ultrasonic dog collar
We are NOT grumpy neighbors, in fact, we are quite the opposite, going the extra distance to help one another in any way we can. But we have a delimna now which was brought on not by a neighbor, but by one of their family members who literally DUMPED a noisy dog on her when she, 87 years old and in a wheel chair and in and out of the hospital all the time, has no business trying to take care of a rambunctious toy Dachshund who scratches, barks, and as Dachshunds will do, burrows into everything. And all the bloody scratches on our neighbor’s arms and legs from this dog jumping on her are testimony to how this was not a wise decision to match these two.
We’ve suggested a humane ultrasonic collar that will teach the dog not to bark. The daughter (whose bad judgement led to this delimna) responded by cutting off ALL relations in a letter to the police, fearing we might make an animal noise report.
They will not walk the dog either so it has far too much pent up energy.
We wrote a letter to the daughter that was written very nicely, not as a complaing, but as a helpful suggestion for addressing the barking noise as we are in an attached condo environment with adjoining patios where the dog barks for hours each day, wanting back inside. Since our letter, they have responded by not leaving the dog outside for 4 hours at a time, and sometimes twice a day. Now they leave it outside for 2 hours at a time, twice a day, and that is an improvement, but we still hear all the barking. The poor dog is lonely, wants back inside, and is not barking at passers by. She needs to be walked but the 87 year old neighbor can’t do this in her wheel chair and the daughter won’t do it either when she comes by, several times a week. They have plenty of money and should be able to afford a dog walking service, but for some strange reason, they feel that is inappropriate for a toy Dachshund. Maybe they think it "too small" to walk for fear of bigger dogs in the ‘hood.
But since this has now come to blows with the daughter issuing a harsh and totally unfriendly letter in response to our merely suggesting a humane solution to our shared problem, I feel less inclined to hold back in a report to the police about the animal noise. I have already spoken to them and they are ready to take the report should we call.
But I’m on the borderline here because the barking is not so loud or continuous, it is deafening. It’s just annoying because it is right outside our window and it goes on for hours each day. The real solution is to place the dog in another home but the daughter (who works for the largest church in town and is truly full of herself as the quintessential "church lady") is too proud to admit she made a mistake in judgement by accepting this dog and pawning it off on her mother. The dog provides some element of company so that’s a plus, but on balance, our neighbor resents the dog but can’t tell her daughter that.
When is enough enough?
Note that talking to or writing to the neighbor has now been expressly forbidden in a pre-emptive letter by the non-present daughter. This was truly overkill on her part and totally uncalled for as we have been friends for many years and have never been at odds with one another. But the daughter drew the line in the sand and decided to kill our friendship over this dog issue so I sense we may have hit a sensitive vein here. If I wrote a letter to the daughter or the mother, I can see that their next move would be to make a charge of "harrassment" since they expressly wanted no more contact in person or by letter.
The police chief thoroughly understands how these people are being ridiculous by running to the police to fabricate some report when we have commit no offense and they are the ones who are liable. But I feel like our hand is being forced to MAKE the report if the neighbor or daughter refuse any and all communication or contact with us. Civil solution not imminent.
As for the idea of buying the dog some toys or treats, well we would do that too. I am a dog lover myself and even though I currently don’t own one, I buy dog bones to give to neighbors dogs if they run up to me on the street, but with the owners permission of course. I want to be FRIENDS with all the neighborhood dogs. But the problem is, would you want some stranger feeding your dog? Do you know for sure what is in that dog bone or dog toy? We owned cats one time and a neighborhood cat hater and hunter threw a dead rabbit he shot over the patio door. Our cats knawed on it and died. The neighbor had laced it with rat poison. Yes. Evil people out there do this.
So while I agree that your suggestion of offering toys or treats to the neighbor in an offering of friendship sounds nice, I have little hope it would be met with anything but skepticism at this juncture since the daughter has decided to draw her sword and declare us enemies to her family and their well-being.
As for taking the dog myself, I have a similar problem in that a 78 year old woman lives here and she would suffer the same scratches. She also has an incurable respiratory disease so any pets with fur are literally, a threat to her health. Nice idea, and yes I thought of that, but we are just not in a position to take on a pet with fur right now. Thanks anyway.
