Inhumane Is as Inhumane Does...

I wrote to the Metrolina Dog Reporter in Indian Trail, thinking she might have some suggestion. Here's what she said (my comments are in pink, if you couldn't guess...),

Dear Ms. X (No, not telling you my name),

"Assuming you have tried to make friends with the dog next door, Yes, and I used to be friends with my neighbors, too. it sounds like you have been extremely patient with a dog that has not been properly socialized. Really. It could also be that the dog senses your feelings of frustration and is misinterpreting that as a threat. Yeah, that's why he starts jumping around and wagging his tail when I approach the fence. The dog can't tell me, his neighbor who used to give him treats, play with him, and pet his head over the fence, from an intruder, so I doubt he can distinguish much else. He treats me the same way he did before I became hostile.


"Your e-mail does not mention anything about calling the police or the sheriff's department to help you handle this situation only animal control. Yes, I've called the police and they sent out the animal control guy. In Union County, Animal Control is, as you may know, under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff's Dept. so if I call Eddy guess who they will send out. So whether I call the police, the sheriff's dept., or animal control the only person I'll see is an animal control officer, and probably the same one that always shows up. And when the animal control guy came out a few weeks ago, all the neighbors came out into the yard so the dog wasn't barking. There are nuisance ordinances that cover barking dogs. A visit from a city policeman or deputy sheriff is sometimes necessary when it comes to such inconsiderate neighbors as you describe. Yes, we do have animal control (nuisance) ordinances, which date back to the days when animal control was under the jurisdiction of the health dept. (until 5-6 years ago), but it does no go to have the ordinances if they aren't enforced, which they aren't around here, at least not in my experience. And by they way, they do kill animals in a gas chamber in Union County, so this will be the likely outcome for any animals confiscated by animal control. Isn't Indian Trail in Union County? Last time I checked, it was.

"Keeping a small squirt bottle filled with water handy will be easier than dragging around a garden hose or you may want to try buying a small can of Direct Stop at Petsmart. Direct Stop is a cintronella spray that dogs find very offensive but it will not harm their eyes. And people have insinuated that I'm mean for using the ultrasonic device. Somehow I find it hard to believe that citronella is kinder. It makes my eyes and skin burn when I use it on just my skin as an insect repellant. So try squirting the dog in the face and telling it "NO" with either water or Direct Stop whenever it barks at you and this may help curb the its behavior. Right. Well, she does have a somewhat simple grasp on the classical conditioning concept, or she's just putting it in simple terms because she thinks I'm an idiot. Anyway, I did this thing with the squirt bottle, way back, and the dog just laughed at the squirt, then went on his merry barking way... "hahaha...rahrahrahrahrahrah..." 


"I did this with my own dogs when they kept barking at my neighbor's new cat. I also squirted the cat because it was coming right up to our fence and taunting my dogs. Yeah, my neighbor's tried to blame my cat, too. Not sure what the excuse was when the cat wasn't around. My cat used to "hunt" in the shrubs near the fence, but he can't stand the barking either so he doesn't go over there any more. But the dog still barks...whether the cat is outside or not. My two dogs and the neighbor's cat eventually learned to change their behavior because they did not like getting squirted in the face with water every day. Refer to the above. Hence the more effective hose which got his attention after 3-4 uses. I understand that training the neighbor's dog is not your responsibility but a month of your time conditioning the dog to stop its obnoxious behavior is better than putting up with four more years of aggravation. A month of my time??? I have been working on trying to "condition" this dog not to bark at least at me since they got it as a puppy, and then I realized one day that when the neighbors are in the yard and the dog starts barking they give him treats and attention to distract him, which, as anyone with any insight into classical conditioning knows, is just reinforcing the undesired behavior and therefore counterproductive to anything I do. I was willing to pay for dog training, but the 3 trainers I consulted with told me the same thing - waste of money...training won't work if the owners don't participate and reinforce the training (duh). Let's see, I've been outside at least 8 times today to quiet the dog. Actually, I just came in and he's out there barking again. I actually set off my car alarm once hoping to attract his people's attention because I was tired of getting up to shut their dog up. I thought perhaps I could "condition" the humans to get up and tend to the barking when they hear "Pavlov's bell ringing"...but I supposed if I let it (the car alarm) go on too long they'll call the cops and the cops will rush right out to put an end to the noise nuisance...even though it hasn't been going on anywhere near 4 years. Go figure. (At this point, you probably want to squirt your neighbors in the face, too, but I do NOT recommend it). Really. I said I was going crazy, not stupid.


Good Luck!
Deborah Parkhill Mullis

Gee. Thanks Deborah...so much for the Metrolina Dog Reporter. I think Deborah needs to go back to school...or maybe she has never lived next to a barking dog and thus does not realize the damage it can do to one's life both emotionally and physically.  


