A neighborly dilemma

[karakara98]

I live in a one bedroom apartment in a 4 unit building. It's a 2-up 2-down sort of a situation. I live in a second floor unit. There's absolutely no soundproofing, but other than that it's a nice place to live

Comments

[digitalemur]

i dunno, Jack Russells can be pretty boisterous when they want to be, they're strong-willed. I expect they're quite trainable, though. Maybe have a conversation with your neighbors about how they intend to keep barking and other noise under control? Make it clear that you will want to sleep on it, regardless of what they say, but give them a chance to talk about their training philosophy and whether they've done this successfully before.

Many dogs can be very effectively trained not to bark, but any dog training takes persistence on the part of the owners so that the dog gets trained to behave instead of the owners getting trained to tolerate.

[digitalemur]

Oh hey, and i saw this rundown of the pros and cons and it worried me.

[karakara98]

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm definitely going to have to talk to them about it. They don't strike me as having thought through this deeply, but who knows, they could surprise me.

[ladybird97]

Oh, good, I'm glad it's not just me. I had an awful experience with a Jack Russell when my dad and stepmom got one. He was annoying and loud and jumpy and over-energetic - one of the few dogs I've ever really disliked. I thought maybe we'd gotten an unusually annoying specimen...but reading that, now I'm worried about how a dog with that personality would react to being in a small space. Especially a small space in which sound carries :/

[snazzypants666]

Yeah, that's a pretty stressful decision to have to make, particularly when the relationship with the neighbors is an issue as well. I think that, as uncomfortable as it may be, a conversation with them may be the best bet. Knowing a bit more about their plans and what they intend to do if the little rascal ends up being a barking machine may help you decide. You may also get a read on how much they've actually thought about it. If they say "um, well, I don't know...I didn't really think about it" you'll know you're in for trouble.

Too bad there weren't more than 4 units so it wouldn't be easy to narrow down who said "no".

[karakara98]

Yes, a conversation is in order, and they've invited us to stop by if we have questions. I just want to be as prepared as possible to discuss it.

I've been reading "The power of a positive no" by William Ury (the negotiations expert of "Getting to Yes" fame). Who knew it may come in handy so soon?

Thanks for the thoughts.

[meepodeekin]

I dunno, I have two dogs and I used to have one in an apartment, and I would be very leary about a Jack Russell. They're noisy, rambunctious dogs. Ironically enough, larger dogs often do better in apartment situations because they are calmer.

I would hate to be the evil one who said no, but your landlord probably has his policy for a reason, and once you sign there won't be "take backs". So I would go carefully.

[karakara98]

Yeah, you've captured my fears pretty well. I've really only lived with cats, so I appreciate the dog-owner perspective. My biggest concern is being disturbed in my sleep. How bad are dogs in general about late night/early morning barking? My sense is that they're more diurnal than cats, but that still could me being awoken at 6 am on a Saturday morning.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[orichalcum]

So, if it's a young puppy, I can tell you from experience that he or she will bark whenever she needs to go outside to do her business, which will be initially 3-4 times between, say, 6 PM and 6 AM. After a couple of months he/she will hopefully sleep through the night and thus you'd only get probable barks at 10 PM-ish and 6 AM-ish.

Saturday mornings matter not for dogs.

If neither of them work from home, I'd be worried.

[meepodeekin]

So, I have my dogs trained not to expect anything before 9 or 10, but I know many dog owners well and I am the only one with this trick. Everyone else I know has to walk their dogs by 7:30 at the latest. Every day. And mine get walked between 1 and 2 am every night, so that might not be much better for you. Dogs vary a lot on bark-i-ness. I've known dogs that bark constantly--when I was a child we had one who would literally bark if his shadow moved unexpectedly--and dogs that bark so rarely you don't know what their bark sounds like. The reality is that Jack Russells are barkers. If I were in your situation, I might seriously consider signing to allow a dog but I don't think I would ever sign to allow a Jack Russell

[cerridwynn]

Wow -- what an awkward situation they're putting you in!

I'm a dog person without a dog -- and i want one so badly it aches! -- so i sympathize with your neighbors, but Jack Russells make me nervous as apartment dogs. I think even i would have serious reservations in your situation.

I suppose at the very least you can talk to your neighbors and see if they have reasonable answers to your concerns. Ideally, perhaps they'd be able to try the situation out before committing to the dog. (i know some adoption societies do that... but that's fraught with problems too -- what if they fall in love with the animal and you can't tolerate it?!) Or maybe they aren't set on a Jack Russell -- or on a puppy.

In any case, good luck!