Having been woken up in the middle of the night (again!) by my neighbours two dogs incessant barking I would like to know what the law is regarding noisy dogs at night. Does anyone know? I am really fed up with it.
I woke the neighbour up (at 0530) to point out the racket the dogs were making and even though they were still barking their heads off he said that his dogs don't bark!
What is it about certain dog owners? Can't they hear their own dogs?

I can totally understand where you are coming from...I live in an are I find near perfect.... few neighbors near, no traffic etc yet over the last year since one idiot decided it would be a good idea to get a serra de estrela(very large dog) and tie it up with about a metre of chain in front of his house... my sleep is now severely disturbed! My wife till now has told me to "leave it" but I am at the limit... and past caring about upsetting the neighbor!

This is a huge problem in rural Portugal! A friend of mine with the same problem went to the Police to get informed about this and was told "that it is against the law and they would happily attend to it" although im not sure if you need to call during the night or if it can be dealt with during the day.

A common problem here in the town. Dogs kept on varandas and never allowed out.
Varandas hosed down to clear the dogs dirt. The water of course runs off the balcony and pours on to the street. (Watch out for water dripping from above)

Barking day and night. Mostly at night. The barking being triggered by night owl nutters who walk the streets in the middle of the night. Once one dog starts they all join in.

I think it's a hopeless task trying to stop this. The portuguese are oblivious to the sound of barking dogs.

Wouldn't bother complaining to the police as they and the locals all seem to be related to one another.

I had a similar problem, however after waking my neighbour a number of times at 2 am and 3 am etc. he started to take notice

We had the same problem, both neighbours dogs tethered on chains in the garden sleep all day bark all night. Apparently the Portuguese have a heavy reliance on sleeping pills but not wishing to go down that route or alienate the dog owners whose dogs have been barking long before I arrived, I bought a Sleep Mate white noise machine. I have to say, I was a bit dubious about spending £80+ on it, but to my surprise it worked. It produces a swishing noise similar to a fan operating and can be adjusted to increase or decrease the volume according to the volume of the exterior noise.

That sounds really interesting. Where can we buy these 'magic machines'!?

If you go on the internet, type in Sleep Mate, you will see several sites offering this and other similar devices, but avoid the US sellers as you may find that PT Customs hold on to it until you have paid an import tax. I bought mine from Amazon UK and paid £82 + £15 postage. I believe the RNID also sell similar devices and CD's that produce a similar effect.

Filtering out barking is a part of Portugal-ification. One shouldn't be issued a residency certificate without passing a test!

I've never thought that I'd be able to get used to it, but I did. The key is to accept that this particular skill is as necessary as learning the language, and then to avoid getting angry about it. Anger makes relaxing and falling asleep impossible.

After moving last time and discovering a huge beast across the street barking at night, I thought that it would take a long while to get used to his activities. In reality it took a couple of nights. It took me longer to get used to the roosters who start working the ears at 3am round here. Unlike the Portuguese, the local roosters are workaholics.

Oh yes, I had the same story. And neighbours don't give a damn. I have two like this.

We don't usually have a problem but with all the Lisboetas here on holiday who have brought their dogs with them I've been kept awake so many nights lately....but worse for me is being woken up way to early by seagulls screaching. Have no idea what they are up to but sounds like they are having a right old ding dong!