Well, then...anyone else want to insult my intelligence?


P.S. I was making some progress with the ultrasonic handheld device along with rewards when the dog sat quietly watching me while I was in the yard. But I've also had to run outside early in the morning in my pajamas to make the dog stop barking, sometimes 3-4 times before he stops, and no sign of his people (yes, they are home), and the dog wakes me up barking in the middle of the night so I've had to move my bedroom, first across the hall upstairs, and now I'm sleeping in the living room, the room farthest away...but he still wakes me up.


I've had a couple "dog people" scoff because I'm using the ultrasonic device. I guess they think it's inhumane... however I find it to be very inhumane and abusive to drive a human crazy and to disrupt one's whole life by allowing this barking to continue. and no one seems to care about the people, just the dog...except for other people who have been driven mad by barking dogs and insensitive, rude neighbors.

Off Topic but Dog Relevant

Correction to the info in this blog entry: as of today there are now 3 dogs tied up back there, and one is a small puppy. Or maybe that poor puppy has been there the whole time. Who knows any more.

I admit this is not my most eloquent blog entry; this entry is more just a rant without much style. Not to get off the topic of Harley the yapper here, but back to those 2 poor dogs that were recently tied up in the yard by my neighbors behind me because this crap is driving me crazy...living surrounded by so much animal neglect that  no one else around here seems to be bothered by.

I walked out back the other day when it was pouring down rain, Christmas Day I think it was, with the sole purpose of checking them out, and both of those dogs were sitting in the rain next to the feeble "shelters" those freaks provided for them. I don't think those dogs have even 5 feet of chain or rope or whatever is keeping them in bondage. It's almost as sad as being driven batty by a barking yapper...well, actually sadder because the dogs are powerless to do anything about their situation.

Now this is in the far back corner of their yard, right in front of the spot where the creeps cut away the branches of the shrubs that divide our properties so I have a birds eye view of this horror when I walk out behind my garage. I know, I know, why walk out of my way to see the poor things? Well, it is my yard so it's not really out of my way, and as the Homo sapien with the evolved brain (or a good Christian if that was the case), either way I do have a moral responsibility to be humane to animals, to recognize negligence and other abuses, and to try to rescue animals that are being abused by low-lifes whose brains haven't kept up with evolution but who, none-the-less, possess the appearance of the species Homo sapien.

I was really tempted to call the cops, but what are they going to do? Call the animal control, who might confiscate the dogs and then euthanize them in the gas chamber along with 100s of other dogs and cats? Well, animal control probably wouldn't do that since they won't even collect a dog that is running loose scaring people or almost causing auto accidents by running to and fro across Concord Ave., but I, on the other hand, would probably just be put on the list of complainers and get blown off...again. Odd how it is that the authorities would ignore the concerned citizen or treat them like they are the bad guy, and then also ignore the animal abusers and allow them to continue on their merry way even though they are actually breaking the law (see the Union County Animal Control Ordinance page 93, #2 about proper shelter and protection from the weather elements). What are my tax dollars paying them for, anyway?  And why do we even have the animal ordinances if my tax dollars aren't enforcing them? And, I can honestly add that the ordinances are rather out dated since the animal control now falls under the jurisdiction of the Sherrif's Department rather than the Health Department, as it formerly was when these ordinances came into effect, so why are my tax dollars also paying the lawmakers if they are not keeping the laws that the law enforcers aren't enforcing up to date???

But back to the 2 tied up dogs. Like I said, this happened before back there with the puppy that had no water in mid summer, and I only foresee terrible things for these 2 unfortunate canines and I just hope they don't break loose one day and bite someone or kill a pet, especially like me or one of my cats since we are closest. Normally when I go out back to feed Kitty those dogs start barking at me (thus also getting Harley the yapper going) but that day the dogs didn't even look up when I walked back there making noise, they didn't look up when I whistled, and they barely looked up when I raised my voice and started calling out for Kitty...the semi-feral homeless cat that I had neutered, vaccinated for rabies and distemper, and feed every day who has taken shelter in the shed at the side of my garage. If Kitty could talk he'd probably say that even though he had the crap scared out of him when he was trapped and then had his balls cut off it's OK because at least someone cares about him.

What Works, and What Doesn't Work

Right before I was about to go completely over the edge because of 4 years of living next door to a yapping nuisance, I joined a yahoo group called Barking Dogs. While perusing all the posts I've seen a lot of suggestion involving making videos with sound, filing lawsuits, hiring an attorney to write a letter to the dog's humans... some of that can be really expensive and then, along with the continued barking you have the added stress of the cost and being in the middle of a litigation war. Shock collars have also been suggested, but upon researching them I think they are a bad idea: someone has to change the batteries, someone has to make sure the dog isn't suffering from shock abuse, and to use a shock collar responsibly someone has to work in conjunction with the device to train the dog, or it is just plain old animal cruelty. Why would I care about that when the little F-er has practically ruined my whole life? Because it's not his fault: he could have been a good pet and a cute doggie neighbor if his humans had a clue and had been responsible dog owners in the first place. The humans have to actually have one of those evolved brains that supposedly come with the opposing thumb.

