2006-10-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

Nothing has happened since my last post. Belle has barked a little every night, but nothing out of the ordinary. No cop calls, and I haven't talked to Stephanie much at all. I am really trying to avoid conversation with her as much as possible. She has said that Todd (her husband) decided to take the fence and gate down, and that she disagrees with his choice to do that. She has basically told me that "it's all between him and Amy (cop calling lady) now."

2006-10-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

Came across the slip of paper that I have been jotting dog info down on. I'm copying it here:

10/11/06

Let both dogs in after dinner to eat some leftovers I brought them. Let Belle out at 8:50pm. Barked for about five seconds at something. It is now 9:15 and she has not barked since. Is now laying on patio just outside back door.

3:10am - Dogs quiet. Haven't heard any barking all night. Checked-in doghouses, asleep. (Technically this is 10/12/06, but I have 10/11/06 written down on the paper).

10/12/06
B barked at cat for 2 minutes max. at 4:56 p.m. It is now 4:58 and she has stopped.

*I kept both dogs inside this night.

10/13/06
3:20--let Belle out. Checked on her at 4am--still quiet.

This concludes what I recorded on the slip of paper...

Friday evening (10/13), I left Belle out all night. I checked on her several times that night, including right around 1:45-2am (when the woman seems to be calling the cops). She did not bark at all (not that I heard, anyway).

The eve of Saturday the 14th, I left Belle out too. I went to my boyfriend's house and was there until Sunday the 15th. I returned home the 15th at around noon time. I let both dogs in shortly after my arrival home and bathed them both. They both stayed in until around 4pm, when I let them both out. Both dogs stayed out the entire night.

I did not hear either dog bark all night, and again, I awoke several times to check. The first time was around 1:45 am. I did not record the subsequent times I checked on the dogs, but I did not hear either of them bark the rest of the night or the next morning. I left for work the 16th at approximately 8:45 a.m.

2006-10-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

I am starting this blog because I have a neighbor who has decided my dogs are a nuisance. I have never talked to this neighbor. She has never addressed this problem with me personally. The way I found out about her having a problem with my dogs started on Friday morning, October 5th, at approximately 2:00 a.m.

I did not answer the door; my boyfriend was staying with me at the time and answered when the policeman came to my door. He told my boyfriend that a neighbor had called the police to complain about my (and my next door neighbors') dogs barking and creating a disturbance.

I have had my two dogs, Belle and Speck, for a little over four years. I'm going to basically start this with a bit of history. I plan to document all the happenings involving my neighbor (whom, as I said, never spoke to me about the problem--and as of today she still hasn't). I feel that my documentation should begin with a history of how I got my dogs, what breeds they are, where I obtained them, and how many years they have lived on my property.

I adopted Belle from the Southwest Missouri Humanes Society in July of 2002. She was seven months old at the time. She is an American Eskimo mix. American Eskimo is obvioulsy the dominant breed--but I tend to think she may have a bit of border collie or retriever in her (I lean toward border collie, actually--due to her high energy level). Belle is an energetic dog, and does bark at night occasionally. It is never for long periods of time. In the four plus years I have had her, I have not recieved a single complaint about her barking, until the other day. She normally barks at passing cats, opossums, or someone that might be out in the dark wandering around. She is a good watch dog. She has never bitten anyone. My neighbor to the north of me (next door) reported to me the other night that a man had actually jumped my fence and was passing through my back yard. The neighbor said she barked at this person, but never bit him. I was not at my house that night; I was at my boyfriend's house (he lives near Willard, MO). Belle is skittish about strange men; women she is okay with, even if they are strangers. She will bark at strange men, from a distance; I have never witnessed any teeth-bearing, growling or attempts at attacking any of them. She is a good watchdog. I am a woman sho lives alone (my boyfriend does not reside with me, and is over occasionally) but I wanted a dog, not only for companionship but for security. She is not, in my opinion, a vicious dog. She barks only when something out of the ordinary is going on (ie. the fellow passing through my yard, cats, etc). I consider her a good watch dog, and she's doing what I was hoping she'd do. Alert me to possible danger.

I adopted Speck, a Dachshund-mix, from the Polk County Animal Shelter (via Petsmart) in September of 2002. He was two years old (they guessed this--he was brought in as a stray by animal control). Speck is an extremely friendly, laid-back dog. He is not as energetic as Belle, and barking is even rarer for him. If he does bark, it may be at a passing cat, opossum, or some person walking around at night, in the dark. He does not bark for prolonged periods, or for no reason. Usually if he is barking for more than, say, five minutes, I go check on him. Usually something unusual is happening...one night, for instance, my dogs were barking and when I went outside to see what was going on, Speck dropped a dead opossum at my feet. So, there was their reason for barking right there. Not unusual for dogs, in my opinion.

