How Long is Too Long...

Update: I talked to my other neighbor's and they said their dog died in the early winter of 2007. That means Harley arrived as a puppy during the summer of 2007...

I've been trying to figure out how old the Annoying One is, because this will tell me how long I've been forced to listen to his barking and just when I began to slide toward the edge of noise trauma darkness.

Harley was just a wee pup of about 2-3 months when they first brought home the bundle of joy...and he was already indulging in psycho barking although he was much cuter then...visually that is; make no mistakes here - the horrendous sound that comes out of that Schnoodle was never even close to being cute, even back then. I know my neighbors well enough to know they have no dog training skills...and I know that they have no clue that they have no clue...and I knew immediately that I was in BIG trouble and began trying to calculate how long Harley would live...and if I could survive that long.

I know they didn't have him when my very first cat died on November 2, 2005, they didn't have him when I got my shelter cat in December of 2005, and I know they didn't have Harley when my other neighbor's dog died, but I'm having difficulty remembering if she died in 2006 or 2007. I just remember it was a cold and misty day, so it was either late winter/early spring or late fall/early winter. She had been tethered in their yard for about 6 years...a very sad affair and another story for another blog...and I remember my relief at her death was short lived because next thing I knew my other lovely neighbors came home from the beach with Harley. Yea. That was in the Summer of either '06 or '07.

So maybe it hasn't been 4 years that I've been being barked at. Maybe it's only been 3ish. What also makes it difficult to remember, even though the Annoyance started right in immediately, on day one, with his annoying ruckus, was that in the beginning Harley was inside quite often and so I was not always assaulted like I was later on and am now, although, believe me, if he was outside we all knew about it.

So, despite what one of Harley's humans told me when I asked him last fall how old Harley was (he said about 6 but I knew that was not true...let's refer back to Dr. Mixon's noise trauma chart about the thinking process), Harley is getting close to either 3 or 4 years old.

Either way, this barking business has been going on too long. My advice, for what it's worth in my completely batty, nervous wreck, anxiety ridden state, to anyone who has just begun to have a barking neighbor - don't wait, nip it in the bud, don't wait thinking the humans will quiet the dog because they won't, don't keep quiet so as to not ruin the neighborly relationship because if your neighbors allow their dog to disrupt your life the neighborly relationship is non existant anyway, and the longer you wait the more stressed out you'll get, and you'll become as wacked out and miserable as Yours Truly.

I Love the Rainy Days...

Today was an excellent day - cold & rainy! Why??? you say. Because on days like this Harley is not out their psycho barking. In fact, if he was always as quiet as he is on cold, rainy days, I could live with it and probably not be as deranged and batty as I am. Ok, ok, that's debatable but I'd be willing to bet on it.

I used to think that his people let him come inside on rainy days, but no such luck for the irritant. I heard a few feeble attempts at barking after I came home around noon (and by the way he did not yap once when I left this morning which is a rare treat) and later looked out of an upstairs window to see him wandering around his yard, soaking wet. According to Google the high today was 55 and the low will be 34. My cat stayed inside today, and when it's wet and this cold I even make my outside cat come in, but poor Harley is all wet and out in the cold. As much as I despise Harley's barking, I despise his people more for being so negligent and  insensitive to his requirements and comfort. After all, it is their own fault that Harley and his buddy, the Quiet One (actually her name is Cherokee...but she doesn't like that name...hell I don't think either of them know their names anyway), lack good house manners, and poor Harley is the type of dog that really needs to be with his people rather than in exile.

This is also the first day for a while that I haven't been walking around outside with my mobile phone in one hand to make these repulsive videos of Harley barking while trying to do something else at the same time. I have a nice camera that makes great videos, much better than the cell phone, but having that ball and chain around my neck while trying to do other things would be rediculous so I just keep making really lousy videos of Harley's barking with my cell phone. However, it is the sound I'm after and that come through loud and clear and spot on.

As a special treat for anyone visting Barking Mad, I've now made an accompanying blog called Barking Mad Videos (I know, I know, not very original but hey, remember the signs and symptoms chart about the reduced brain function). The star, of course, is my most despised and biggest irritant (second only to his humans), and you can click Harley's photo at the right to see these videos. I know, you can hardly wait. Yea, you say.

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.