But enough of disparaging the pea-brain humans. I'll tell you what seems to be working for me, although I think I'm pretty lucky because I know this hasn't worked for a lot of people. After deciding to take things into my own hands (after going completely batty but before I totally went over the edge into the deep end), I've had pretty good success with a sharp "quiet" command, the garden hose, and a handheld ultrasonic device, and then when the little nuisance stands there at the fence watching me without barking I go pet his stinky head to reward him. It only took 3-4 sprays over a 2 day period with really cold water from the hose on a very cold day, now I just use the ultrasonic and the command. We're still working on when he sees the cat, but he's doing pretty good. One of these days I might even give the annoying fellow a freeze dried turkey heart in lieu of or in addition to the pet on the head.

In fact, he's doing so well I'm wondering if one of my neighbors has been working with the yapper (since my 2 hysterical calls in the middle of the night and one call to animal control), although I find that hard to believe since they seemed so clueless for 4 years. I don't know for sure what they are doing (if anything) because my neighbors no longer talk to me after my late night calls and call to AC, which is ironic because I used to still talk to them even though they were letting their damn dog drive everybody crazy. If I'd known it was going to be this easy I'd have alienated them a long time ago.

But this also means I've had to attempt to train someone else's dog which is also sort of ironic because the reason I don't have a dog is because I don't want to have to take the time to train it, walk it, scoop crap, and all the other things that come with being a responsible dog owner...and good neighbor...

What didn't work, although he didn't like it, was spraying him with vinegar water, which was suggested to me by a dog rescue person of all things (no wonder many of them are batty).*

Nor did diplomacy and offering to pay for training the dog work, which was my husband's method and idea...

* The same dog rescue person who suggested the useless vinegar & water method, later suggested the ultrasonic birdhouse thingie, which led me to the handheld ultrasonic device because it was cheaper and I wanted to see if it would have any effect before I sprang for the more costly birdhouse device. I mean, I'm still paying out the ass for chiropractic treatments and massage to relieve the pain in my neck that finally became unbearable this last summer (and especially so when the dog goes into a barking tirade), and for the doctor visits to get the xanax prescription to ease the anxiety attacks I still experience when I think about going outside.

The Decline of my Yard

Usually, during the spring and summer I work in the yard quite a lot. I plant annual flowers and herbs in the ground, tend the bulbs, trim the shrubs, get rid of weeds, mulch, this, that,... it's a big yard and takes a lot of attention to keep it looking nice.

However, the last few years have seen the decline of my garden -  few annuals and a lot of weeds - thanks to my neighbors. I say "my neighbors" because they are the ones who were so neglectful in the training of their dog, and thus turned him into a barking nuisance. Not the dog's fault. It would be one thing if he barked when strangers showed up, or just barked a little here and there, but his constant yakking at me, his neighbor, from the time I step out to the time I step back in made it impossible for me to stay in the yard for more than a few minutes, especially this last year when he was exiled from the house in the early spring.

An then in the fall when my husband was home we enlisted the help of a couple of guys looking for work to spread a few loads of mulch around - something I usually do - and the dog barked constantly the whole time they were out there. Even though I was in the house, refusing to go out and be barked at, it still drove me over the edge.

But after I realized I was losing my physical & mental health because of this barking, and thus became hysterical, I also realized that I was the one who was going to have to jump into action if I did not want this fellow to send me completely off the deep end.

He's actually a smart little fellow. Since I enlisted the help of the hose and the handheld ultrasonic device he's learned pretty quickly not to bark at me when I go into the yard. He still gets excited and forgets himself so I just remind him with the ultrasonic, and he's still having trouble when the cat appears, but we're working on that. I only used the hose 3-4 times, now it's just the ultrasonic, and I've also made sure to reward him with scratches on the head when he watches me quietly.

I have hopes for having a nice yard again next year, but I'm afraid the damage has been done as far as my relationship with my neighbors, who I used to consider good neighbors until they proved otherwise by allowing their dog to carry on until I flipped out and I'm loathe to say that it will take a long time for me to forgive them for that. In fact, they'll have to beg or give me a million dollars. Maybe both.

OH, CRAP :-(

Today I noticed that the neighbors behind me on Charlotte Ave. have tied up 2 dogs in their yard. This has only happened in the last day, and the reason I found out is because the dogs started barking at me tonight when I went out back to feed my semi-feral (neutered) cat and they weren't out there last night. Of course when they began barking, the psycho next door started barking. Great. GRRRRRRR....

