so about 1 1/2 months ago, someone moved into the apartment below mine and to the left...
and he has a dog that barks constantly... a boxer mix maybe.
I can also hear him trying to get out of his cage(?) and it seems as if he is pushing it around on the floor or scratching at the bottom/door, etc...

this in turn causes my neighbor to the left to only play his music loud when the dog barks...

oh, and the guy walks the dog in the front of the apartment complex and doesn't clean up after him (which is a big thing with the apartment complex to clean up after your dog and to only 'walk' them in the back of the buildings or along the wooded sides, and since he's moved in, the apt. manager has left notes on all of our doors reminding us to pick up after our animals, yet he chooses not to listen. and with the rain, all that shit smells horrible...

but here's my dilemma:
i don't know if i should talk to him about it, since he may not know that the dog is barking all day long since the guy isn't home very much at all, and i don't know if I want to go to the management office about it because we are not sure if the office even knows about the dog, and i don't want to start any trouble (my reasoning for this is that the apartment pet rules state that dogs cannot be above 65 pounds and this is a HUGE dog... so they might tell him that he has to get rid of it, move out, etc.)


advice?

10/18/2007 7:12:30 PM

Go to management. You do not want to get involved personally unless management doesn't do anything about it. If he has to move out, so be it. I can't stand people that have freaking big ass dogs in tiny apartments as if they are not torturing the dog and annoying everyone in the place.

[Edited on October 18, 2007 at 7:16 PM. Reason : s]

10/18/2007 7:15:09 PM

Quote :

"i don't want to start any trouble (my reasoning for this is that the apartment pet rules state that dogs cannot be above 65 pounds and this is a HUGE dog... so they might tell him that he has to get rid of it, move out, etc.)"

nah you should tell the office about it; it's not like you're friends with guy, right? fuck 'em. maybe he'll move and/or take the dog with him.

10/18/2007 7:16:28 PM

no, not friends. he comes off as a douchbag.

10/18/2007 7:18:23 PM

Maybe if you talked to him about it he could try to take steps to make his dog quieter... like taking him for a longer walk in the morning to tire him out or getting him a bark collar. Give him a few days to straighten out the problem and then if it doesn't work out go to management.

I just got a new puppy and I'm *trying* my hardest to train him now so that he isn't bad when he's older, or an annoyance to my neighbors. It's the polite thing to do.... too bad it sounds like this dog isn't a puppy anymore, which will likely make it hard to break his habits.

Addendum: no, you aren't friends with him and if he is breaking the rules then you certainly don't owe him extra changes, but as a new dog owner I would want my neighbors to talk to me first.

[Edited on October 18, 2007 at 7:25 PM. Reason : .]

10/18/2007 7:19:46 PM

10/18/2007 7:29:50 PM

that was a great seinfeld episode with elaine's dog problem

10/18/2007 7:31:13 PM

I always go to the office first. Because it's their job to act as the "bad guy" not yours.

10/18/2007 7:31:31 PM

shoot it.

just kiddin, manager at the office, don't even bother with the other people

10/18/2007 7:35:14 PM

complain to management that he doesn't clean up after his dog

there's no excuse for that shit

10/18/2007 7:42:33 PM

you dont live at spanish trace on Dixie do you?

10/18/2007 8:06:56 PM

antifreeze

10/18/2007 8:09:39 PM

^^ no, i do not.

10/18/2007 8:57:54 PM

I wouldn't want to talk to him about it because then if he doesn't solve the problem, which it seems like it would be hard to do if hes not there to stop it, then when you complain to the management, he is going to know it was you.

10/18/2007 9:49:05 PM

shoot it.

not kiddin

10/18/2007 9:57:34 PM

good point ^^. i hadn't thought of that.

thanks guys for the advice, i think i am going to call the management office in the morning, i have to call about a leaking dishwasher anyways

10/18/2007 10:03:30 PM

sounds like you should move lol

leaky dishwasher and annoying neighbors...

10/18/2007 11:22:10 PM

no! i love where i live. this dog issue has just started recently and the dishwasher just needs fixing. no big deal. it's just me ( and roommate that is never home) so i don't run it often. just turned it on last night after cooking a big dinner for my brother... it hasn't been turned on in probably 2 months or so, just needed a little towel action on the floor after the final rinse



but i am going to call in the morning about the dog situation. thanks again for your advice

10/19/2007 12:34:38 AM

I always try to handle this type of thing myself first. I try to catch the offending person outside, introduce myself, and ask him if he's got a minute. If he says yes, do this:

1. Tell him your problem with what he's doing. Keep it short, firm (but not shitty), and to the point.

2. Tell him that you have not gone to management or called the police because you're trying to be cool about the situation.

3. Tell him that you're just trying to be a good neighbor and you hope that he understands that.

Any reasonable person will understand that you've actually given them a break about the whole thing. Most people will do something about the barking dog.

