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MzTee, assuming you are correct and your dog is only barking a couple of times a day (and not one or twice a day for a half hour at a time), it sounds like your neighbour is being unreasonable. I believe the expectation is that a dog should not be annoying rather than completely silent. You should check that your dog is not barking while no one is at home to hear. You can do this easily by setting up your computer to record while you are out. There are some good free programs available for this such as Audacity. Then once you have all your ducks in a row, respond to the OC’s letter, indicating that it is not your dog making noise. I would not directly engage with her anymore if she is being abusive.
To be fair people use dog walkers for all sorts of reasons. Some people have changes of circumstance such as illness or changes to work practice. My neighbour for example has just started using a dog walker three days a week. She used to work from home, but a change in circumstance meant she had to seek external employment. She still walks the dog on the other four days and spends time with the dog but she also has two young children that make dog walking early in the morning or late at night impossible.
Some people live in apartments and like their dog to have a toilet stop in the middle of the day, particularly if the dog is very young or very old.
Some have an influx of work that makes them temporarily busy, or need to work longer hours one or two days a week.
Some just feel guilty that their dog is alone 8-9 hours a day while they are at work.
Some people also just have a lot of dogs.
I wouldn't complain too loudly as I think you will find you are ahead of the game anyway. Most unit blocks use the larger 240L bins (dimensions approx 105x60x75cm) rather than the smaller 120L bins households use. When you add in the fact that they are emptied twice a week (as opposed to once a week for regular households) you end up with up to 2400L of rubbish removed by the council per week. This compares to the 1920L of rubbish removal that you pay for in your rates.
Good points – well except for the anti-dog stuff. (Cats may be more discrete, but that's because they are pooping in your neighbours yard and not your own.)
Except that most pets need to be given longer than a week to settle into a new environment. A neighbour that complains to strata management after only a week isn't really being neighbourly. I find that in our pet friendly apartment block given a month most animals have settled down.
You would be better off talking directly to the pet owner in the initial stage particularly if it is about noise the pet is making while the owner is away. Most pet owners are happy to be given that kind of information as they don't want their pets in distress anymore than you do.
I think having no parking spaces actually makes sense for blocks in the inner city when having a car is really an unnecessary expense.
I lived in a block with no onsite parking (and no parking permits available for residents) in Chippendale for the eight years without any problems. Granted it may not be for everyone, but I took public transport most places and borrowed the car of a family member for those occaisions where public transport was not possible. I also found there was no real need for a visitor's space either as there was plenty of on street parking available evenings and weekends.
Last year, however, I got a dog, which necessitated the purchase of a car and a local car space because (unlike most civilised countries) I cannot take him on public transport.