It looks like they are older puppies, pit bull types,. They don't even have proper dog houses, just regular traveling crates with holes in the sides. The dogs would have no place to even stay dry.

This is not the first time. Those people have had other dogs tied up, and one time I called the cops because it was a puppy, howling, no water, in the middle of the summer. Of course, the cops did nothing...well, they treated me like I was the criminal but they did nothing for the poor dog. When the dog got older it would get loose and come into my yard and chase my cats. Then it suddenly disappeared one day.

I am surrounded by horrible, awful people. It's just one thing after the other, and it is making me sick.

I'm going to contact Dogs Deserve Better and have them send one of their letters to these freaks.

A Moment of Reprieve

I love lousy weather. It's the only time that damn dog is not barking.

Today was one of those days...not one bark all day long. It's cold, raining, a friend said there was sleet this morning, but I love it because my psyche hasn't been assaulted by a barking dog at all today, and I have high hopes for a peaceful night. Despite how wonderful that sounds, I have developed an ever present dread of the next bark. It will take more than a day of peace to heal from these last years of abuse. Yes, that's right - abuse. I feel like I've been beat up emotionally.

I have no idea where the dog is when the weather is like this, but at this point I don't really care. That's really a sad statement, and if that dog knew what an injustice has been done to him by his own people for not training him to be a good fellow, and thus despised by his neighbor, he'd be really sad too.

Another Morning with the Barker...What's New?

I started out my morning having to go out 3 times to shut the damn dog up within less than an hour, without the spray from the hose because it froze last night. I felt pretty good when I woke up, but now I'm very irritable, my neck is killing me, my head is spinning, my ears are ringing, there were several things I wanted to do today but now I feel parlayzed... I had to take a xanax, just 1/2, because I was having an anxiety attack and felt like I couldn't breath and just could not spend the day like that (which has happened often over the last 6-8 months). I try not to take xanax very often because I don't want to let that dog turn me into a drug addict, but he is the essence of the statement "driving one to drink."

People who have never actually lived next door to a chronic barker probably do not really understand the extent to which this sort of thing can consume a person, and I hope they never have to find out.

Since this handheld ultrasonic device I got seems to have some effect on my neighboring annoyance, I was thinking about getting some of those those ultrasonic devices that look like a birdhouse. I believe they work on batteries, so I'd just have to change them periodically (annoying but not as much as the barking, for sure). 

Our yards are quite large so I would probably need 5 or 6 of them so I could mount them on the trees all around the outside of their fence. It would be outside of their property. They are surrounded by trees on the other side and in back; I'm the only lucky neighbor living directly next door, although the people on the other side of me can also hear the yapping, not as much as me, of course, but I won't tell you what they said they'd do if they were me... I don't really think they'd actually do it, but maybe...

In the Beginning...

Well, I should have started this venture 3 years ago, when my neighbors first brought home the puppy...and now I'm really kicking myself for not setting up a webcam.

I knew immediately that this irritant, a Schnoodle of all things, a genetic barker from the roots, whose name is appropriately Harley (no offense to anyone who rides one), was going to be a problem, mainly for me, because he was already running aimlessly around the yard barking like a psycho at nearly everything that moved or didn't move...and they thought he was cute. The biggest clue of what was to come, however, was that I know my neighbors well enough to know they have no clue about training a dog. Apparently they think (if they think) that dogs are genetically programmed to know how to be model citizens... I mean, the wife was completely baffled as to why the dog kept going to the bathroom in the house...

Anyway, when they first brought the puppy home I attempted to befriended him with treats, petting and play with  the hopes that he wouldn't bark at me, but as soon as I would leave their yard or walk away from the fence he would start barking, a continuous, and nerve frazzling rahrahrahrahrahrah...

I'm not a "dog person" but I understand the basic concepts of dog training, and I would only give him a treat/attention when he was quiet. But eventually I realized that when my foolish neighbors were in the yard they would get him to shut up by giving him treats, etc., and that when in the house they would also try to make him behave by distracting him with treats/toys, and so this was undermining my efforts to teach him not bark at me. They were enforcing the undesired behaviors by "rewarding" him when he was bad.

In disgust, I soon quit paying any attention to the little yapper. It made no difference, he was going to bark at me whether I was nice to him or not because he was being rewarded for it on the other side of the fence. I could almost feel sorry for the poor little yapper, because his foolish people have inadvertently turned him into such an annoyance that even they hate their own dog and have exiled him to the yard for good, thus causing others to feel extreme ill will toward the innocent but ever-present irritant.

To be continued because this isn't the end of what I have to say about these irresponsible fools who created such an annoyance, and the negative impact it's had on my life.