Dog barking

Rooster
 
You know he aint gonna die
Yeah they come to snuff the rooster
Yeah here come the rooster (Yeah)
You know he ain't gonna die

OP wrote:
"Spoke nicely to the neighbor, and for a week the dogs were quieter, then they started up again. Neighbor says dogs are meant to bark....Cops won't do anything unless you can prove that the dog is barking for more than 20 minutes at a time."
 
1. Go to your town or city hall and find out for yourself exactly what the written ordinances are regarding both noise and also dogs/pets. Do not take anybody's word for anything.
2. If then you have any recourse, keep requesting the police to do something about it. The "Proof" bit you mention -if accurate- is a cop-out (pun intended). I have never heard of anything like that before. A primary function of the police is to help smooth over conflicts between citizens before they escalate into something more than a small disagreement. For you, this is a serious quality-of-life issue.
 
All municipalities are different, but as I recall some places I have lived: The 10 or 20 minute rule may only apply to daytime hours, and 0 minutes at night, like after 10:00 p.m. and before 8:00 a.m.
 
Good luck.

rbecker
OP wrote:
"Spoke nicely to the neighbor, and for a week the dogs were quieter, then they started up again. Neighbor says dogs are meant to bark....Cops won't do anything unless you can prove that the dog is barking for more than 20 minutes at a time."
 
1. Go to your town or city hall and find out for yourself exactly what the written ordinances are regarding both noise and also dogs/pets. Do not take anybody's word for anything.
2. If then you have any recourse, keep requesting the police to do something about it. The "Proof" bit you mention -if accurate- is a cop-out (pun intended). I have never heard of anything like that before. A primary function of the police is to help smooth over conflicts between citizens before they escalate into something more than a small disagreement. For you, this is a serious quality-of-life issue.
 
All municipalities are different, but as I recall some places I have lived: The 10 or 20 minute rule may only apply to daytime hours, and 0 minutes at night, like after 10:00 p.m. and before 8:00 a.m.
 
Good luck.

 
+1
 
go and get a written copy of the town's ordinance. If it's been addressed by a town board, and it's in writing, it's the law.  Make a copy for your neighbor and deliver it to them.  Since the dogs belong to the neighbor, it is their  responsibility to be sure they are conforming to the law on the books. 

Be sure to document the dogs barking. That's easy to do with your phone's video camera. When the police come and give you an excuse, you can show them the ordinance as well. Document how many times you have had to call the police to address this problem.  Get date, time, name of the responding officer, etc.

If push comes to shove, and you have to take it to court, all that documentation and video will help you win the case.

I feel your pain because for a time, we had the same exact issue. We had neighbors who had 2 Husky dogs in a pen that was 15 feet from our bedroom and they would bark, yelp, and howl in the middle of the night. Amazingly, in the daytime, you would not have known they were there. Not a peep. But at night....different story.  It didn't seem to bother the owners one bit.  I spoke to them several times and threatened to take them to court if the midnight commotion didn't stop.  It stopped. They actually got rid of the dogs.
 
I have 2 dogs and fortunately, the dog that does stay outside at night is quiet unless there is something going on.  He has barked when the possum was trying to get into the chicken coop, and also the time the police took down my neighbor at 4am  in the other neighbor's yard while trying to run from the police when his GF called them for beating on her..... so when he barks, something is amiss and I need to check it out. My GSD stays inside at night, and is mostly quiet in the daytime unless she see's someone she is not familiar with. Nothing wakes you up like the low, deep growl from a shepherd sleeping in the same room with you, who has alerted to something in the dark. As a responsible pet parent, if my dogs are barking, I want to find out why and resolve the situation.