The dog next door

You must tell the neighbour what is happening so they have the opportunity to rectify the problem. If they are as good neighbours as you believe, they will do something about it. Perhaps record the dog noise and play it to them.
The last resort is to contact your council’s Environmental Health Officer. The key factor is that you can hear the dog inside your own house when doors and windows are shut.

If the dog knows your dogs and gets on with them, I would definitely suggest he spends the days with you. He is clearly lonely and distressed and this could be a solution for you and for him.

I remind myself that if I move to another more convenient part of town I may not have dog-tolerant neighbours there.

Occasionally my dog needs to go into the garden in the depth of night and I cannot tell whether this is to do his business or bark unceasingly at a hedgehog.

When you have a word with the owners make sure you don’t downplay the effect of the constant barking has on you.

Everyone has said “poor dog” but my main sympathy is with you!

Yes the animal is clearly distressed but the owners should have anticipated that.

Why do people have dogs when they are both out at work all day?

I had the same problem with a dog next door and told my neighbour. She did put the dog inside but then a few weeks later, when i next saw her, she blamed me for the fact that the dog had chewed the furniture!

Yes, do tell the owners. I had a similar situation with a neighbour's dog, who barked from the minute that they left for work until they returned. After a few days of this, I phoned my neighbour at work, stressing how worried I was about the dog as he was so frantic. It really upset me to listen to him.

Of course, they had had no idea about the barking as they weren't there to hear it! After my hesitant decision to alert them, one of them came home at lunchtime, which helped, but didn't completely resolve matters. Luckily, they moved!