Can I get your advice?

[cali baker]

I wanted to ask you all what you would do if you were in this situation:
Last night, at around 8:30pm, Tate and I were playing on the living room floor—I was tossing his toy and he would run to get it, then run back to me, and then we’d play tug of war with it. Well, we’re doing this for like 10minutes when I hear this pounding on my floor…it’s from my downstairs neighbor(s). Right then and there Tate freezes and then starts barking towards where the sound came from(he really does have a big boy sounding bark for an almost-4month old). Obviously that’s the downstairs people telling us we’re making too much noise. This is about the 3rd or 4th “pounding” we’ve gotten from them in the last 4 weeks or so. I have wood floors, and live on the top floor of a 3 story condo complex that’s very pet friendly. I understand that my little guy’s running around can be a little rough at times and sometimes he’ll bang his toys on the floor; when this happens I’ll give him a soft toy to play with or move him to his bed to play on. But of course, we can’t be quiet 100%...i think I’m trying my best to be respectful. Anyways, I’m thinking of going downstairs and knocking on their door to spk w/him or her (I don’t even know what they look like), about the whole situation b/c I don’t think pounding on their ceiling/my floor is the most neighborly way to handle this. What do you think? I love where I live and want to live in harmony w/these people!

 

[bullmama]

I wanted to ask you all what you would do if you were in this situation:
Last night, at around 8:30pm, Tate and I were playing on the living room floor—I was tossing his toy and he would run to get it, then run back to me, and then we’d play tug of war with it. Well, we’re doing this for like 10minutes when I hear this pounding on my floor…it’s from my downstairs neighbor(s). Right then and there Tate freezes and then starts barking towards where the sound came from(he really does have a big boy sounding bark for an almost-4month old). Obviously that’s the downstairs people telling us we’re making too much noise. This is about the 3rd or 4th “pounding” we’ve gotten from them in the last 4 weeks or so. I have wood floors, and live on the top floor of a 3 story condo complex that’s very pet friendly. I understand that my little guy’s running around can be a little rough at times and sometimes he’ll bang his toys on the floor; when this happens I’ll give him a soft toy to play with or move him to his bed to play on. But of course, we can’t be quiet 100%...i think I’m trying my best to be respectful. Anyways, I’m thinking of going downstairs and knocking on their door to spk w/him or her (I don’t even know what they look like), about the whole situation b/c I don’t think pounding on their ceiling/my floor is the most neighborly way to handle this. What do you think? I love where I live and want to live in harmony w/these people!

I think that is a really great idea. If you talk to them and tell them you are trying not to be disrespectful, and trying your best to keep quiet as much as possible. It may be well worth it to 'feel them out' and see if they are just jerks or not. Perhaps they have a schedule where they are trying to sleep at certain hours, watch a movie, ect. and they are being disturbed.... maybe you can work with them to find a good "Tate play time" where they will ignore the noise during that time frame, and you can also watch for times that they really don't want or need the noise.

 

[melanieian]

Maybe they have small children and at 8:30 they are in bed? I would for sure talk to them and try to make them understand you are not trying to disturb them or be disrespectful and try to find out a good playtime like [MENTION=2]desertskybulldogs[/MENTION] said.

 

[cali~jenn]

Good advice already. Now let us know if they are jerks or just bad timing for you to be playing.

 

[cali baker]

Thank you for the feedback! Okay, so I'll stop by this evening to talk w/them. Hmmm...wonder if i should bring Tate with me? maybe not b/c i can just see him getting all excited and maybe going potty right at their front door. That wouldn't be good.

I'll definitely "feel them out" and try to come up with a compromise where everyone is happy. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[KMARINO]

I would definately go and talk with them, this could be an easy solution. Years ago I rented a side by side duplex that had wood floors and wood steps to the upstairs, I got a knock on the door, opened it to have a police officer telling me there was a complaint of "using my stairs to much" made by me neighbor, REALLY???? My kids were pre-teens. The police officer was actually embarrassed to tell me. A couple of days later I went next door to try to talk to them and they were jerks telling me I had to many parties!!! I NEVER even had a party. Hopefully this can be resolved in a mature way.

 

[GatorRay]

I hope it is just a misunderstanding about their sleep schedule or something. It seems a *tad* ridiculous that they would get upset at 8:30 at night. I could see maybe 10:30 or something.

 

[NJBullyMommy]

I woudn't tak Tate the first time you go and talk to them. If they seem cool that you went and talked this over with them then bring Tate next time to introduce him

 

[cali baker]

Well, i finally met my upstairs neighbors last night. They're a couple, maybe in their 30's (?), and i happened to run into them in our parking garage. I approached them and told them who i was; they were actually pretty nice and explained to me that since i got the wood floors installed a few months ago, they could hear EVERYTHING that goes on in my condo! Said they could hear Tate's pawsteps as he's walking around and even when he scratches himself!! can u believe that???

And i thought i had the "best quality soundproofing" installed w/the floors but i guess not!

Anyways, i told them i wanted to work w/them in living peacefully and i mentioned setting aside a playtime window for Tate...like betw. 6-8pm during the weeknights. Tate likes to drag his hard toys on the floor, banging them around with his mouth, so i told them i'd give him his soft toys after 8pm. During the wknds they're not even there, so Tate can play as hard as he wants then.

All in all, i thought we had a pretty productive talk and it was good to meet them face to face. I didn't realize how much noise they could hear from my unit. I think they appreciated the fact that i wanted to work things out with them.

Thanks for listening!!

 

[izstigspunks]

Thanks for the update and so happy to hear the good news. They sound like really nice people, which is a real blessing.

I remember staying at a friend's friend's condo once while road tripping and the sound proofing was so terrible that I can hear everything above us. And I mean EVERYTHING, from the phone ringing, someone answering the phone, to, umm, EVERYTHING ELSE you can imagine. It was too bad because it was such a nice modern condo too.

 

[kazzy220]

I'm glad it all worked out in the end ..... they seem very nice neighbours and now that you've started talking to them about it then they will feel able to come and talk about anything. The positive thing is that Tate is a bulldog and could very soon turn into a lazy couch potato!! Of course, they then might start complaining about the snoring!!!

 

[cali baker]

I'm glad it all worked out in the end ..... they seem very nice neighbours and now that you've started talking to them about it then they will feel able to come and talk about anything. The positive thing is that Tate is a bulldog and could very soon turn into a lazy couch potato!! Of course, they then might start complaining about the snoring!!!

that's very cute!!

 

[Chunksmama]

So good to hear you worked it out!!!

 

[KMARINO]

What about laying out a big thick comforter to play with Tate on when you two are playing?? That might sound proof a little better.

 

[LisaMarie]

Glad everything worked out