NOTE WELL THE FOLLOWING:

You may be dealing with some form of sociopath/psychopath. If this is the case, he may want to turn this into an ongoing neighbor feud or he might want to fight you right there on the spot--you should be prepared for anything. If you aren't prepared to deal with any of that, then you should probably let management and the cops handle it. And if you talk to him and then call management and/or the cops, he's going to know it was you. Good luck with that.

PS: Sorry, I didn't see that you are a female. You can very likely get away with talking to the guy and not have any problems--but be nice. Know that he's probably not going to take you as seriously as he would a man, but he's probably not going to punch you either.

[Edited on October 19, 2007 at 3:19 AM. Reason : .]

10/19/2007 3:14:49 AM

You're too pussy to show your face on this site old man, we know you wouldn't do any of the sort.

10/19/2007 9:05:32 AM

yeah.... b-b-b-but youre BALD!

*sputter*

10/19/2007 9:10:17 AM

Quote :

"You may be dealing with some form of sociopath/psychopath."

This is exactly the reason you want to go to management first. If you talk to the guy and he turns out to be a dick, then go to management, when management does something about the problem, he will blame you for whatever happens and who knows what he'll do then.

10/19/2007 9:30:36 AM

A reasonable person wouldn't think it was OK to not clean up after his dog in common areas.

10/19/2007 9:39:18 AM

Quote :

"someone moved into the apartment below mine and to the left... "

is that to the left as in looking at your front door or your back to your front door?

10/19/2007 11:22:42 AM

I'd normally say you should man up and talk to the dude, but people are freaks when it comes to their pets. The only solution is to get rid of the dog, and you're not going to be able to convince him to do that, so just bitch to the management and get them both thrown out instead.

If that doesn't work, set out some antifreeze. I'm serious.

10/19/2007 11:28:40 AM

Quote :

"I wouldn't want to talk to him about it because then if he doesn't solve the problem, which it seems like it would be hard to do if hes not there to stop it, then when you complain to the management, he is going to know it was you."

first, leave an anonymous note

then alert management, if necessary

10/19/2007 12:30:19 PM

Quote :

"Because it's their job to act as the "bad guy" not yours."

exactly

you can try the anon note first, but im sure management will have to fix the situation for you

10/19/2007 1:14:54 PM

the person two townhouses down from me has a huge dog that was barking non stop for 10 minutes the other morning, during the most crucial last hour of sleep before I wake.

i openend the window, stuck my head out, and yelled "SHUT THE FUCKING DOG UP" as loud as I could.

it stopped shortly there after.

10/19/2007 1:24:07 PM

Quote :

"If that doesn't work, set out some antifreeze. I'm serious."

I'm not an animal lover, but that is a cruel way to kill this dog and should not be recommended.

10/19/2007 1:59:23 PM

Quote :

"is that to the left as in looking at your front door or your back to your front door? "

if i am in my apartment, there is another apartment to my left, and the parking lot to the right, assuming that I am facing the front door. so, to my left and below is where this guy lives, with my back to the front door.

next door neighbors apartment X my apartment X
loud dog guy's apartment X quiet neighbors apt. X

10/19/2007 4:03:18 PM

hooksaw has it 100% right about the psychopaths. My in-laws are moving because their neighbors went psycho over my m-i-l asking them politely not to set their attack dog after them when they are out walking in the evening. You also have to consider that someone who doesn't clean up after the dog probably isn't trying to, and isn't inclined to, keep the dog quiet.

Management FTW, though I would never have said that a month ago.

10/19/2007 4:13:23 PM

That suuuucks. I always go with Mgmt now.

Your lease and his lease probably both have a clause about reasonable 'quiet enjoyment' of the space you are renting and not disturbing other neighbors. The Mgmt is ultimately responsible for upholding the terms of the lease. You pay your rent and follow the rules, others need to do the same.

One of my old landlords never wanted to get into tenant-tenant issues. So I thought I would give it a shot and talked to my neighbor directly about loud music that was shaking walls and floors at all hours. Basically he just yeah-yeahed me and never turned it down like he promised. Then I got Mgmt involved and became his target. He would wait for me to leave for work in the morning, follow me around, and talk junk, but he would stop short of physical violence.

So I kept documentation of the harassment and told the landlord to stick it. His hands off method didn't work so I dumped it in his lap and told him to take care of it or I was breaking my lease. I'm assuming he got threatened with eviction. After that the guy was still an ass but at least he was a quiet ass

But seriously, let Mgmt handle it, sounds like he's not able to handle the responsibility of owning an animal.

-- Dave

10/19/2007 5:08:18 PM

I looked into it. He's made an offer a house in Knightdale

10/19/2007 9:24:51 PM

If you weren't such a fucking idiot, NoChance, you would have been able to comprehend my post. You are a suitable case for treatment.

I'll break it down to the slobbering buffoon level--you know, your level: I never suggested that a person need be Billy Badass about the situation at issue; in fact, it should be handled in quite the opposite manner. I simply suggested that one should be ready in case things don't go well.

At any rate, I have done this sort of thing on at least three occasions that I can remember. Luckily, each time I had a good result. You see, most people are not assholes like you are, NoChance.

Now STFU.

10/20/2007 4:11:33 AM