Best to take reasoned approach with noisy dogs

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/05/2020 (2273 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: Love your column! It’s one of the reasons I subscribe to the Free Press in my old hometown of Winnipeg. I’m living in England now.

I want to comment on the letter signed Worried About My Dogs’ Safety, regarding the “crazy” neighbour next door, and his threat to do something about her barking dogs.

He may not be a dog hater or “crazy,” but may be so frustrated and wound up by the barking of the dogs that instead of being polite about it, he is angry and rude. She says she doesn’t leave the dogs out “for long”… but what is “long?”

A week ago a group of my London neighbours and I (some with dogs of their own) wrote a letter to a neighbour about their barking dog which has been driving us “crazy.” They wrote us back — not apologizing — but saying how busy they are. Their dog is not out “for long,” but that is about 10 times a day, for five to 10 minutes of barking.

At least they said they’d make an effort, and it has been much quieter. They listened. Perhaps the letter writer in your column is not listening.

— Neil Bingham, London

Dear Neil: Thanks for writing from England. It seems we have many of the same problems, no matter which side of the ocean we live on, and barking dogs is one of them.

I think some dog owners become almost immune to the regular sound of their own barking dogs, just as human parents are not overly alarmed by a crying baby, at first. When “parents” become agitated, they wake up and take care of the barking or the crying. They don’t think about how badly it rattles people on the block who don’t own the creatures and are not as accustomed to the sounds.

My advice to the upset writer was to take the threats seriously, as people who hate dogs have been known to poison them. I told her to treat their dogs like apartment dogs — and take them out for more walks — and not to leave them out in the back yard, barking.

The end of freezing weather won’t stop the barking noise either, as warm weather is a good time for canines to “talk” to other pets who are out in their yards, sometimes many houses away. Most creatures on Earth don’t enjoy being quarantined, no more than we humans do!

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I think the people who wrote in about the neighbour’s barking dogs driving them crazy have a right to revenge. I suggest opening a window on that neighbour’s side and blasting hard rock, full bore, for as long as the dogs are barking. Worked for me, but first I made sure I had a bunch of neighbours on my side the week I did it!

— Nobody’s Sucker, North End

Dear Nobody’s Sucker: This is not a good general practice. Not everybody knows their neighbours like you do, and there would probably be calls to the police and squad cars sent out if everybody started little wars like this.

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I agree with your advice that the dog owner should ensure the safety of her dogs. But I’d also have questioned her information that they don’t bark a lot. What does she mean by that? Five minutes a day, an hour a day, or a couple of hours throughout the day?

I personally don’t have pets, and am not a pet lover. So I can appreciate the neighbour being upset at having his peace and quiet disturbed. There are always two sides to every conflict. However, threatening to harm another living thing is not acceptable. Take care.

— Giuseppe, Winnipeg

Dear Giuseppe: I heartily agree that threatening to harm another living thing — like your neighbour’s pet dog — is not acceptable, and that’s why I urged this writer to call the City of Winnipeg’s Animal Services Agency and talk to them about threats, and what’s best to do about them. You never know what an angry human being might do — like letting dogs out the back gate to run away, and possibly get hit on the road, or poisoning them by throwing bad food over the fence.

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6.

Miss Lonelyhearts
Advice Columnist

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