neighbors ignore their dogs and we get to pay for it (A bit vent-like)

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neighbors ignore their dogs and we get to pay for it (A bit vent-like)

Posted : 12/31/2010 5:01:32 PM

I have no idea why my neighbors thought it would be a good idea to get dogs. They have 3 cats and we all know that cats are much more independent than dogs. They initially got a bassett hound puppy which I thought was a huge mistake. Bassets bark a lot and I read that its a good idea to get two from the same litter so they keep each other company and that could lessen the barking. A few months later they got a black lab. In the 2 years they have had the dogs, I have never seen them in the back yard playing with them, walking or exercising the dogs, or doing ANY sort of formal training. So if you were 2 dogs (a high energy lab mind you) in that situation what are you doing to do? Bark, and bark, and bark.

My hsuband went over to them a few months ago and they acknowledged that the barking was a problem b/c it was bothering them as well. They said something about getting the no kill shelter to take them but they were full. They also mentioned re-homing them but b/c they had no training, they didn't think anyone would want them. They said they had bought various barking collars and nothing worked. Of course nothing is going to work. They are barking b/c they are bored, stressed, ignored, and have to release that energy somehow. I am a teacher/runner and the ONLY day I get to sleep in is on Sundays b/c I am waking up early every day for training and for my job. That bassett hound wakes me up EVERY time I get to sleep in between 8-9 AM.

Then there was the tick issue last summer. Their dogs had the ticks (They admited it) and then passed them on to my dogs. Kenny and Abe are both on Frontline and we have never had a tick issue before. Over the course of the summer we had our exterminators spray down our back yard and house 3 times b/c my dogs are inside dogs so they brought the bugs inside with them despite me inspecting them everytime they came inside. On a couple of times I found ticks on and attached to me. They don't know about this, but I even had one crawling down my sleeve one morning while eating breakfast with my family at a resteraunt. I was horrified and embarassed.

They recently bought a different type of dog collar with a remote so they could correct the dog. It has reduced the barking, but I still can't walk into my own backyard without getting barked at a few times or listening to the awful whining. Plus it just means they don't have to open the door and tell the dog to be quiet. (Not that that did a damn thing)

I called animal control on them a few months ago for the noise issue and someone came out. I am tempted to call animal control again. My neighbors have acknowledged its a problem but haven't changed anything at all in terms of paying attention to the dogs or attempting to train them so they could spend some time inside with the family. I have ignored and mumbled under my breathe this problem for 2 years and I just can't take it anymore. It's to the point where I wish I lived in a different neighborhood b/c I hear the dog barking EVERYDAY in every single room in my house b/c the barking is so loud.

I have considered trying to compose my thoughts my writing them a letter b/c I totally hate confrontation and I don't want to accuse them of being the poor owners that they are to their face. Just b/c one give the dogs food, water, and shelter, doesn't mean they are suitable dog owners. It take so much more than that!

PLEASE tell me someone else has had a similer issue and found a peaceful way to resolve it. They are not bad people, just bad dog owners.

spiritdogs

Posted : 1/1/2011 8:58:50 AM

I was with you until your last sentence... "They are not bad people, just bad dog owners." I think people are bad (and irresponsible) if they get dogs and ignore, harm, or allow them to become a public nuisance because they were too ignorant to take them to a training class, and then put a collar on them and shock them for just doing what bored, unhappy dogs do. If they are purebred dogs, the owners can foster them at home until a rescue has room for them, or they can maybe consider going to training classes (ya right). My guess is that once animal control gets involved, the dogs will become a financial burden for them, and they will end up at the kill shelter. Sorry, but I think your neighbors are not nice - they're jerks. If you don't want to call them jerks to their face, perhaps you could suggest a local clicker trainer/behaviorist to them who could come out to the house and work on the barking issue in a way that's not going to harm the dogs. IAABC has listings.

kennys_mom

Posted : 1/2/2011 1:55:04 PM

spiritdogs
then put a collar on them and shock them for just doing what bored, unhappy dogs do.

That is what really bothers me the most. They caused this situation by failing to pay attention to the needs of the animals and then punish them with a bark collar b/c of it. The neighbor told my husband that the labrador has tried to chew the bark collar off the basset b/c he doesn't like it.

I will politely disagree with you that they are bad people though. I don't know if they have ever owned dogs before so I don't think they knew what they were getting into. They have 3 cats but they are so much more independent than dogs. However, it angers me that they have allowed this to continue to 2 years. Those dogs are miserable and it just kills me. The basset has long hair and everytime I look over the fence it's matted so I seriously doubt they clean his ears either like they should since they don't brush him. I wonder how long it took for them to figure out last summer that their dogs had a tick problem. Those things were probably sucking them dry.

The owner said they had looked at the local no kill shelter here in town but it was at capacity as most no kill shelters are. My husband told him that I would do some research on breed specific rescues here in Texas but most are in the DFW area and we live 5-6 hours away from there. I don't think they want to surrender them to the city b/c they especially the basset would most likely be un-adoptable and be put down due to behavior problems that are not their fault. I haven't presented the rescue info to them yet. I don't really know how to approach them as it would not be a fun casual conversation. I would feel most comfortable sitting down with the wife though.

It just seems like a lose-lose situaiton for everyone. The owners say they don't like the barking though they have allowed it to happen, the dogs bark b/c they are unhappy, and the neighbors have to listen to it all.