When you live in an apartment with a dog, you need to train it not to bark at every little sound, or you can bet that your neighbors will complain.

What would you do if the children of your neighbors kept tapping on your window and yelling at your dog to get it to bark because they think it is funny, and then their parents file complaints about the barking?

That is what is happening to the dog owner in this story, so she is thinking about filing a complaint against the kids with the building manager. She is worried, however, that it will just cause conflict with the neighbors.

Personally, I think she should have filed that complaint after the first time or two that it happened. If she doesn’t, she will eventually get evicted for her dog’s barking. Check out the full story here and see if you agree.

WIBTA if I (28f) complain to the landlord about my neighbor’s kid (5ishf)?

So, background info: our apartment complex is really strict about no dogs barking in the complex.

I certainly don’t blame the neighbors for being upset about the dog barking.

Our upstairs neighbors left a threatening note on our door last winter about how they were gonna get the local shelter to take our dog away because apparently he was barking really bad while we were gone.

We weren’t aware of this issue but we got a video camera to watch him while we were away and they were right, it was bad.

It takes longer than 10 days to train a dog not to bark.

So, we took immediate action, took him to training school, turned out he had severe anxiety, so we got him a prescription for that, got him a dog treadmill and started training him and exercising him more.

Five days after we got the scary note, landlord gave us a ten day cure notice to get rid of the dog or find someone to be with him.

Wow, quitting her job is a big sacrifice.

I had to quit my job to stay home with him so we didn’t get evicted. Scary stuff but I’m doing everything in my power so we don’t have to rehome our boy since he’s a rescue and clearly traumatized from the experience.

Anyway, so problem solved right? He still barks once in a while when the neighbors shout or when someone rings the doorbell, but it’s so much better now and I have him trained enough that he barks once, I command him to stop and he does.

The child is being cruel. They should file a complaint against her.

Except the neighbor girl likes to rile him up. His anxiety is especially triggered by young kids and girls, and this little girl who I think is 5 or 6 thinks it’s funny to make him bark.

So, nearly every day she comes to our window and presses her face against it, or even knocks on it, or if it’s open she talks to him or barks at him.

Children can be taught right from wrong, and the parents can be held responsible.

And it scares the heck out of him and he goes crazy barking and I have to calm him down. She gets the other kids in the complex to do it with her, and now multiple kids are coming to the window to knock on it and scare our dog.

Obviously, she’s a child and not to be blamed for her behavior, and I think her parents told her it’s funny because her dad used to bark at our dog to get him going too.

Honestly, she would be out of line if she didn’t file a complaint.

But it’s hard to make progress with desensitization training and helping him with his severe anxiety when even at home is not a safe space for him, because this girl is always coming up to our window which any anxious animal would see as a threat.

Would I be out of line if I made a complaint and asked the landlord to get them to stop?

I can’t believe she hasn’t complained already.

If her parents seemed like rational people I would talk to them first, but the fact that they left the scary note, and that I can hear them screaming bloody murder at each other and at their child, makes that not feel like a safe option.

But I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to want to have a day undisturbed in my own home without kids staring into my window, disrupting my privacy and triggering my anxious pet who is enough to deal with on his own.

WIBTA?

She should have filed a complaint already. Those kids are not only harassing the dog (a big deal on its own) but also invading her privacy. Each of these issues on their own is justification for complaining.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a townhome owner who is at his wit’s end with the noise from next door.

Check out what the people in the comments have to say about this situation.

These kids need to be stopped, that’s for sure.

I think this commenter is exactly right.

Reporting the issue to the landlord is essential.

Setting up video cameras is the obvious move.

Getting video evidence is an important step.

Her neighbors may be trying to get her evicted; she needs to file the complaint today. There are so many issues with the neighbors in this story that it is hard to believe she hasn’t already complained.

When kids are constantly looking in your window and tapping on it, someone needs to stop them. If she is not comfortable going right to the parents, then she should go to the landlord for sure.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who reported some missionaries after frustration over lack of parking boils over.