A dog owner has hit back at her neighbours’ request to walk her pet ant an impossible hour

An eastern Sydney woman was stunned to receive a letter accusing her dog of “unsettling” neighbours across three streets.

A Sydney woman has been stunned to find a letter at her property accusing her dog of “unsettling” neighbours across three eastern Sydney streets.

The letter, which the woman found pinned to the back gate of her Randwick property, requests she take her “barking … dogs” for a walk at 6am if she is “already up and about” to be able to let them outside.

“We understand that dogs will bark but some neighbours feel it is a little unfair and a little inconsiderate that the dogs are allowed outside to do so from 6am, which is awakening neighbours as the barking is echoing throughout the neighbouring streets,” the letter reads.

It said it was particularly unfair to neighbours who are “police, nurses, and other shift workers who have just finished a night shift and are trying to get some sleep”.“We also have two elderly care homes nearby to which this (barking) is causing some residents to become distressed due to be (sic) woken in the early morning.”

The letter suggests the woman take the dog for a walk to one of the “numerous parks” in the area to resolve the issue, saying they would prefer that over complaining to the local council as the RSPCA reportedly suggested.

The letter claims that some neighbours have “attempted to make contact” with the woman by “visiting” her home “on numerous occasions to discuss the matter, to no avail”.

But the woman has rejected this claim in a lengthy post to a community Facebook page, sharing the letter and an apology for any frustration caused by her one and only dog.

The woman shared a photo of her one and only dog, reportedly causing strife in Randwick. Picture: Facebook

She said she was “concerned” by the claims neighbours have attempted to visit her on multiple occasions.

“As a single mother, I am up at 5:15 (am) preparing school lunches, breakfasts, organising school bags and getting two children ready for sports training and/or school and myself either to clients offices or at my home office for the day,” she wrote, adding she “often” works from home in the evenings.

“I am surprised I haven’t heard your knocks at the door.”

She warmly invited the disgruntled neighbours to visit her to discuss a solution more than locking the dog up – “I would be reported to the RSPCA for cruelty to animals if I kept him inside all day” – or going for a walk at 6am which, she said, “simply isn’t possible”.

“(My dog) is walked at least once daily and has the freedom to be inside or outside unlike the (other) dog you describe in your letter,” she continues, adding that her dog sleeps most of the day and is well socialised with people and dogs.

The neighbours suggested she take the dog for a walk to a nearby park at 6am. Picture: John Appleyard

She said the “barking is entirely territorial and is rare late at night”.

“I always call him back but dog psychology would describe this as defending his territory. I understand this is disturbing for others and why I chastise him, call him inside or reassure him every time I hear him do it.”

She acknowledged it was a tricky coexistence for shift workers who need to sleep during daylight hours, and apologised for the noise her dog does cause which she was “very conscious of” despite losing 80 per cent of her hearing in one ear due to chronic disease.

“If other dog owners and trainers have some helpful ideas, (I am) also happy to receive those,” she wrote.

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Originally published as A dog owner has hit back at her neighbours’ request to walk her pet ant an impossible hour