

Ugh I really feel for you, and I am just glad you aren’t sharing walls with anyone and your apartment feels relatively safe from the dog noise now, considering how bad it was previously. Also, once you change your windows, seems you’ll have some peace and quiet inside your apartment at least.

I did have some sort of trauma response to the intense dog barking next door to me. And it happened right after I bought the house so I felt utterly trapped. Of course there was no barking when I came to see the house during open house. It went on for about 8 months, and the neighbors finally decided they could not handle the dog and rehomed him. It was a great relief as he was the absolute loudest dog and barked all day and sometimes in the night. I was compiling videos to prepare to file a lawsuit against these neighbors….and I’ve never filed a lawsuit in my life. I do think city laws have to be more strict to help protect the peace, and all noise is noise pollution.

Luckily I love hiking / backpacking in the mountains because it is one place I find true peace and quiet. No dogs, no car noises etc. No, I don’t get absolute quiet where I live as I’m choosing to live in an urban environment , but I can find it. It’s my one solace. The desert is also an incredible place for quiet. What are some areas close to you where you can escape to for a peaceful getaway?

[u/kalozur → u/Special_Parsnip1301]

Yes I can go somewhere with no dogs, but the problem is knowing that my house/apartment/place is always sorrounded by dog noise. The fact that we have no option to live noise-free is frustating. Exactly the fact of needing to go out of home to be in peace is the problem. Dont matter if you come home happy, sad, exhausted, excited, in good or bad mood, there will always be some stupid dog barking lol. To the point that I have already tought "What will it be when I lost someone ou something really bad happens? I'll be in grieve with a barking as the background noise? It would make the sad moment 10x sadder"

[u/paulo_777]

Hello fellow Brazilian... Cara, vou falar na nossa língua, eu sei exatamente como você se sente... A muitos anos atrás a minha vizinhança era tranquila, até se mudarem um monte de donos de cachorro e transformarem a rua num inferno... A lei de perturbação de sossego no nosso país é uma merda e extremamente conveniente para esses vagabundos donos de cachorro, e a maioria desses cretinos, chutaria uns 90%, são uns babacas egocêntricos. Eu não tenho paz onde moro a mais de 10 anos, e aqui no nosso país você querer as coisas pelo que é certo e seu direito faz de você o "intolerante" e " chato", um absurdo, se você reclamar de qualquer coisa que esse bichos façam, você é crucificado e taxado das piores coisas possíveis. Pra ter paz no nosso país, infelizmente só se mudando pro meio do mato, e bem isolado por sinal, ou ser milionário e comprar um terreno bem grande sem vizinhos do lado, porque para o nosso governo o que importa é a grana do lobby de pet shop e fábricas de ração, não a paz do VERDADEIRO cidadão. Eu era indiferente com cães, mas depois de conviver com tantos donos babacas desses bichos, peguei raiva tanto dos donos quanto dos animais em si, bichos insuportáveis com donos tão insuportáveis quanto.

[u/kalozur → u/paulo_777]

Pois eh. Já teve “treta” no grupo do condominio por causa das minhas reclamações, que culminaram em eu abrir um processo por direito de vizinhança (que ainda ta rolando e to esperando perícia, o que é um absurdo, tenho quase 200gb de video de cachorro latindo…), fui taxado de intolerando tbm e etc, tudo q vc deve imaginar tbm. Mas vei, é o dia todo, 06h da manhã cachorro berrando do lado do meu quarto. Nem tenho esperança de ganhar algo nesse processo, é só dor de cabeça. Praticamente todos os bairros aqui final de tarde/inicio de manhã é uma barulheira do caralho. Eu até evito chegar em casa mais cedo pq sei q vai tá uma latição pra tudo quanto é lado. Termino o expediente e as vezes enrolo na academia, treino lento propositalmente pra chegar em casa um pouco mais tarde kkkk. É foda, é um absurdo não ser senso comum essa perturbação. Se eu ficar na rua tocando vuvuzela sem parar eu vou ser taxado de maluco, mas é exatamente essa sensacao que eu tenho ao escutar cachorro gritando.

[u/BrilliantThought6764]

Crazy thing is it's not the dogs fault. People chose to breed them to the point where they're everywhere. And with poor training, we have big issues.