Should I say something about their gorgeous new puppy?

The fact that this puppy likes to leap out into the garden early and loudly express his delight at the new day is fine for a puppy. It is not fine for the neighbours who are human beings and need their sleep. It is impossible to believe that the owners have not clocked the fact that he is noisy and worked out that it might wake someone.

Getting into dispute with neighbours is a disaster - but, I am sure it can be broached politely and tactfully; although I have to say, you should not be put in a position where you have to do this. The owners should have the brain to work out that it is a disturbance to others.

As cowardly as I am, I think I would have to mention it. Probably in a 'casual' way.

Remember these are not neighbours as in next door neighbours so less everyday interaction if it turns 'tricky'.

If you can tell the neighbours I would. We had a dog living next door (semi) and it howled every time they left the house, 17 long years day in day out. I told them when it was a young puppy that it seemed distressed but clearly the issue was not addressed and so it went on. DH told me not to make waves but he was living and working elsewhere in the country. To date the neighbours have not replaced the deceased dog and I am so relieved.

It's not a quick bark to ask to come in that's the problem, but continuous barking at any time that annoys me, particularly at 5 in the morning!! Surely it must get on their nerves?!! We have a two year old working cocker(!!) We live in the country and she does work, but only in the winter! The rest of the time she keeps us on our toes and fit! BUT, when it comes to barking for no good reason she has been firmly told from day one as a nine week old puppy that it is totally unacceptable. She goes out about 7 each morning under supervision to make sure she 'goes', then both she and we go back to bed till we choose to get up! Night time the same. We've treated all our dogs of varying breeds in exactly the same way, and never had a barker. It is possible to train them not to, but it needs nipping in the bud from day one. Dogs don't grow out of barking, if anything, they grow into it and other bad habits too unless addressed at a very early age.

Our neighbour puts their dog into the garden whenever the DGC come (which is often as they do some child care now) and it barks incessantly.
She told another neighbour to f* off when he said something very mildly to her (he was extremely poorly at the time and died not long after).

Our local dog warden solved our problem - he was great. I often wonder what he said to them but it stopped immediately after his visit

We had a dog living behind us that barked incessantly all day every day - they put it into the garden when they went to work and left it out. There was no help whatsoever when neighbours complained to the council. Then - thank goodness! - they moved - however, not that far away as we can still hear it from across the valley.

DD2 didn't realise their Jack Russell was barking in the garden while they were all out at work/school. He would nip out through the cat flap and drive the neighbours mad all day. When DD returned home he'd be innocently sprawled on his bed with his favourite toy!

The neighbours complained (nicely) and the problem was solved by fitting a child safety gate in the door recess allowing just enough room for the cats to jump over it to get to the flap.

I think the dog felt he had to go out and bark because he could. Once he was confined to barracks he stopped barking.

pheonix
As she is the GP receptionist why not ask her to make you an appointment.
Tell her you need to discuss with GP about problem of falling asleep at your desk every day.

If you mention re barking
She may say that a neighbours car wakes her little puppy up and then it wants to go outside to play

You must say something.5am is in my opinion an ungodly hour to be woken unless it's for work purposes.
If the dog is not controlled at an early age then what is it to be like as it gets older.
I understand you have good neighbours so really it should not be difficult in their understanding of how you feel.

I saw a tv programme recently on how to train puppies. It was really brilliant to see who takes the lead in training - the puppies or their owners. Guess what my view was when I saw these unruly puppies doing their own thing? And I just adore puppies especially when they are obedient in every way. It's just great to see an owner being responsible in their training of puppies and dogs.

They really should take him for a walk at 5 am and then bring him back into the house. Could you put a note through their door explaining how the barking is upsetting you?

why not drop into conversation in a jokey way "will be so glad when he grows up and stops waking me up at 5am on a morning " that way your not complaining but making them aware of the situation ..

Good luck with sorting out the neighbours' dog! The English love their dogs more than anything else and will probably start world war three rather than stop a puppy waking the neighbourhood at five in the morning.

I walk round my village and an assortment of vicious hounds snarl and bark at me through hedges and I have no doubt would attack were the gate left open. Their owners think they are cute and 'harmless'.

