Hi all,
HELP! (TLDR below)
Not sure if this should be in computing or pets, so I'll start here & move the post if required. Here's the (long) background:
Basically, we've had this issue now for over 10 months. Immediately after moving in, the owner behind us came to my door to intro himself & to say if his dog barks, to just say, "shut up" and it would stop. He said to let him know if there was any problem. Well, for three months- we did that "shut up", then dropped a letter in their postbox, last Sept., to let them know it was a problem and that the dog should be brought in when they leave. No response. The barking is worse when no one is home, but it also barks when they are home as we hear their children yelling at the dog to shut up. I should add that the property manager asked him, before we moved in, to try to quiet his dog as it was barking non-stop during the viewings (I chalked it up to the number of people suddenly walking around & talking, didn't think it was going to continue). The dog owner told me, "that guy was a jerk" (I assume for complaining about the dog).
The owner of our place has been here to do some fixing & he said we should call the city- as the dog was barking then. Our previous next-door neighbours complained (either to him, the rangers, or both) & they said he showed up to pound on their door and was aggressive. They were very unassuming people, so I guess they gave up. They just sold their home— to people with two dogs. Sigh. So far, these have only barked for six, solid hours when their owners abandoned them on Easter Sunday. Nice, eh?
Back to the guy behind us. My son was recently hired as a software developer. He's now able to work from home 3-4 days a week. His bedroom backs up to the rear garden, hence why we've had to do something about the dog now. Yes, maybe we should have forced the issue then, but we tried to yell at dog/ignore it to avoid exactly what's happened now. So, my son finally rang the rangers on a Friday night. The next morning, just as I get under the water for a shower, I hear a loud pounding. I wasn't going to try to answer, but thought one of the kids might be locked out. Just as I manage to reach the front area, I hear, "we'll be back— we're discussing this!"> yelled into the window. I then realized who it was. I rang the rangers to report this behaviour as threatening and that I wanted it noted in the report about this person. I also told them all of the other people who either have heard or complained about this dog— including the guy himself instructing me on how to yell at his dog. I then emailed the above to the council so I know they are aware (email received that they got it).
A day or so later, there's a two page letter in the postbox denying that their dog barks (at all), that the guy has issues with: the pencil pine trees in the rear yard, our indoor cat (?), and stated that my home business calls were too loud and generally taken in the rear garden (?)— they're not, as my office in in the very front. Anyway, I'm feeling like he might actually be somewhat mental now…I sent their weird letter + the original one I'd sent to them last Sept., along to the council (email received that they got it).
I know it seems overkill, but I also know that irrefutable proof is needed when dealing with difficult people such as this guy. The only interactions we've had with this guy are: him coming here to tell us to tell his dog to shut up, him, looking over the shared limestone wall (it's 2.5 meter high on our side but their side is built up so they can just look over it) to tell me it's "his right" to cut the over-hanging branches, and then the recent door-pounding episode. Our back garden is basically nothing— the pines killed the grass so the only time we're ever out there is to use the BBQ on the uncovered paver area. We're all nerds who stay on our PC's— no loud music, parties, drums, etc….
So, we're now doing a bark log. I don't want to have to sit and note every start/stop during the day as I'm working. It's hard enough to concentrate as it is.
TLDR:(for those who asked): Have had to report a terrible neighbour who knows his dog barks. Tried to contact him first- no good. Now want evidence to support our ranger report.
I'm looking for a sound recorder which provides a date/time stamp, auto-start/stop as sound is made, plus the ability to export all of these individual files out in one go (not one at a time) as mp3's, retaining the time/date stamp. "Automatic Audio Recorder", does almost this, but cannot export in this way (all at once) to mp3.
I'd be extremely greatful for any recommedations of Android apps you've successfully used for something like this sort of on/off sound recording.
Thanks everyone!
Give the dog pig ear treats or something it will chew on for a long time :)