The first complaint I ever recieved from anyone (as stated before), was The morning of October 6th at 2 a.m. when the policeman showed up at my door. He then went to my neighbors' (we'll call them T & S here--T being the man, S being the woman, his wife) house to tell them to put their dog inside as well (these are the neighbors to the north--if you are standing in front of my house, facing it, they live in the house to the left of mine).

I had no idea who had called the police at this point. When I asked my neighbors after work the next Monday, they claimed it was the woman who lives behind them. S has apparently talked to this neighbor behind them, (we'll call her "A"), and S told me that A neither confirmed or denied that she'd called the police. I will say here, that I still have never even met nor seen A--I do not even know at this point what she looks like.

Friday I was gone all day (the 6th). Friday night, I left both dogs out. I did not hear any barking from them, nor did the cops come again. I stayed most of the weekend with my boyfriend. We both returned to my house Sunday the 8th.

Over the course of the week of the 8th, S told me that A called the police again twice: Tuesday morning (10-17) at 2am and Wednesday morning (10-18) at 2am. S claims that the policeman knocked on her door at 2am both mornings. I did not get another visit from the police--in fact, I wasn't even aware that they'd come back until S told me after work both days.

A few days after the first police call on 10-6-06, I talked to T and S after work (I believe it was Monday). We were standing in my driveway. S, in addition to telling me who she thought had called the police (A) had apparently gone out into her back yard earlier that day and A was yelling at S's dog, 'Peanut'. According to S, Peanut had been getting into A's yard. A claimed that Peanut was digging large holes in her yard. S told A that Peanut was not capable of digging such large holes. I tended to agree here, because Peanut had gotten out a couple of times several months earlier and dug holes in the flower bed in my front yard. This is mostly mulch, and he dug small holes, no more than a foot in diamter. Mulch is very easy to dig in--easier than solid earth (that's my thinking, anyhow). I am sure that, if Peanut was capable of digging such large holes, he would have done a lot more damage to my flower bed. The holes he dug were nothing in comparison to the hole I saw in A's yard, which she claimed Peanut had dug. This hole was located by a tree in the back corner of A's yard.

There is a gate connecting A's yard with S's. The fence technically belongs to T and S because the posts are on their side. The fence is chain-link, and in or near the center of the fence is a gate connecting T and S"s yard with A's. Apparently, this is the place where Peanut squeezes through and gets into A's yard. A has a dog as well, and Peanut probably just wants to go play with A's dog.

T and S said that they did everything they could to try and stop Peanut from squeezing through this gate. S also told me something about A demanding the lock be taken off. I'm not completely clear about the gate situation; I am just mentioning this here because eventually T and S got into a feud of sorts with A. Things escalated from this point on.

A little sidenote about all this--the things A said are all according to S. As I said, I have never met A. S has told me on several occasions now of what A has said, and some of it pertains to my dogs. S has also told me things about A, that I will put down here, but I did not hear them from A herself and I feel that should be duly noted. I am getting some of these things second-hand.

Tuesday, October 10th, I talked to S once again after work (I arrive home at or around 6 pm every weekday evening). S told me that the cops had been called at 2am that morning (second time). However-- despite that, earlier that day, she stated that she and A had come "to an agreement" about the dogs. Apparently, S was trying to call a truce of sorts, and they agreed on some sort of play schedule for their two dogs. S would let A's dog play in S's yard for awhile, and vice versa. According to S, things seemed okay...what this had to do with the barking dogs, I have no idea. Like I said, I am just documenting everything directly and indirectly related to the dog barking situation, which I feel necessary--the reason being--I have a feeling that the cop-calling could have something to do with the rivalry that seems to be brewing between T&S and A.

After this "truce" between S and A that supposedly occurred on Tuesday, A called the cops again at 2 am Wednesday morning. S came to my house all upset because they had supposedly made this "agreement", etc...but A informed S Wednesday that it was my dogs barking that was keeping her awake and that was why she called. The police had only come to my door that first time, on the morning of the 6th. The other two nights, the cops came to S's door only. We guessed it was because A didn't know my address. I don't understand why she couldn't figure that out...

Wednesday evening I was also informed by S that A had told S some things about my bigger dog, Belle. A referred to Belle as "the white dog". According to S, A told S that my dog was vicious, and that she swore she'd be gone by tonight (which would mean Wednesday night, the 11th). I think S also said that A said something about how Belle should be put down. S also said that A had told her that the white dog "would be gone" by tonight. I don't know what she intended to do, but I took that as a threat (if she really did say it).