I know how you feel Phoenix. I suffered the same sort of thing for about 18 months, always at midnight when I had been asleep for at least two hours. His owner worked in the local pub and would bark for about half an hour with excitement at the return of its master. The owner would leave for work at 08.30 everyday and the dog would howl for most of the time. Very disturbing. I telephoned the pub once to make the owner aware that her dog howled everyday....she took no notice of what I had said..I even contemplated selling up! It eventually stopped. The poor thing still makes a racket at midnight but I've got used to it! I'm not helping am I.

merlotgran are your two JR's as well ?

phoenix.
The husband has no alternative at 5am other than to use a car for his business purposes.
This is not a reasonable excuse for another to leave a puppy outside at 5am because, as has been suggested, he was woken up by this car so he wants to play.
For pities sake this is a puppy.

Our next door neighbour got a puppy a few years ago, and whenever he is alone anywhere it barks and barks until he isn't alone anymore. Sometimes this has been all day. I know why he barks; he's a nervous little boy and needs company. I didn't like to complain, but one day endeavoured to "accidentally" bump into the neighbour when she was with the dog, and I made a huge fuss of him, saying, "Well, I feel I know you so well already!" That started the conversation, and my neighbour felt awful that I was being irritated by the barking - which she had no idea about. Why would she? She was out.

Three years later and he still barks, but they have at least tried to stop him, and try to make sure he's not alone for too long. I guess he's never going to change.

A week or so ago my neighbour posted a passive aggressive comment on Facebook because my dog had barked and woken her just before 7. My dog doesn't bark a lot, just at things he hears and can't see or to chase birds out of the garden and sometimes when her dog barks.

Because she couldn't be bothered to come and say anything, but posted sarcastic comments on Facebook I have blocked her. She was suggesting squirting water at my dog, which a dog trainer friend tells me would make things worse. The dog trainer suggested ear plugs for the neighbour.

I don't think the neighbour realises her own kids make a racket or that their regular BBQs could be annoying to others.

Yes, tread carefully, ear plugs are very useful.

I think it's a really tough one as sometimes people aren't prepared to put themselves out to make life easier for their neighbours. I'm not sure that a puppy does grow out of this kind of behaviour. We have had 2 dogs and neither of them have been very vocal. When our labrador was old she would wake up twice in the night to go out and would give one bark as she went out the door and my OH would stand by the door to let her straight back in. Our current dog only barks if we don't let her in straight away so unless it's raining I just leave the door open so she won't bark.
My son has a young cavalier king charles spaniel and she's a terrible one for barking. As soon as she goes into our garden she is bark, bark, bark and she won't come back in nor will she take any notice of my son or daughter in law. She is the same at home and as the neighbour who backs onto their garden has a cockapoo it ends up with both of them barking away for ages, which must annoy other neighbours. I've seen my son go out and firmly tell her to stop barking and try to get her back in the house but she runs rings around him, barking madly in the process, although none of this happens at 5am I might add.
However talking about noise early in the morning, we keep hens and we've always had one who we nicknamed 'rent a gob' as she would wake us up at dawn every morning. We are down to just one hen now and of course it's the noisy one that we still have. Nothing we do makes any difference and luckily we've not had any neighbours complain about her in the 7yrs we've had her!

Some people would sleep if a train went through their bedroom and they have no understanding (or usually sympathy) for people who are light or even normal sleepers. I think that you have to raise it with them and hope that they take it the right way. If not, it is worth seeing if other neighbours are bothered by it and contacting the Council. If they get 3 complaints they have to act although there are different rules for Council tenants. Of course, if you have raised it with the neighbours first, they will know that you have reported them so you have to consider how bad it is and whether it will be bearable.
I have a noisy neighbour problem at the moment so I have a lot of sympathy. They are not easy to deal with. A bit more extreme as the police are involved but it has still taken time to even get them to accept that it has to be dealt with.

People get very defensive about their dogs, I've noticed. Tread carefully, just as you have to in long grassy areas, as some owners don't like to 'pick up' after their dogs.

All dogs need training from an early age which means a lot of hard work but its so worth while. Barking incessantly needs nipping in the bud before it turns into a habit which is then almost impossible to correct! You need to start as you mean to go on as what is sweet and pretty in a puppy can be awful in a fully grown dog to the point where you risk having an ill disciplined tyrant on your hands, impossible to take with you if visiting family and friends and hated by the neighbours.

If your dog barks at nothing in the garden the only way to stop it is to take your dog in the garden on the lead and correct it when it barks.

That progresses to being given in the garden off lead and finally to let the dog be in the garden alone.

There's no quick fix .

We have a Cavalier who did a bit of territorial barking and we had to work through this process. Even at 5am , even in the rain :-)