A woman whose kids are "distressing" a neighbor's dog has been backed online, with Mumsnet users dubbing the couple next door "massively unreasonable."

In a post shared to the U.K. based Internet forum on August 1, user InYerFace explained that her relationship with her new neighbors hadn't got off to the best start.

She wrote: "New neighbours (a couple, late 40s so similar age to us, but no kids) came around last night to complain that the sound of our teen boys playing in the garden was upsetting their dog who is a rescue, very nervous and reactive to sound.

"I'm really torn on what to do. I'm sympathetic to their situation and I really don't want to fall out with them.

"I know the dog has problems because it barks at us from his side of the fence whenever we go out in the garden.

"When they came round to complain they brought the dog with them to show us what it's like—the woman had it in her arms and it spent the whole time growling and baring its teeth."

A 2021 survey conducted by Homes.com found that 36 percent of participants had fallen out with a neighbor. Of the 2,000 U.S. adults surveyed, a quarter had a long-running feud with a neighbor. The leading causes of arguments include noise, parking and trash/mess, with animal noise and waste also making the top 10.

Some 40 percent reported actively avoiding their neighbors, with reasons including "they're nosy," "they're weird," or just being too busy to talk.

Although 16 percent of respondents said they'd moved house because of bad neighbors, 23 percent said they consider their neighbors good friends, while 30 percent said they "trust their neighbors a lot."

For InYerFace, the situation escalated when her teen sons' friends came over to play basketball. She said that the noise wasn't "excessive," with no screaming or music blaring, just "kids playing in the garden."

"The ball doesn't thud loudly on the floor as the garden is grass with no paving or decking so it's muffled, but it does clatter when it hits the hoop," she said.

"I get that the clatter would be annoying after a while, but I wouldn't say it was any more annoying than the noise of their dog barking at us through the fence and I wouldn't dream of complaining about that. It's just part and parcel of life."

Despite the previous neighbors never complaining about noise, the new neighbors were annoyed, telling InYerFace "they were worried that the ball would come over and hit their dog."

To keep things cordial, the poster told her sons not to play basketball anymore, even though they "love it."

"It is a shame, it will probably mean they're just inside playing X Box," she said.

"Because they're teens, most of the games they'd want to play in the garden do involve some kind of ball. Do I just resign myself to a summer of them sat inside? We do have a local park but it's quite some distance away and seems a shame they can't use their own garden."

Mumsnet users told the woman to ignore the neighbors and let her kids enjoy the summer.

"The second you cave to one request, she'll be [around] with another," warned IncompleteSenten. "Before you know it you'll be tiptoeing round your house and sneaking your clothes to the launderette because you've been banned from using your washing machine."

Wombat27A agreed, writing: "They can keep the dog in, if it's getting distressed."

"I wouldn't stop my children playing in [their] own garden," said whowhatwherewhy.

BeanieTeen commented: "They need to read up on dog training, dog behaviour, and what to do/ what not to do with a stressed out rescue dog. It's not your problem."

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