My boyfriend was present Weds. night, and when we finished talking to S, we went out for dinner. We came back at around 7:30 p.m., got out of his truck, and something strange was going on next door. Someone was in T and S's back yard with a flashlight, looking around. They had Peanut tied up. S came over and said that, for whatever reason, T had taken the back gate off. I have no idea why he did this, but A was in T and S's back yard looking around with a flashlight, for reasons unknown to me. It was beginning to look like things could get ugly (or uglier) between T and S and A. At that point, I didn't say anything wo either T or S, but my boyfriend did suggest that they not provoke A (we had said this to S in our earlier conversation on that same day, as well). the removal of the gate seemed like something done out of spite to me. I wondered if I should even continue to talk to T&S about anything regarding this matter any longer, thinking it could come back on me later, if say, this all went to court.

My boyfriend and I then went into my house. I let my dogs in, not sure what A was up to, and not wanting trouble, and fed them. I decided with whatever was going on next door that it would be a good idea to keep my dogs indoors. They both stayed in until around 10:00 p.m. During the time that myself, my boyfriend and my two dogs were inside, we heard a car pull up next door. We heard a lot of yelling, but could not make out any words. We pretty much concluded that there was a fight or argument. This lasted a few minutes (maybe ten?), then A drove off in her car.

I felt, at this point, that if A had a problem with my dogs, she could have come over and spoken with me about it. I mentioned before that I think the cops knocked on S's door the last two of the three times because he was called about dogs barking, but didn't know exactly which house to go to. After this little dispute (or whatever it was) that had just happened, I figured A had to know now where I lived. I did not choose to confront her at that time because emotions were obviously high, and I wasn't sure if she was a rational individual, given what S had told me about her.

I have thought about confronting her, but she just doesn't seem like a reasonable human being. If what S has told me about her is true, then I feel talking to her could be a waste of time, or make matters worse. I just don't understand why my dog barking now and then makes A think her "vicious." If A really thinks that's true, I don't think she'll have a leg to stand on. #1, Belle is not vicious, as I mentioned before. I'm not saying she would never attack or bite anyone--but she'd really have to be provoked. I know my dog. I have had her for four years. I feel she is a smart, intelligent, well-behaved dog. Any dog could get nasty if the conditions are right, but to say that my dog is vicious just because she has barked a little at night is ridiculous. There are at least eight dog owners that I know of in the neighborhood, and all their dogs bark at night. That would be like me saying every one of them is vicious. Dogs bark at night. It isn't uncommon, or unreasonable, if it isn't incessant.

To continue on the happenings of October 11th...
I went to bed that night around 10pm. I awoke to Belle barking at about 1:45 a.m. the next morning. I went outside to see if I could see what she was barking at. According to S, A goes outside in the middle of the night (she's a "night owl") and reads and does other stuff on her back porch. It was dark, so I could not see if there was a person out there or not. Of course, Belle stopped barking the minute I came out (she had only been barking about a minute, but given the recent experiences I was not taking any chances at getting the police called again). Belle came up to me, as did Speck. I let them both in, because it was a work night and I did not want the police to come knocking again and waking me up.

The dogs came in at 1:50 a.m. and stayed inside until the next morning. Belle wanted out at about 6:00 a.m., so I let her out. Speck was let out later, at around 8 a.m.

I did not hear any police come, and no one knocked on my door, that entire night.

I want to add here that I am a light sleeper and, if my dogs bark, it always wakes me up. It is happening in my own back yard, and if it's going to disturb anyone, it'll be me. The three mornings the cops were called (Friday, Tuesday, Wednesday), I hadn't heard either of my dogs make a sound. The first night, the first time the policeman came to my door, I did not put my dogs inside, even after he came, because I did not feel they were making a disturbance. I checked on the two of them about three more times later that morning and all three times they emerged from their doghouses (obviously they'd been sleeping). I never heard a peep out of either one. That goes for the two following nights too. I never heard either dog barking.

This concludes Entry #1 of this blog. I chose to blog this because documentation is a powerful tool. I am being honest here--I haven't met this A person but know that she has lived here for about six months (in this neighborhood). As I said, I have had my dogs for over four years. This is absolutely the first time anyone has complained about them. I also find it odd that, if A has lived in the neighborhood that long, my dogs just recently became a nuisance to her. I have had them outside nearly every night for the last six months. Why, suddenly, are they a problem?

I checked with my other next-door neighbor the night of the 11th, by the way ("J"), just before my boyfriend and I left to go to dinner. J lives in the house to the right of me on my street. I checked with him to see if my dogs barked too much, and he said no. His girlfriend (or wife) came out and added that, if my dogs barked too much, it would wake her baby up, and my dogs hadn't ever done that (dogs living behind them, however, had. She added that they were worse than my dogs ever had been, as far as barking. I think there are four in the yard behind them). J and his wife also told me that they fed my dogs treats and petted them and thought that any claims that Belle was vicious were ridiculous as well.

I will be documenting everything that happens regarding this situation.

**I had to edit this entry on the 13th of October, because I had the first date of the police call wrong. It was not Monday morning, it was Friday the 6th.

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