I live in a small village and my garden is beside the road. I have 2 dogs which naturally bark if anyone they dont know walks past or if the village roaming dog comes to the fence for a visit, my dogs let me know she is there so I can give her a biscuit. Opposite my home is a property which is a holiday home and has had ongoing work for over a year, swimming pool, changing rooms, new fosse and now the house is due to be renovated. The owner has made a point of complaining to me about the dogs barking. He says they bark all day which is a lie. I have made a point of asking the builders if they bark when I am out and they have said they do not. My friend came round one day and has to bring her old dog with her which she leaves in her car. She went to take it for a stroll an he drove past, stopped and shouted at her with his hands on his hips "Take your dog and let it do that on your grass". The dog was only sniffing. I live alone which I think is why he is bullying me. I am non confrontational and never complained about the noise, dirt etc from his building site which meant I couldnt enjoy my garden at all last summer. He even lit a fire on a July Sunday afternoon. When he first complained I invested in one of those sonic anti bark little houses. I had friends in the garden the other day and he came over as to complain as the village dog was there my friend said he should stop the noise from his screaching machine and he sad that it was a vacuum when obviously it was a tile cutter and a cement mixer. Now he has threatened "that if I dont do it the neighbourly way he will do it the hard way". Sorry this is so long but I am not sleeping and he has taken the joy away from living in France. No one else has ever complained. The dogs mainly sleep in the sun and never bark at night
Thank you all so much. My friends say I should stand up to him but being non confrontational I get upset which is stupid at my age. I will take your advice and get a voice recorder and go to the Marie when I get back next week. To be honest I am looking to rent elsewhere as I love France and hate the thought that one little bully boy can take the smile out of my life there.
I endorse that.
Personally I would take Veronique´s advice and make the first move and go to your local Mairie who I imagine would be supportive in your favour. Then next time he approaches you, let him know that you have made the first move and been to the Mairie! Anyway good luck and hope that things sort themselves out.
Thank you Veronique I will have a chat when I get back, He has a holiday home in the village so luckily isnt here all the time. I know he wouldnt say anything if I had a husband or a partner but as a retired female who wants a quiet life I am an easy target. I love living in France and am doing my best even at my age to learn the language so that I can be more part off the community.
Where is this person from? If he isn't from the village (even if he is, but less effective) go to the Mairie & have a chat with the secrétaire de Mairie (who has the Mayor's ear). You may not realise it but the secretaire de Mairie is actually a civil servant - so very worth cultivating, they have a lot of discreet clout especially in small communes. So telling all (not making a complaint, just having a perfectly normal moan ;-) about the building, noise, pollution etc ) will do you good should this person turn even less pleasant. Obviously if they are a newcomer to the village you will be seen as a more reliable person than they are. I suggest you do it when you are picking up your recycling bags. If you want peace, prepare for war.
Thanks Alex, I am in London for the next few days so will pop into Maplin to see what they have. Hopefully he is just being a bully and will just shout and leave unsigned notes.
If you really want something a bit more legally binding than your own recordings, get a "huissier" to come out and set up and run the recording equipment - it'll cost you a damn sight more though, but it might be worth it in the long run.
Some of these might do the trick :
Ok, these are from a US site, but you can probably get the same from Amazon, and I see Ebay also has some.
Thanks Alex, how do I set up the recording system please, He is a little man who seems to dislike women and dogs. I have bought the anti bark device and as I said they only bark at people walking past and the wandering dog plus the poste van. The man is here only a few times a year but as he has money and employs the Brits in the village they do not see the other side of him. He has never apologised for the noise and dirt which i have had to contend with or even said it will take x amount of time. I have never had problems with neighbours before and have always got on well with everyone. Any help you can suggest would be appreciated.
The "hard way" implies getting a court order to restrain you (not physically, of course), as dog owner, to ensure the dogs keep quiet according to local applicable by-laws on noise - that means making a showing that there is some form of permanent or semi-permanent noise pollution at times not permitted by the by-laws. Of course, he could make life difficult for you by going to the Mairie and filing a complaint - they could then send you a letter reminding you of your obligations. It all depends if he has mates or some other leverage with the Maire or the local council as to whether they would take him up on that.
I have had, in the past, various oral complaints levelled at me with regard to the four dogs that I had at one stage - all of these complaints stemmed from other villagers, not even local neighbours, who all had dogs themselves and seemed to deliberately get mine to bark at the gate by letting their own dogs wander up / pee on it. I even got anonymous letters signed by an alleged "Anti-Noise Committee" - no one brave enough to put their own signature to it of course.
Nothing ever came of it all though, no formal complaint was ever filed, probably because my immediate opposite neighbour has 3 dogs that behave in exactly the same way, and my immediate right neighbour has two guard dogs that spend their time barking or whining when he's not there, so essentially we have a "dog alley" ! Keeps the burglars away though ;-)
However, that doesn't mean that in your case, your neighbour won't be inclined to move into action - especially if you are the only one with dogs in the area. The only positive action I can think of is to set up a recording system to run throughout the day, that triggers each time your dog barks, with a timestamp, and for a couple of random days in the week, so that if you do hear from the Mairie, you have something with which to go to them and explain your position.